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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

JoNel Aleccia

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News >  Spokane

Survey on rates may have misrepresented Spokane

If Spokane had the highest health insurance premiums in the nation, it wouldn't surprise Penny Arter. Even though she's a working registered nurse, Arter has no health coverage for herself, her husband or their 5-year-old son, Logan. At $600 a month, the premiums just cost too much, the Spokane woman said.
News >  Spokane

Doctor sees rise in cart mishaps

Five children in two weeks have been hurt in shopping cart accidents serious enough to send them to a Spokane emergency room, a doctor said. And parents like Cherie Read know why.
News >  Spokane

Plan B access to get easier

More than 1,100 women each month in the Inland Northwest take the morning-after pill to avoid pregnancy, a number that could rise after the federal Food and Drug Administration agreed Thursday that adults can buy the drug without a prescription. The move is expected to provide easier access to emergency contraception in Idaho and to broaden it in Washington, where select pharmacists already are able to provide the pills, known as Plan B, without a doctor's visit. Girls 17 and younger in Washington will still need a pharmacist's approval to buy the pills, which are expected to be available by the end of the year. In Idaho, girls will need a prescription. Those seeking the drugs will have to prove they're at least 18 to a pharmacist, who will keep the drug behind a counter.

News >  Spokane

Anders backs out of WSU dean’s job

The newly named dean of the Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing has backed out of the job, breaking a contract and stunning Spokane officials who hailed him as the key to attracting prestigious faculty and funding. Robert L. Anders, 59, cited personal reasons for his last-minute decision to remain at the University of Texas at El Paso, WSU officials said Monday.
News >  Spokane

Slavic residents warm to health care

Even from the hallway, the buzz of Russian voices and the aroma of skillet stroganoff suggested that Monday's Slavic Health Fair was a success. And the scene inside the conference room confirmed that organizers are making inroads with a community notoriously suspicious of medical care. "See? We are busy!" said Tatyana Bistrevsky, program coordinator for the Washington State University Extension Office, which sponsored the third annual event.
News >  Features

Student athletes can take steps to avoid injury

As young athletes in the Inland Northwest prepare for a new year of competition, they should take care not to leave conditioning to the last minute, according to independent physical therapists in Washington. A few simple guidelines will help student athletes avoid injury and improve performance, said Shannon O'Kelley, president of the Private Practice Group of the Physical Therapists Association of Washington.
News >  Spokane

Nursing college taps Texan for new dean

A Texas nursing administrator with a long and lucrative history of research grants has been named the new dean of the Washington State Intercollegiate College of Nursing. Robert L. Anders has received national grants totaling nearly $6 million in the past few years, according to the resume of the University of Texas at El Paso professor.
News >  Spokane

Anesthesiologist can keep license, state panel says

A Spokane anesthesiologist disciplined in 1998 for diverting drugs for personal use can continue practicing medicine, despite violating his sanctions five years later, according to an order from the state health commission. William L. Weigel will be monitored every three months, face strict medication protocols and pay a $5,000 fine, along with other conditions, according to an agreement negotiated with the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission.
News >  Spokane

Spokane man ill from raw oysters

A Spokane man who ate raw oysters has contracted vibriosis, a bacterial illness that has sickened nearly 100 people across Washington, health officials said Tuesday. The man is likely the first local case in the outbreak that has shuttered many state oyster growing areas and forced a recall of possibly tainted shellfish.
News >  Features

Idaho death prompts regional calls for West Nile caution

Regional health officials are reminding people to take precautions against mosquitoes and ticks following the death of a 12-year-old boy who attended a youth camp in southern Idaho. Rocco Magliozzi of Norwood, Mass., died in a Boise hospital July 28 after being exposed to West Nile virus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Idaho Health and Welfare officials confirmed. The boy had attended a camp in Gooding, Idaho.
News >  Spokane

Thorburn evaluation a mixed bag

The head of the Spokane Regional Health District earned a solid B from agency employees, managers and community members, just-released results of a recent evaluation showed. But Dr. Kim Thorburn's grade from the local Board of Health was no better than a D, or barely passing.
News >  Spokane

Norovirus found at hospital

A confirmed outbreak of norovirus virtually has quarantined Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake, where 40 patients and staff have fallen sick this week. Hospital officials have halted admissions, discharges and visits from everyone, including outside mental health workers, in hopes of containing the highly contagious illness. Twenty-one of the hospital's 300 patients and 19 of the 750 staff members have come down with the gastrointestinal illness, said Hal Wilson, the hospital's chief executive officer.
News >  Spokane

Medical officials warn against mobile body scans

The yellow flier promised "A Body Scan Can Save Your Life!" but when Susan Cross called, every appointment at Spokane's Hampton Inn was taken. That dismayed the North Idaho woman, and not because she was eager for a $60 analysis of her pancreas.
News >  Features

Avoid raw oysters from Seattle area

Heading to the West Side? Don't eat the (raw) oysters. At least 60 Washington residents, nearly all in the Seattle area, have been sickened by a bacteria found in raw oysters. That's about three times the number of cases normally seen in a year, according to state Department of Health officials.
News >  Spokane

Plague in the park

There's nothing new about the sexual detritus left in the bushes at Spokane's High Bridge Park. Discarded underwear, empty lubrication packets and used condoms are only the most visible evidence of public sex acts occurring regularly at the 200-acre city site. In fact, almost no one – from City Council members and park managers to health officials and police officers – disputes that the area has been notorious for lewd activity for years, even decades.
News >  Features

A shrinking sisterhood

It's the third time in as many months that the Sisters of Providence have lost one of their own. Sister Therese Eugenie Belisle, 94, died last week in Spokane, leaving only 175 vowed women to tend the social and spiritual needs of a region that once boasted more than 750.
News >  Spokane

Future unsure for health chief

Long-simmering tensions between the Spokane Regional Health District board and the agency's chief executive, Kim Thorburn, are escalating again on the eve of a delayed evaluation. Board of Health members planned to meet today in private to consider an appraisal that Chairman Todd Mielke said reflects concerns about Thorburn's performance.
News >  Features

Adult health survey teams may come knocking

If a team of health workers in bright yellow vests knocks on your door next month, you might consider letting them in. They'll be the first representatives of new research aimed at helping state and national officials take a snapshot of health in Washington state.
News >  Spokane

Washington mandates chicken pox vaccinations

Marc Walker's boys won't add chicken pox shots to their back-to-school routine – but only because they've already suffered through the itchy childhood illness. Otherwise, the Spokane father of three said he would wholeheartedly support Washington's new rule that requires vaccination against chicken pox for kids entering school and day care.
News >  Spokane

Deer Park holds Settlers Day

Growing up in Deer Park, Myron Rasmussen spent a fair number of summer Saturdays watching the annual Settlers Day parade prance down the streets of his town. He was there as a boy on break from Pineview School. He was there as a teenage kid: Deer Park High, class of 1952.
News >  Spokane

Valley couple involved in shooting

A couple with apparent ties to a local family game business was involved in a double shooting Saturday that left the 52-year-old woman in critical condition and sent her 56-year-old husband to a Seattle hospital with possible spinal injuries. Spokane Valley police and Spokane Sheriff's Department detectives were called to a residence at 111 N. Locust Road at 9:42 a.m. Saturday by a man who said he'd been shot by his wife, said Sgt. Dave Reagan, the Sheriff's Department public information officer.
News >  Spokane

City warns elderly of heat wave

No matter how hot it gets this weekend, Alberta Frederick won't turn on her air conditioner. The 83-year-old Spokane Valley resident learned her lesson last summer, when a spell of warm weather spiked her electric bill to $98 – nearly a quarter of her monthly expendable income.
News >  Idaho

CdA doctor may face felony charges

The Kootenai County prosecutor is considering filing felony charges against a former Coeur d'Alene doctor accused of improper conduct with patients, despite a city decision not to pursue the case. Bill Douglas said Monday that he has asked Coeur d'Alene Police Department investigators for more information about patient complaints regarding Tarek Haw, whose medical license was revoked in May.
News >  Features

Health Notes: Pandemic forum being sponsored by Health District

The first of three community forums concerning pandemic influenza is scheduled for tonight, when local health officials will answer questions and provide guidance about the region's emergency preparedness plan. The meeting begins at 6:30 at West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt St., Spokane.
News >  Spokane

Resources at your fingertips

A lone data clerk is slowly entering hundreds of records into Spokane's 211 database, the telephone referral service that proponents hope will become as useful – and familiar – as 911. With every click of Michelle Morris' keyboard, the region moves a little closer to implementing the health and social service resource that will offer information about needs from child care and churches to gas vouchers and free food.