In addition to hard rains and wind from a tropical storm, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake centered near Ojai hit California on Sunday, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California and Maryland.

• California: In addition to hard rains and wind from a tropical storm, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake centered near Ojai hit California on Sunday. However, officials say the earthquake is unlikely to have caused serious damage. "Generally it's sounding as if people felt the shake, and they got the alerts, and no impacts," said Jackie Ruiz, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management. The quake came as the state was being hit by Tropical Storm Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years. (Millward, The Telegraph, 8/21; Fuller/Karlamangla, New York Times, 8/21)
• Maryland: CMS last week released a request for applications to participate in its Making Care Primary Model, a new value-based payment model aimed at strengthening coordination between primary care clinicians, specialists, social service providers, and behavioral health clinicians to prevent chronic disease, reduce ED visits, and improve health outcomes. Organizations participating in the program need to have at least 125 Medicare patients and more than half of their primary care sites in one of the eight participating states. (AHA News, 8/15)
• Maryland: NIH last week announced it will provide $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence as part of the agency's Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative. These centers will develop and evaluate new approaches for reducing pregnancy-related complications and deaths and work to promote maternal health equity. The centers of excellence will include 10 research centers, a data innovation and coordinating hub, and an implementation science hub, and will focus specifically on populations experiencing health disparities, including racial and ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. (NIH press release, 8/17)