KHN’s Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don’t have to.
Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Fly Free as Health Departments Focus on Coronavirus
Health departments and other public agencies tasked with protecting the nation from disease-carrying mosquitoes are overstretched amid the coronavirus pandemic — even as the nation is told it’s safest to be outside.
Mientras los departamentos de salud se enfocan en COVID, mosquitos vuelan libres
Todos los recursos de salud pública están enfocados en COVID, dejando volar libres a millones de mosquitos, sin control, que pueden transmitir enfermedades potencialmente mortales.
Un sistema de salud pública devastado enfrenta más recortes en medio del virus
El sistema de salud pública de los Estados Unidos ha subsistido en la precariedad durante décadas y carece de los recursos necesarios para enfrentar la peor crisis de salud en un siglo.
Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus
The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources necessary to confront the worst health crisis in a century. An investigation by The Associated Press and KHN has found that since 2010, spending for state public health departments has dropped by 16% per capita and for local health departments by 18%. At least 38,000 public health jobs have disappeared, leaving a skeletal workforce for what was once viewed as one of the world’s top public health systems. That has left the nation unprepared to deal with a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million people and killed more than 126,000.
Hospital Executive Charged In $1.4B Rural Hospital Billing Scheme
In an investigation last year, KHN detailed the rise and fall of Miami businessman Jorge A. Perez’s rural hospital empire, which spanned eight states and encompassed half of the rural hospital bankruptcies in 2019.
Public Health Officials Face Wave Of Threats, Pressure Amid Coronavirus Response
Public health officials are confronting growing pressure — and threats — across the country as the backlash to the coronavirus response continues. At least 27 state and local health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 13 states.
Elevadores en tiempos de COVID-19, un desafío de la vuelta al trabajo
La mayoría de los ascensores son espacios estrechos y cerrados donde apenas caben dos personas si se quiere mantener una distancia de 6 pies para prevenir la propagación del coronavirus.
The Elevator Arises As The Latest Logjam In Getting Back To Work
As more and more people drift back into their workplaces, they face a very small space that can create a large logjam: the elevator.
The COVID-19 Bailout That’s Left Every Hospital Unhappy In Its Own Way
Despite intense lobbying for a piece of the $100 billion bailout pot, big New York hospitals and rural systems alike say they aren’t getting a fair share.
‘When It Starts Getting Into Your Local Hospital, It Becomes Real’
Located about 45 minutes from New Orleans in one of the hardest-hit counties nationally, the 25-bed rural St. James Parish Hospital has hunkered down as staffers became infected, patient intake numbers have doubled, and intubations have skyrocketed. This is what it looks like inside a rural hospital when COVID-19 hits.
Trump Administration Uses Wartime Powers To Be First In Line On Medical Supplies
As states scour the world for masks and other protective medical equipment, the federal government has repeatedly invoked a little-known clause in the Defense Production Act to step to the front of the line for sought-after health supplies.
As The Country Disinfects, Diabetes Patients Can’t Find Rubbing Alcohol
Demand has exploded for rubbing alcohol and alcohol swabs, which are being deployed in the disinfection fight against the coronavirus. Now, people with diabetes who rely on the products for infection control are left scrambling.
Los suministros para combatir a COVID-19 en hospitales están llegando desde el cielo
Hospitales están recurriendo a distribuidores privados y al Ejército de los Estados Unidos para transportar por vía aérea millones de máscaras protectoras y otros suministros hospitalarios desde China.
Hospital Suppliers Take To The Skies To Combat Dire Shortages Of COVID-19 Gear
As the coronavirus sweeps the nation, a new survey reveals widespread medical gear shortages while hospitals give up on a fractured supply chain and take matters into their own hands with planes sprinting past cargo ships.
Coronavirus Threatens The Lives Of Rural Hospitals Already Stretched To Breaking Point
Almost half of the nation’s rural hospitals operate in the red on a good day. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital CEOs warn that soon some may be unable to pay their workers. And their doors may close when the community most needs them.
As Coronavirus Testing Gears Up, Specialized Swabs Running Out
Nationwide, testing for coronavirus is ramping up. But the supply of specialty swabs needed to collect potential coronavirus specimens can’t keep up with demand, creating a bottleneck in testing capabilities. So two top manufacturers are working with U.S. and Italian governments to increase production.
Coronavirus Puts Prisons In Tight Spot Amid Staff Shortages, Threats Of Lockdown
As the coronavirus threat rises, prisons are grappling with the possibility of nationwide lockdowns and calls for prisoner releases.
Coronavirus Tests Public Health Infrastructure In The Heartland
While Missouri has yet to have a confirmed case of coronavirus, the threat of the disease is siphoning resources from an already stretched-thin public health system.
No Quick Fix: Missouri Finds Managing Pain Without Opioids Isn’t Fast Or Easy
In the first nine months of an alternative pain management program in Missouri, only a small fraction of the state’s Medicaid recipients have accessed the chiropractic care, acupuncture, physical therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy meant to combat the overprescription of opioids.
