From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— UnityPoint Health – Meriter has opened a new training center at its Madison hospital focused on newborn care.
The Neonatal Education Simulation and Training Center, or NEST, is located near Meriter Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. It’s being operated by Pregnancy and Newborn Care services, a program run by Meriter and UW Health that includes specialists from UW Health Kids.
Health care providers ranging from students and residents to doctors can use the center to practice various scenarios such as how to respond to a baby choking, according to the hospital’s announcement. Dr. Ryan McAdams, a neonatologist with UW Health Kids, says post-scenario discussions can help participants improve the way they provide care.
McAdams, also a professor at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, says not enough pediatric-focused simulation centers exist and this assessment method should be used more often in medicine.
“What we do is high risk, with little room for error, because lives are on the line,” he said in the announcement.
See more in the release below.
— House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Dems aren’t budging in their health care demands to reopen the federal government.
“We want to enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the people of Wisconsin and the people of this great country while at the same time decisively addressing the Republican health care crisis,” Jeffries said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “We’ve said from the beginning that a bipartisan spending bill requires Republicans to sit down with Democrats to reopen the government, but unfortunately during this shutdown, Republicans have actually refused to have a conversation with us as Democrats.”
Jeffries disputed claims that Dems’ shutdown strategy isn’t working as they continue to push to extend the expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of the year.
“This is not a debatable issue,” Jeffries said as he referred to Wisconsin’s 3rd CD rep. “And Republican members of Congress, including Derrick Van Orden, are hearing from their own constituents that something needs to be done to address this issue, and unfortunately, Republicans have refused to extend these Affordable Care Act tax credits where more than 90% of the people who receive them make about $63,000 or less. This is a fight for working-class Americans in Wisconsin and throughout the country.”
Jeffries said he talked with House Speaker Mike Johnson briefly last week, adding Dems will negotiate with Republicans “any time, any place, either at the Capitol or we’ll go back to the White House.”
When asked what Democrats are willing to concede in negotiations, Jeffries said, “Everything is on the table, and as we’ve indicated as House Democrats, we look forward to considering anything that emerged from the Senate in good faith in a bipartisan way as long as it actually is designed to improve the quality of life of the American people in three areas — their health, their public safety and our economic well-being.”
— Meanwhile, Van Orden wouldn’t say whether he would vote to expand Affordable Care Act subsidies if a vote came to the U.S. House.
“Let’s be crystal clear, the Democrats in the Senate have voted 14 times to shut down the government,” Van Orden told “UpFront.” “The Democrats in the Senate, including Tammy Baldwin, have voted 14 times to not send $500 million to the state of Wisconsin for rural health care infrastructure. So when Democrats say they’re in this fight for health care, they’re simply lying.
“Here’s what I support,” Van Orden said when asked again about subsidies. “I support opening up the government and letting us get back and actually talk. So I’m not going to be held hostage to these folks. This is a procedural vote. It should have been done early. All the Democrats have voted for this same package 13 times already, this continuing resolution. So open up the government, and we’ll sit down. We’ll talk about anything.”
See more from the show here.
— Dr. Imran Adrabi, president and CEO of Froedtert ThedaCare, has been chosen as chair-elect for the Wisconsin Hospital Association Board of Directors.
WHA today announced Andrabi will serve as the board’s chair-elect in 2026, while Door County Medical Center President and CEO Brian Stephens will be chair. The release also notes six new members were chosen to join the board starting next year.
Andrabi says his selection represents “a great honor and great responsibility.”
“The people of Wisconsin turn to our health systems as their trusted partners in health and well-being … I am humbled to serve as Chair-elect of WHA for 2026, as together we strive to enhance easy access to high-quality care for the betterment of our communities.” he said in a statement.
See the release below.
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