Wisconsin already faced a shortage of caregivers who offer crucial health services and independence to their clients. Then the pandemic struck. In a survey of nearly 500 Wisconsinites with disabilities and older adults, every respondent said the pandemic had disrupted their caregiving service.
Wisconsin hospitals had filed at least 104 lawsuits in small claims court since the state declared a public health emergency March 12. Most now say they are suspending the cases; one hospital has dismissed them after a reporter’s calls.
For rural physicians, the burden of responding to the opioid epidemic falls squarely on their already loaded shoulders. For one doctor in a small Wisconsin village, there was no question that she wanted to rise to the challenge.