Is living near a hospital good for your health?

+ the dangers of 'gas station heroin' US Edition - Today's top story: Nonprofit hospitals have an obligation to help their communities, but the people who live nearby may see little benefit [View in browser]( US Edition | 29 January 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [The stark choice in front of El Salvador’s voters]( - [How Netanyahu’s popularity slump affects the war]( - [The history of the alphabet – from A to Z]( Lead story More than half of U.S. hospitals get tax breaks due to their nonprofit status, saving them billions of dollars a year. In exchange, those hospitals are supposed to provide “charity care” and engage in other activities the government calls “community benefit.” But the requirements are vague and poorly enforced. A growing body of research suggests that many nonprofit hospitals aren’t keeping their end of the bargain overall. Jonathan Wynn, a UMass Amherst sociologist, and Daniel Skinner, an Ohio University political scientist, zoom in to see whether three prominent nonprofit hospitals in Colorado, Connecticut and Ohio are benefiting the people living in their immediate vicinity. They found that [local residents were generally in worse health]( than others in their cities. And many people living nearby confided to researchers that they avoided seeking care in those hospitals because they feared ending up with bills they wouldn’t be able to afford. [ [Understand what’s going on in Washington and around the world. Get our Politics Weekly newsletter.]( ] Emily Schwartz Greco Philanthropy + Nonprofits Editor Scholars interviewed people living near the University of Colorado Hospital to assess whether it’s a good neighbor. John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images [Nonprofit hospitals have an obligation to help their communities, but the people who live nearby may see little benefit]( Jonathan Wynn, UMass Amherst; Daniel Skinner, Ohio University Standards are vague, and the IRS, which is tasked with enforcement, hasn’t provided much oversight. Politics + Society - [Colorado voters seeking to disqualify Trump from the ballot tell Supreme Court Jan. 6 ‘will forever stain’ US history]( Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University In their Supreme Court brief, Colorado residents seeking to bar Trump from their state’s ballot say that ‘Trump intentionally organized and incited a violent mob to attack the US Capitol.’ - [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a dilemma: Free the hostages or continue the war in Gaza?]( Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles A scholar of Israeli politics explains why Israelis are increasingly turning against Netanyahu and his promise that Israel can quickly defeat Hamas and bring Israeli hostages home. - [Nonwhite people are drastically underrepresented in local government]( Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Harvard Kennedy School As in the federal and state governments, local elected officials are more likely to be white than their constituents. At times, such as with school boards, the differences are particularly stark. International - [El Savador voters set to trade democracy for promise of security in presidential election]( Mneesha Gellman, Emerson College Mass arrests and the suspension of constitutional rights have been a feature of President Nayib Bukele’s tenure. A fresh mandate from voters will likely entrench his hardline approach. - [What latest polling says about the mood in Ukraine – and the desire to remain optimistic amid the suffering]( Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech As war drags on, more Ukrainians say that they are prepared to negotiate – but the majority still reject any deal with Russia. Health + Medicine - [Popularly known as ‘gas station heroin,’ tianeptine is being sold as a dietary supplement – with deadly outcomes]( C. Michael White, University of Connecticut Tianeptine is dangerous as an active ingredient, but the products containing it have no quality control and could be contaminated with metals, microorganisms or other undisclosed drugs. Science + Technology - [That sharp, green smell of freshly cut grass? It’s a plant’s cry for help – and it may work as a less toxic pesticide for farmers]( Sasimonthakan Tanarsuwongkul, University of South Carolina Green plants produce a specific gas when under attack to both directly ward off herbivores and pathogens and indirectly lure in herbivore predators. - [Cybercrime victims who aren’t proficient in English are undercounted – and poorly protected]( Fawn Ngo, University of South Florida The federal government’s web portal for reporting cybercrimes is of little use if you have limited proficiency with English. Ethics + Religion - [Is criticism of Israel antisemitic? A scholar of modern Jewish history explains]( Joshua Shanes, College of Charleston In recent years, the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Zionism has taken on renewed importance and competing definitions of antisemitism have emerged. What is antisemitism? Arts + Culture - [Who created the alphabet? A historian describes the millennia-long story of the ABCs]( Jane Sancinito, UMass Lowell Turns out ‘A’ didn’t have to be the first letter in the alphabet, nor ‘Z’ the last. Trending on site - [Your body already has a built-in weight loss system that works like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro – food and your gut microbiome]( - [A newly identified ‘Hell chicken’ species suggests dinosaurs weren’t sliding toward extinction before the fateful asteroid hit]( - [Breaking down fat byproducts could lead to healthier aging − researchers identify a key enzyme that does just that]( Reader Comments 💬 “...[I was] the lead author of “Netter’s Concise Radiologic Anatomy” which attempted to bridge that gap between what things look like on Netter’s drawings and what they can look like on medical images. This was a very different book than the several excellent reference texts which label anatomic structures on series of orthogonal cross sectional images (“slices” in the sagittal, coronal, and axial planes). Our book showed how the Netter’s perspective on important anatomical relations could be shown best with medical images. We talked about the computer mouse being the new dissection tool.” – Edward Weber on the story, [Pictures have been teaching doctors medicine for centuries − a medical illustrator explains how]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly and biweekly emails: • [Weekly Highlights]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( • [Global Perspectives]( • [Global Economy & Business]( Trying out new social media? Follow us: • [Threads]( • [Bluesky]( • [Mastodon](• [Post.news]( • [LinkedIn]( - - About The Conversation We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. 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