ROBOTIC LIVER TRANSPLANT: Surgeons at New York-Presbyterian’s Weill Cornell Medicine performed a robotic liver transplant this month, marking the first such procedure to take place in the state, the hospital said Thursday. During the nine-hour procedure, which took place on April 1, a team of surgeons used robotic technology to make smaller incisions than what’s typically used in an “open” liver transplant, which clinicians say could lead to shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries. New York-Presbyterian is one of three medical programs in the nation to perform a robotic liver transplant, the hospital said.
UNION PROBE: The House Committee on Education and Workforce requested that the federal Office of Labor Standards investigate financial misconduct of health care labor giant 1199SEIU, according to a letter sent to the agency by Congressman Tim Walberg on Thursday. The letter comes after a report in Politico found that the union’s president, George Gresham, used members’ monthly dues to cover personal expenses such as travel, caregiving costs and concerts coinciding with his family reunions. Walberg, a Republican, said that the allegations raise serious concerns that officers have used the union treasury as a “personal slush fund” rather than for the purpose of benefiting members.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINIC: VNS Health launched a new behavioral health clinic in Mott Haven on Thursday that offers mental health and substance use services. The clinic, which holds a dual license to treat mental health and substance use disorders, offers crisis intervention and care coordination services that can reach patients with multiple behavioral illnesses, aiming to provide a “one-stop shop” for community-based behavioral health care, VNS said. The new facility aims to treat high rates of mental illness and overdose in the Bronx.
