LEGACY: From UCare via Instagram, VERBATIM: “Meet the #legacy makers. Today was the first UCare alumni reunion. These fine folks, including CEO Nancy Feldman of 25 years, all left UCare a better place.” PHOTO: https://fluence-media.co/4hr3Mh9 (SPONSORED: UCare)
SPORTS: From Siemens via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “New research conducted by YouGov on behalf of Siemens Healthineers reveals Americans’ devotion to football fandom could put their heart health at risk. According to the survey, roughly 1 in 5 Americans (21%) would hesitate to leave a professional sporting event to go to the hospital if they suspected they were having a heart attack. Among American football fans, however, 28% would hesitate to leave a professional sporting event to go to the hospital if they suspected they were having a heart attack.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40LAkwP
PEE-XIETY: Via SWNS, VERBATIM: “Do you have bathroom anxiety? According to a new study, half of all Americans do, and a large majority put off going to the bathroom because of it. The poll of 2,000 U.S. adults found 92% have had to hold off on going to the bathroom so they don’t miss out on something exciting or important, and 51% have ‘pee-xiety’ — anxiety that strikes when people feel stuck in a situation that keeps them away from the bathroom for a long period of time.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40Kn37H
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
HOSPITALS: Minnesota Hospital Association CEO Rahul Koranne testified before the Minnesota House Health Finance and Policy Committee about struggles faced by hospitals around the country, including here in Minnesota. He talked about his beginning in medicine, working as a primary care provider in his home town of Starbuck. KORANNE: “The hospital in Starbuck is now closed. And, I’m worried about many of our other hospitals across the state of Minnesota . . . I’m worried about the sustainability of what our hospitals are trying to do for our patients and continue to provide access and the broad range of quality services and community benefits we provide to Minnesotans and that our patients need and have come to respect.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Ca3EUl
OBSTETRICS: From Ava Kian via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “University of Minnesota researchers have found that obstetrics units continue to close in rural counties in Minnesota and across the country. Minnesota has seen its fair share of obstetric (OB) unit closures, such as the Mayo Clinic Health System in New Prague, which closed its unit in early 2024, and Essentia Health-Fosston, which also closed in 2024. Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont reported its OB unit will close in March due to staffing shortages and other issues, including, according to a statement from the health system, ‘decreasing patient volumes and birth rates, and an increase in the number of patients with complex needs who need higher levels of care.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3WsGnUc
HEALTH AGENCIES: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “The Trump administration has put a freeze on many federal health agency communications with the public through at least the end of the month. In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dorothy Fink told agency staff leaders Tuesday that an ‘immediate pause’ had been ordered on — among other things — regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts and website posts until such communications had been approved by a political appointee.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hpJWm9
CANCELED: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “A flurry of scientific gatherings and panels across federal science agencies were canceled on Wednesday, at a time of heightened sensitivity about how the Trump administration will shift the agencies’ policies and day-to-day affairs. Several meetings of National Institutes of Health study sections, which review applications for fellowships and grants, were canceled without being rescheduled, according to agency notices reviewed by STAT. A Feb. 20-21 meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, a panel that advises the leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services on vaccine policy, was also canceled. So was a meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria that was scheduled for Jan. 28 and 29.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jq1GzR
CDC: Via CBS News, VERBATIM: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is operating without an acting director, multiple health officials confirm to CBS News, leaving the agency responsible for defending the U.S. against emerging pandemics and responding to health emergencies without a clear chain of command. A leadership vacuum atop the CDC is unprecedented. Under previous administrations, including the first term of President Trump, officials made sure either to immediately appoint their pick for the position or decide during the transition on whom would assume the top post in an acting capacity.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4h8d6Xj
RESEARCH: Via The Wall Street Journal, VERBATIM: “The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would halt federal funding, at least temporarily, for a risky and controversial kind of research into viruses that makes the pathogens more dangerous or contagious. The goal of the order would be to stop scientists with U.S. funding from conducting ‘gain-of-function’ research on viruses that could endanger human health, people familiar with the plans said. Some viruses, such as the H5N1 bird-flu pathogen, might be exempt from the order, one of the people said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g5TAJT
IMMIGRANTS: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “Donald Trump returned to the White House declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, suspending refugee admissions, and challenging birthright citizenship, or the policy of giving U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. As he begins carrying out the ‘largest deportation operation’ in the nation’s history, states have offered starkly different guidelines to hospitals, community clinics, and other health facilities for immigrant patients. Trump has also rescinded a long-standing policy not to arrest people without legal status at or near sensitive locations, including schools, churches, and hospitals. A proposal to formalize such protections died in Congress in 2023. But no matter the guidelines that states issue, hospitals around the U.S. say patients won’t be turned away for care because of their immigration status.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jHSCXl
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep.-Elect Kari Rehauer
Rep.-Elect Wayne Johnson
Rep. Elect Julie Greene
Rep. Elect Keith Allen
Rep. Elect Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
TODAY: Form Jackson Jirik via KEYC-TV, VERBATIM: “The Mankato Clinic Hearing Care Center is offering free children’s hearing screenings at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota. Families are invited to bring their children so they can learn about how doctors examine their ears. The hope is for the kids to gain comfortability around a doctor in a space where they feel safe and to answer any questions that parents might have.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/40Hidbg
RFK JR: Via Politico, VERBATIM: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a message that seems to be resonating in the Senate: He’s changed his mind. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is assuring the Republican senators who will decide whether he gets the job that he’s “all for” polio inoculations and that he won’t take away anyone’s vaccines. He has also told them he merely wants to make safety and efficacy data more readily available, lawmakers who’ve talked with Kennedy tell POLITICO.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3CxzJ8t
MEDICAID: From Larissa Donovan via KAXE-Radio, VERBATIM: “As a second Trump administration promises major reforms across the federal government, advocates for Medicaid access are concerned what trillions in cuts could mean for many American families. A new study released by Georgetown University indicates families in rural areas are more likely to rely on Medicaid health insurance coverage, compared to urban residents in the same state.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4h5EAgn
MORE: Via Georgetown University, from the study:
STUDY: https://fluence-media.co/4gbe4kp
ADHD: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “A study of more than 30,000 British adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D., found that, on average, they were dying earlier than their counterparts in the general population — around seven years earlier for men, and around nine for women. The study, which was published Thursday in The British Journal of Psychiatry, is believed to be the first to use all-cause mortality data to estimate life expectancy in people with A.D.H.D. Previous studies have pointed to an array of risks associated with the condition, among them poverty, mental health disorders, smoking and substance abuse.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4arQM8H
CHILDREN’S: From Children’s Minnesota via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Children’s Minnesota today announced the upcoming retirement of its esteemed President and CEO, Dr. Marc Gorelick, effective July 2025. Dr. Gorelick has led the organization with distinction as CEO since December of 2017, leaving a legacy of innovation, advocacy, and unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of children.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g6elVz
BRAINWAVES: from Alison Satake via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Mayo Clinic researchers have found a new way to more precisely detect and monitor brain cell activity during deep brain stimulation, a common treatment for movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and tremor. This precision may help doctors adjust electrode placement and stimulation in real time, providing better, more personalized care for patients receiving the surgical procedure.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4arOKFB
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
AI: From TUM via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “In recent years, researchers have made considerable progress with single-cell technology. This makes it possible to investigate tissue on the basis of individual cells and simply to determine the various functions of the individual cell types. The analysis can be used, for instance, to make comparisons with healthy cells to find out how smoking, lung cancer or a COVID infection change individual cell structures in the lung. At the same time, the analysis is generating ever-increasing quantities of data. The researchers intend to apply machine learning methods to support the process of re-interpreting existing datasets, deriving conclusive statements from the patterns and applying the results to other areas.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jxoNZp
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