How Boise area health care has changed in recent months

Boise’s health care landscape has shifted quickly in recent months. Lawmakers passed new rules, like House Bill 345, which adds work requirements for Medicaid expansion recipients and seeks to control costs through a network of providers on fixed budgets. Another bill would give medical workers the right to refuse non-emergency services, such as vaccines, due to moral or religious beliefs, raising concerns about access in rural communities.

Dr. Jason Bronner sits down with patient Patricia Alexander during her appointment at St. Luke’s Health System’s internal medicine clinic at 4840 N. Cloverdale Road in Boise on Feb. 28, 2024. By Angela Palermo

NO. 1: COULD DOCTORS REFUSE TO GIVE VACCINES? IDAHO BILL WOULD ALLOW DENIAL OVER ‘MORAL’ BELIEFS

Lawmakers want to let doctors bow out of procedures that violate their beliefs. Former St. Luke’s head says the bill “misrepresents” medical ethics. | Published March 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Sarah Cutler

Idaho State Capitol Building in Boise, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. By Darin Oswald

NO. 2: IDAHO GOV. BRAD LITTLE SIGNS NEW LAW TO CUT MEDICAID EXPANSION. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS

“We want Idahoans to become as self-sufficient as possible,” Little said. | Published March 19, 2025 | Read Full Story by Sarah Cutler

NO. 3: HEALTH BOARD SERVING CANYON COUNTY VOTES TO STOP OFFERING COVID-19 VACCINE AT ITS CLINICS

Several doctors opposed to the vaccine presented at the meeting. | Published October 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Palermo

Surgeon Dr. Parker Fillmore, was the trauma medical director at West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell for two months before receiving a letter from his former employer, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, that they were enforcing the noncompete clause of his contract with them. He was forced to step away from his job in Caldwell for 18 months. Dr. Fillmore hopes Idaho will move away from noncompete clauses for medical doctors who move from one job to another in an already stressed health care environment. By Darin Oswald

NO. 4: HE LED TRAUMA CARE AT ONE OF IDAHO’S BIGGEST HOSPITALS. NOW, HE’S SUING

The former director of trauma care at Saint Alphonsus is suing the Boise hospital. This is why, and what Saint Alphonsus says about it. | Published May 2, 2025 | Read Full Story by Angela Palermo

A teen boy gets an adhesive bandage on his arm after getting the Covid-19 vaccine. By portishead1

NO. 5: CENTRAL DISTRICT HEALTH IN BOISE VOTES TO KEEP OFFERING COVID VACCINE. BARELY

Here’s how the seven board members voted regarding the health district that serves four counties. | Published May 10, 2025 | Read Full Story by Angela Palermo

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.