Latest news with #JulieMayfield
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NC Republicans file transgender bathroom bill; NC Democrats seek reproductive and LGBTQ+ protections
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina Democrats filed a slew of bills Tuesday all centered around reproductive health and LGBTQ+ protections. According to Democratic lawmakers, some of the bills will guarantee the rights to use contraception to prevent pregnancy and access fertility treatments through IVF. Others will ban conversion therapy and the use/perception of gender and sexual orientation as a defense in assault and homicide cases. An equality for all bill is also proposed. 'We need to be done with treating people as anything less than full human beings deserving of respect and dignity,' state Sen. Julie Mayfield said. State Sen. Sophia Chitlik said, 'Contraception is taken to support people with a variety of health challenges, including polycystic ovary syndrome.' While state Democrats said they're pushing their priorities, Republicans filed Senate Bill 516 Tuesday. Entitled the Women's Safety and Protection Act, it is sweeping legislation that would limit a transgender person's access to bathrooms and their ability to change legal documents. Republicans have previously said banning biological men from women's bathrooms is a safety measure. According to Democrats, Republicans are only attacking marginalized communities and putting LGBTQ+ and transgender communities in danger. 'If you don't believe it, just look out there at all those people who just want to be recognized as humans,' state Rep. Allison Dahle said. 'They don't care if you recognize their pronouns, they just want to be human and live their lives.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$500 million Hurricane Helene relief bill passes in North Carolina Senate
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Relief for Hurricane Helene victims is one step closer after the North Carolina Senate passed a bill to send more than $500 million dollars to relief efforts. State senators expedited the bill through committees to vote as soon as possible because they said people need the help now. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: NC Senators propose more than the $500M from House for Hurricane Helene relief The bill passed in the state Senate is different from the original version passed in the state House. It is about $33 million more than the $500 million the House allocated. The money is heading to certain areas, including home repair and recovery, small business help, and education opportunities for students who missed school after the hurricane. Lawmakers all agree there's more work to be done. Democratic state Sen. Julie Mayfield wants to shift the focus to funding rental assistance. RELATED: Another $500M for Hurricane Helene relief in North Carolina passes key hurdle 'Rental assistance goes to landlords,' Mayfield said. 'It doesn't go to people's pockets. It helps people keep their homes, landlords keep their business.' State Senate Leader Phil Berger said anything could happen. 'I don't know if we'll have one [or] two more bills, a budget bill, but whatever is needed to the extent we're aware of it,' Berger said. 'We have the capacity to do it. I think the members have shown a willingness to do what needs to be done.' The relief bill goes back to the North Carolina House for state representatives to concur with the changes made. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘When nurses are ignored, patients suffer:' Coalition demands HCA add staff after Mission ER death
ASHEVILLE – A coalition of local elected officials, physicians, nurses, clergy and others are pressing HCA Healthcare to increase staffing levels at Mission Hospital in Asheville or sell the hospital to a nonprofit health system. The demand comes on the heels of a patient death that occurred in an emergency department bathroom in February. The group, Reclaim Healthcare WNC, believes the death could been have been prevented if the hospital had more staff working when the death occurred. The Citizen Times previously reported that one Mission staff member had been terminated after an internal investigation, which is ongoing. The group, which formed in 2024, is also calling on HCA to release more information about what it says was another preventable patient death that allegedly occurred at Mission in January. 'We need answers from HCA about the connection between these patient deaths and staffing and how they are going to prevent this from happening in the future,' state Sen. Julie Mayfield said at a Feb. 28 press conference Reclaim Healthcare WNC held in downtown Asheville. A Mission Health spokesperson did not respond to questions from the Citizen Times regarding Reclaim Healthcare WNC's allegations and demands. Mayfield said HCA is making a 'calculated decision on a daily basis to increase its profits by understaffing and putting our families and neighbors at risk.' Mayfield's claim also is at the center of lawsuits and other complaints filed against HCA, the Nashville-based health system that bought former nonprofit Mission in 2019 for $1.5 billion. In 2023, when he was serving as North Carolina's attorney general, now-Gov. Josh Stein filed a lawsuit alleging HCA breached its asset purchase agreement by discontinuing certain aspects of Mission's oncology services and emergency and trauma services, without authorization from the hospital's advisory board. The complaint highlights deficient staffing and long wait times in the Mission Hospital emergency department, a 'manufactured' bed shortage and the consequences of medical transport services, citing Citizen Times reporting as evidence. HCA is also facing a federal lawsuit filed by Buncombe County alleging staffing cuts have increased the hospital's emergency department wait times so much that county EMS workers are forced to treat patients in ambulances, Mission waiting rooms and ER hallways, until Mission can accept them. At the Feb. 28 press conference, Riceville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tom Kelly raised similar concerns, claiming his team and the patients it treats are facing extended wait times due to staffing shortages at Mission. Both suits are still ongoing. In January 2024, the Citizen Times reported that state investigators identified several 'immediate jeopardy' incidents at Mission Hospital, the most serious deficiency regulators can assign and can result in the loss of Medicare and Medicaid payments to a hospital. According to a letter outlining the deficiencies, state officials found that hospital nursing staff did not quickly accept and monitor emergency department patients, leading to delays in care, and preventing nurses from identifying and responding to changes in patient conditions. The letter also indicated that staffing deficiencies led to delays in treatment for patients. 'The cumulative effects of these practices resulted in an unsafe environment for ED patients,' the letter read. A federal report later obtained by the Citizen Times revealed that hospital missteps led to multiple patient deaths. Corrections made by Mission ended the immediate jeopardy status on Feb. 28, 2024. 'I've seen firsthand that the hospital's capable of staffing our hospital appropriately,' Ashley Bunting, a registered nurse who works in Mission's emergency department said during the Reclaim Healthcare WNC press conference. 'When they were in danger of losing their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement last year, we suddenly got the resources.' But the changes didn't last, Bunting said, claiming the hospital has 'slid back to the very same conditions we fought so hard to get out of.' Those dire conditions were apparent this week, when the hospital's emergency department hallways were crowded with patients on stretchers, Bunting said. 'HCA has completely ignored our warnings,' she said. 'We have spoken out, we have called for action, and they have chosen to do nothing. And when nurses are ignored, patients suffer.' More: Mission Hospital employee fired after patient dies in ER; investigation ongoing More: HCA's Mission Health closes WNC's only long-term acute care hospital Jacob Biba is the Helene recovery reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jbiba@ This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: After ER death, healthcare coalition pressing Mission to up staffing
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC lawmakers brainstorm more Helene recovery ideas, funding
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A $500 million relief bill dedicated to helping western North Carolina is heading to the state Senate next week after being passed by the House. 'We need it, we just need it, federal money is not flowing as much as we want, state money is not coming as fast as anybody would want,' Senator Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) said. But already, lawmakers say it's not enough. 'I don't think there's any question we'll have to fund more, the question is going to be at what point in time, and then obviously the details of how much and where,' Senator Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said. PREVIOUS: Another $500M for Hurricane Helene relief in North Carolina passes key hurdle This week, senators filed a bill to allocate $150 million specifically for housing needs in hurricane-impacted areas. That bill is already in a Senate committee. Secretary of the Department of Transportation Joey Hopkins says they also need cash flow to repair roads that were demolished. 'Our biggest challenge overall is the entire scale or scope of this storm,' Hopkins said in a House Oversight Committee meeting. He says they haven't seen damage like this since Hurricane Florence back in 2018. That cost the DOT about $250 million in damages. RELATED: Bill filed in NC Senate seeks $150 million for housing efforts in Helene-impacted areas 'This storm, we're projected to spend nearly $5 billion to repair the public transportation infrastructure,' Hopkins said. For that, though, state lawmakers are also hoping for help from the federal government. 'The governor and I did send a letter to the US DOT and others this past Monday requesting them to fully fund our repairs,' Hopkins said. Senator Berger says the $500 million relief bill is being fast tracked through the Senate. It will be in committee next week and then potentially on the floor the following week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State senators file new bill to repeal death penalty in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — During Thursday's general assembly session, three state senators introduced SB 94 with a short, direct title: Repeal Death Penalty. Senators Natalie S. Murdock (D-District 20), Julie Mayfield (D-District 49), Graig Meyer (D-District 23) and Sophia Chitlik (D-District 22) submitted the bill, which looks to revise language in the state's law about capital punishment — changing terms and phrase such as 'sentence of death' or 'punishable by death' to 'punishment' or just 'sentencing.' Johnston County judge finds death sentences influenced by racial discrimination: Court Documents Below is the drafted and filed Senate Bill 94, in full: NC Senate Bill 94Download Just a week ago, a judge in Johnston County ruled against a death penalty sentencing, citing racial discrimination of a jury. CBS 17 previously reported that Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons found that Hasson Bacote was wrongfully sentenced to death, after being convicted of murder, with race playing a significant role in the sentencing decision. Gov. Cooper commutes 15 death sentences on last day as North Carolina governor Additionally, former Governor Roy Cooper granted clemency to 15 people on death row during his last day in office in North Carolina. Those people will now serve life without parole. There are still 121 people who are convicted of a crime facing the death penalty in North Carolina. The state has also been in a moratorium since 2006, meaning there have been no executions in the past 19 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
