Latest news with #Children'sNationalHospital
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
At D.C. children's hospital, opera singers offer light, hope and healing
Kwezikazi Mfithi stepped into a hallway at Children's National Hospital to wait as her 2-month-old daughter got an X-ray for her heart troubles. Then, she heard music — opera. Mfithi, 26, had planned to walk to the hospital's garden for a break and send text messages to catch up with friends and family. But the singers' voices moved her to go to the hospital's atrium. With a soft, gray blanket wrapped around her shoulders, she sat for an hour, mesmerized, as she and about two dozen other families, patients and hospital workers listened to the performance.
Techday NZ
20-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
AI investment rises as security teams battle skills shortages
Splunk has published its "State of Security 2025" global research report, detailing the challenges currently faced by Security Operations Centres (SOCs) in managing cyber threats and operational demands. The report identifies significant trends affecting security teams worldwide, including the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in security operations, persistent understaffing, and the complications arising from fragmented security toolsets. According to the report, 59% of security professionals surveyed stated that AI has moderately or significantly improved their efficiency. In Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), 71% of organisations are increasing their investment in AI and machine learning technologies. Staffing shortfalls also remained a concern, with 49% of respondents identifying understaffing and skills gaps as critical issues for their security teams. These shortages, combined with technological inefficiencies, are contributing factors to operational delays and increased workload pressure. A notable 78% of survey respondents reported difficulties stemming from dispersed and disconnected security tools, which impacts their ability to respond promptly and effectively to threats. The research found that 59% of organisations view tool maintenance as their biggest source of inefficiency, with 46% indicating they spend more time on maintaining tools than on defending their organisation from threats. When examining the consequences of these challenges, the report revealed that 66% of organisations experienced a data breach in the past year, making it the most commonly reported security incident. The reliance on manual processes and inadequately integrated tools was cited as a significant contributor to these breaches. Despite the increased adoption of AI, only 11% of organisations indicated full confidence in AI's role for mission-critical tasks. This cautious approach reflects broader industry sentiment on the limitations and risks of fully delegating key security decisions to automated systems. Michael Fanning, Chief Information Security Officer at Splunk, observed, "Organisations are increasingly leaning on AI for threat hunting and detection, and other mission-critical tasks, but we don't see AI taking complete oversight of the SOC – for good reason. Human oversight remains central to effective cybersecurity, and AI is used to enhance human capabilities to help where it truly matters: defending the organisation." Nate Lesser, Chief Information Security Officer at Children's National Hospital, added, "As cyber threats grow in volume and sophistication, security teams are under constant pressure. According to Splunk's State of Security report, the industry is struggling with escalating workloads, alert fatigue, and a shortage of skilled talent. Integrating AI and automation helps us address these risks and empowers our teams with smarter tools to ensure our organisation remains resilient." Many organisations are also seeing value in collaborating more closely between security and observability teams. The report indicates that 78% believe sharing data with observability teams leads to quicker incident resolution. In addition, 69% of respondents noted that disconnected and dispersed tools create moderate to significant challenges for their SOCs, hampering their ability to address evolving threats effectively. The ANZ region exhibited distinctive trends, as highlighted by Shannon Davis, Global Principal Security Researcher at Splunk. Davis stated, "Security teams in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) are stretched thin, and it's starting to show. Critical projects are being delayed and teams asked to do more with less." She continued, "What's unique to ANZ is how quickly organisations are moving from awareness to action. Seventy-one percent are ramping up AI investment, not just for threat detection, but to help overburdened teams reclaim time and consistency in day-to-day operations." Commenting on regional developments in cybersecurity practices, Davis explained, "We're also seeing early traction around Detection as Code or DAC in this region, with a third of ANZ organisations having adopted it. It's an emerging approach to help SOC and engineering teams respond to fast-moving threats. Combine that with growing observability maturity, and ANZ businesses laying down a more resilient foundation, the region is starting to respond to what modern cyber defence demands." The findings from the "State of Security 2025" report suggest that while organisations globally are facing a combination of internal and external pressures, focused efforts on AI investment, tool integration, and human-centred security operations are shaping the ongoing response to a shifting threat landscape.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
DC families, officials say cuts to Medicaid would be ‘devastating,' force hospital closures
WASHINGTON () — Families, healthcare leaders and elected officials are sounding the alarm over the potentially 'devastating impacts' from proposed cuts to Medicaid. 'This is not a red state, blue state issue. This is an issue of do we want to have quality healthcare in the nation's capital or not. And we do. All Americans want that,' said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. According to Bowser, Congress is considering cutting back the District's Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) from 70% to 50%. This comes as federal lawmakers look to cut funding for the program nationwide in an effort to save money. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that helps provide medical care for low-income residents, those with disabilities, pregnant women and more. 'If it somehow sounds like there's anger in my voice, there is': Tensions rise as DC Council waits for the 2026 budget In D.C., more than 285,000 people are on Medicaid, including 95,000 infants and children, 28,000 elderly people and 27,000 people with disabilities. A reduction in FMAP would result in a total loss of $2.1 billion for hospitals, universities and community partners, according to the District. 'This will lead to hospital closures, longer wait times, cuts to life-saving services,' said Bowser. 'This would be a drop in the bucket [for the federal government]. This change for the federal government wouldn't close any gaps, but it would close hospitals in the District.' Children's National Hospital would be hit particularly hard. 'It would cost Children's National an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars,' said CEO Michelle Riley-Brown. 'A cut of this magnitude would force us to make difficult decisions, including scaling back critical services. It would also jeopardize cutting edge pediatric research and limit our ability to meet the needs of children.' According to Riley-Brown, 70% of visits to the hospital's emergency department are paid for through Medicaid. The inpatient unit that would be hit the hardest by cuts is the neonatal unit (NICU), which treats infant children, she noted. 'This is the most concerning threat to children's health care I have seen in my 26-year career,' Riley-Brown said. 'Let's bring the Commanders home': Bowser, Washington Commanders announce nearly $3 billion RFK Stadium deal 'What Medicaid does for so many families like me and my daughter, Abria — it is literally a lifeline,' said LaJoy Johnson-Law, a Ward 8 mother. Johnson-Law's 13-year-old daughter has special medical needs and relies on the program. 'It really helps us to be able to fund the providers so we're able to get high-quality care,' explained Johnson-Law. 'Her specialty appointments, so think about your neurologist, your pulmonary, your cardiologist. In addition to the medication and frankly just your primary care doctor.' According to Johnson-Law, Abria was born extremely early and had to spend time in the NICU. Without Medicaid coverage, the cost would've been $1 million. 'I don't have a million dollars. That's how much it cost for her to stay in the NICU: $1 million — just that alone, not including specialized surgery or other care. Just to bring her into this world, for her to stay in the NICU, $1 million.' She said if D.C.'s Medicaid percentage is slashed, she'll be forced to make difficult decisions on how to best care for her family. 'As a mother, to say 'hey, you may not be able to afford your child's medication,' is really heartbreaking for me. I'm supposed to be her protector,' she said. 'We would have to make some really tough decisions. Am I paying to put a roof over her head, or am I paying for her medication?' It's unclear when Congress will put forth a finalized plan on proposed Medicaid cuts. According to DC News Now's partners at The Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is planning a May 7 meeting to finalize discussions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump order seeking to halt gender-affirming care for trans youth
A federal judge in Baltimore has temporarily blocked enforcement of the Trump administration's effort to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender Americans under 19 years old. The temporary restraining order, handed down Thursday by U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson, comes as hospitals and clinics around the country have shut down gender-affirming care for trans minors. Hurson granted the order in response to a lawsuit brought by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups this month. In that lawsuit, transgender adolescents and young adults living in Maryland, New York, Massachusetts and Virginia said they were suddenly denied gender-affirming care. In all of those states except Virginia, transgender health care is explicitly protected under state law. The plaintiffs said that their appointments to start hormone treatments or puberty blockers were canceled with little warning or that they were blocked from routine check-ups. Those last-minute cancellations took place after President Donald Trump signed an executive order January 28 threatening federal funding for hospitals, clinics and medical schools that provide gender-affirming care to minors. The lawsuit alleges that renowned and well-staffed gender clinics including the Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; NYU Langone Health; and GeMS at Boston Children's Hospital all denied gender-affirming care to patients — and that some did so while citing the Trump administration or its new policies. According to the Associated Press, Hurson's ruling will be in effect for 14 days, with a possibility of extension, as the case progresses in federal court. According to the the Williams Institute at UCLA, trans youth enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare and other health assistance programs — as well as trans dependents of military service members — are disproportionately impacted by Trump's executive order. The institute, which regularly publishes research on LGBTQ+ issues, estimates that over 180,000 trans youth may face new barriers to health care access because of it. Those trans youth live in states where the care had been unrestricted until now. The lawsuit, PFLAG v. Trump, also takes aim at the Trump administration for targeting transgender people through multiple executive orders. The suit says Trump's order threatening federal funding for gender-affirming care, alongside another executive order that broadly declared the administration's stance that trans and nonbinary people don't exist, are part of a 'broad and sweeping attack' on trans people. On Thursday, Hurson seemed to indicate that he agreed. Trump's executive order focused on throttling gender-affirming care access 'seems to deny that this population even exists, or deserves to exist,' Hurson said Thursday, according to the ruling also follows growing protests in support of transgender youth: this weekend in New York City, thousands gathered to protest the executive order blocking gender-affirming care. In Washington on Thursday, protesters also rallied against the executive order and demonstrated to protest a ban on drag performances at the Kennedy Center. The post Judge blocks Trump order seeking to halt gender-affirming care for trans youth appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
