Category: Hospitals

An Urban Hospital on the Brink Vs. the Officials Sworn to Save It

The wealthy corporation that owns Chicago’s Mercy Hospital says it must close the hospital because it’s losing money. A government board says no. The corporation still has the upper hand.

Health Workers Unions See Surge in Interest Amid Covid

Many front-line health workers who have faced a perpetual lack of PPE and inconsistent safety measures believe the government and their employers have failed to protect them from covid-19.

One Ambulance Ride Leads to Another When Packed Hospitals Cannot Handle Non-Covid Patients

A Kansas woman thought she’d find help at her local emergency room. What she found instead was a packed hospital and an ambulance ride to someplace else.

In Los Angeles and Beyond, Oxygen Is the Latest Covid Bottleneck

The oxygen delivery infrastructure is crumbling under pressure in Los Angeles and other covid hot spots, jeopardizing patients’ access to precious air and limiting hospital turnover.

Children’s Hospitals Grapple With Wave of Mental Illness

The disruption to daily life caused by the pandemic has increased the number of children seeking mental health care, further straining a system that already struggled to meet the need.

Hospital Prices Just Got a Lot More Transparent. What Does This Mean for You?

Under a rule that kicked in Jan. 1, hospitals are required to make public the prices they negotiate with insurers. That’s a lot more information than was previously required, which was only the posting of “chargemasters” — the hospital-generated list prices that few consumers or health plans actually pay.

Children’s Hospitals Are Partly to Blame as Superbugs Increasingly Attack Kids

A growing body of research shows that overuse and misuse of antibiotics in children’s hospitals is helping fuel superbugs, which typically strike frail seniors but are increasingly infecting kids. And the pandemic is making things worse.

‘Last Responders’ Brace for Surge in Covid Deaths Across US

In some parts of the country, the surge in covid cases is overwhelming coroners, morgues, funeral homes and religious leaders. It has required ingenuity and even changed the rituals of honoring the dead.

‘Nine Months Into It, the Adrenaline Is Gone and It’s Just Exhausting’

A UCSF emergency room physician reflects on California’s response to COVID-19 and on lessons learned — or not — as the coronavirus makes its second devastating surge.

‘Nine Months Into It, the Adrenaline Is Gone and It’s Just Exhausting’

A UCSF emergency room physician reflects on California’s response to COVID-19 and on lessons learned — or not — as the coronavirus makes its second devastating surge.