Healthcare Roundup—First Lady reveals policy platform; Sutter Health under fire for labor violations

Melania Trump unveils "Be Best" policy platform that focuses children's health 

The First Lady officially revealed her policy priorities Monday afternoon, focusing on several areas crucial to the health of children, including their mental and physical well-being, as well as the impact of cyberbullying and the opioids crisis.

Melania Trump's program, titled "Be Best," focuses on educating children on the issues and risks that they may face, she announced at a ceremony in The White House Rose Garden. Trump was criticized for speaking out on cyberbullying, as President Donald Trump is well known for throwing barbs at his opponents on Twitter. 

"Together I believe we should strive to provide kids with the tools they need to cultivate their social and mental health," Trump said. (Announcement) 

Sutter Health staffers accuse the system of labor violations 

Hearings began Monday over a series of complaints from 30 Sutter Health staff members who say that they were prevented from taking breaks. 

The complaints, which were obtained by The Sacramento Bee, seek a wide range of damages, with some suing for a few thousand and others suing for tens of thousands in lost wages and penalties. Sutter told the newspaper that the claims were investigated and that the system believes the employees were "paid appropriately." 

California law mandates that workers have a 30-minute meal break within the first five hours of a shift and that they earn a 10-minute rest for every four hours of work. If they're not afforded a meal break, they're owed an hour of back pay. (The Sacramento Bee) 

Bay Area Regional Medical Center to close, declare bankruptcy 

Bay Area Regional Medical Center in Texas will be permanently shuttered on Thursday and will be forced to file bankruptcy, it announced Friday. 

The 191-bed hospital opened in 2014 and is the second Houston-area hospital to close in the past six months. In an internal memo obtained by the Houston Chronicle, CEO Stephen K. Jones, Jr. told employees that the hospital was not able to "overcome significant hurdles with managed care companies." 

Local hospitals were notified of the closure so that Bay Area Regional could transfer its patients to those facilities, Jones said. (Houston Chronicle) 

Azar, Collins push for All of Us participation 

Enrollment for the National Institutes of Health's All of Us project launched nationwide over the weekend, and the media blitz to draw in participants has begun. 

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., published a joint editorial on Monday highlighting how interested people can get involved in the initiative. All of Us is a massive precision medicine program that aims to collect data on 1 million people over the next five to six years. 

"Every bit of health information you contribute will be important to the success of this national endeavor," Azar and Collins said. (USA Today)