Health Highlights: Nov. 16, 2008

ByABC News
November 16, 2008, 5:01 PM

Nov. 17 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Hurricane Ike's Destruction Causes Large Hospital Staff Cutbacks in Galveston

Hurricane Ike's devastation is still being felt, even though the storm hit Galveston Island more than two months ago. The latest fallout, the New York Times reports, is the loss of 3,800 jobs from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston's largest employer.

Those jobs represent one-third of the medical center's work force. The use of most of John Sealey Hospital, the main branch of the medical complex, which also includes a major trauma center and defense research center, has been lost, the newspaper reports.

Ike destroyed so many of the hospital's buildings that only the maternity ward remains open, the Times reports. The idea is to cut staff now and slowly rebuild the hospital and medical school during the next six months, significantly reducing a $40 million monthly loss since the hurricane hit in early September.

Karen H. Sexton, University of Texas vice president for hospitals and clinics, told the newspaper that there has been no emergency aid money from either the state or U.S. governments. Until that money comes, she said, the staff reductions were necessary. "We are committed to getting back into the health care business," she told the Times. "We know we have to be a lot smaller right now."

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Medical Panel Recommends $60 Million for Gulf War Illness Research

While the U.S. government is trying to handle the injuries and ailments suffered by thousands of Armed Services veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, an advisory panel is recommending millions of dollars for research into the illnesses suffered by as many as 210,000 soldiers who served in the 1991 Gulf War.

According to the Associated Press, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake will get a report Monday from a medical advisory panel recommending an increase of funds for research into what has become known as Gulf War illness, from $5 million to $60 million.