Category: states

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.

Trump Administration Approves First Medicaid Block Grant, in Tennessee

The plan, long endorsed by conservatives, would give the state broad authority in running the health insurance program for the poor in exchange for capping its annual federal funding.

As the Vulnerable Wait, Some Political Leaders’ Spouses Get Covid Vaccines

Spouses of governors and federal leaders are getting early access to scarce doses of covid-19 vaccines. Some officials have argued their inoculation sets an example for the public and shows the vaccines to be safe and effective. But critics say those doses should go to more vulnerable people first.

Do-It-Yourself Contact Tracing Is a ‘Last Resort’ in Communities Besieged by Covid

Covid-19 cases are spreading so fast that they’re outpacing the contact-tracing capacities of some local health departments. Faced with mounting caseloads, those departments are asking people who test positive for the coronavirus to do their own contact tracing.

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.

Black Women Find Healing (But Sometimes Racism, Too) in the Outdoors

A Colorado woman formed an adventure group to encourage other Black women to enjoy the outdoors, and now it has chapters across the U.S. and Canada. Yet many Black adventure seekers say they often face racism when partaking in healthy outdoor activities.

Covid ‘Decimated Our Staff’ as the Pandemic Ravages Health Workers of Color in US

Covid-19 has taken an outsize toll on Black and Hispanic Americans — and those disparities extend to medical workers.

Video: The Healthy Nurse Who Died at 40 on the COVID Frontline: ‘She Was the Best Mom I Ever Had’

Yolanda Coar was 40 when she died of COVID-19 in August 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. She was also a nurse manager, and one of nearly 3,000 frontline workers who have died in the U.S. fighting this virus, according to an exclusive investigation by The Guardian and KHN.

Live Free or Die if You Must, Say Colorado Urbanites — But Not in My Hospital

In a fracas between a largely rural county and neighboring cities, class and politics are just as relevant as the coronavirus. People are getting “stupid and mean,” as one mayor put it.

In Fast-Moving Pandemic, Health Officials Try to Change Minds at Warp Speed

It typically takes years of persuasion to change habits in the name of health safety. Local officials who are stuck with the responsibility of enforcing statewide pandemic-related mandates are trying to transform behavior fast.