Week in review: 9 biggest healthcare stories this week

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Stay in the know with Becker's Hospital Review's weekly roundup of the nation's biggest healthcare news. Here's what you need to know this week.

1. Orlando Health's response to America's deadliest shooting at nightclub
Forty-nine people were killed and 53 were injured in a shooting at Pulse, an Orlando, Fla.-based LGBT nightclub early Sunday morning. A SWAT team killed the gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, at the scene. Orlando Health, a six-hopsital system with two affiliated hospitals, led the emergency response.

2. MedPAC issues June report to Congress
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its June 2016 report on Medicare payment policy to Congress, in which it gives a status report on the Medicare Advantage and Part D drug programs.

3. CMS' proposed rule for hospitals: Reduce antibiotic use or exit Medicare
On Monday, CMS released a proposed rule change to its Conditions of Participation which would, among other changes, require hospitals to implement antibiotic stewardship programs in order to participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

4. Brigham and Women's nurses set date for strike
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents 3,300 nurses at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital, voted Monday to authorize a one-day strike, The Boston Globe reports.

5. Accidental Zika infection at Pittsburgh lab
A lab worker from the University of Pittsburgh accidentally stuck herself with a needle while working with the Zika virus, resulting in what appears to be the first known Zika infection occurring in a laboratory, according to The New York Times.

6. NYC budget includes $700M boost for public hospitals
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council agreed on an $82.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2017, and the biggest new spending item is a $700 million funding boost for the city's public hospital system, according to Bloomberg.

7. 2 hospital EMTs resign after live-stream shows them ignore 911 call
Two emergency medical technicians employed by UniversityHospital in Newark, N.J., live-streamed a fast food run to WhiteCastle, which showed them ignoring an emergency call while waiting for their food, according to a News 12 report. The incident occurred on June 9. They have since resigned.

8. Scientists identify superbug in Rio Olympic water venues 
As if concerns regarding the safety of traveling to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics weren't high enough due to the Zika virus outbreak, two new unpublished academic studies suggest there may also be a dangerous drug-resistant "super bacteria" in the city's beach water and lagoon where various events are to be held, Reuters reports.

9. Ascension Wisconsin to close hospital
Ascension Wisconsin, part of St. Louis-based Ascension, will close 30-bed Wheaton Franciscan-Midwest Spine and Orthopedic Hospital and Wisconsin Heart Hospital in Wauwatosa on July 8.

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