More than 93,000 COVID patients are hospitalized across the country. But beds and space aren’t the main concern for hospital administrators — It’s the health care workforce.
Category: Health Industry
OSHA Let Employers Decide Whether to Report Health Care Worker Deaths. Many Didn’t.
Four workers died at a facility with one of the largest U.S. outbreaks, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration never conducted an inspection. It’s a pattern that’s played out across the nation, a KHN investigation finds.
Thousands of Doctors’ Offices Buckle Under Financial Stress of COVID
Across the nation, primary care practices that were already struggling are closing, victims of the pandemic’s financial fallout. And this is reducing access to health care, especially in rural and other regions already short on doctors.
Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients to Cities, Straining Hospitals
Critically ill rural patients are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment, and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain. Meanwhile, mask-wearing and other pandemic prevention measures remain spotty in rural counties.
Need a COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 a Week
A shortage of nurses has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas.
Florida’s New Hospital Industry Head Ran Medicaid in State and Fought Expansion
The state’s hospital association in September picked Mary Mayhew to be its new CEO. While leading the state Medicaid office, she was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion program.
Government-Funded Scientists Laid the Groundwork for Billion-Dollar Vaccines
Drugmakers will walk away with massive profits, but much of the pioneering work on mRNA vaccines was done with government money.
Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVID’s Next Round
As the coronavirus surges around the country, workers in nursing homes and assisted living centers are watching cases rise in long-term care facilities with a sense of dread. Many of these workers struggle with grief over the suffering they’ve witnessed.
Five Important Questions About Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine
The drugmaker says its mRNA vaccine worked in 90% of patients in its trial, but some observers question how long immunity will last and who will benefit.
‘Is This Worth My Life?’: Traveling Health Workers Decry COVID Care Conditions
Frequently employed by staffing agencies based in other states, nurses and other healthcare professionals can find themselves working through crisis without advocates or adequate safety equipment.
