Category: states

Amid Surge, Hospitals Hesitate To Cancel Nonemergency Surgeries

Unlike earlier in the year, most hospitals are not proactively canceling elective surgeries, even in some places seeing spikes in coronavirus patients.

In Texas, Individual Freedoms Clash With Efforts To Slow The Surge Of COVID Cases

In Houston, now a hot spot for COVID cases, not everyone agrees on how to deal with the pandemic.

COVID Cuts A Lethal Path Through San Quentin’s Death Row

Executions have been on hold in California since 2006, stalled by a series of legal challenges. But COVID-19 is proving a lethal presence on San Quentin’s death row.

‘Please Tell Me My Life Is Worth A LITTLE Of Your Discomfort,’ Nurse Pleads

Health care workers on the front lines of the COVID crisis have spent exhausting months working and self-quarantining off-duty to keep from infecting others, including their families. Encountering people who indignantly refuse face coverings can feel like a slap in the face.

Life Beyond COVID Seclusion: Seniors See Challenges And Change Ahead

Some are grieving the loss of precious time in late life. Others are adjusting their ideas of what is possible and making the best of it.

What Seniors Should Know Before Going Ahead With Elective Procedures

People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.

Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment For Another Epidemic: Addiction

The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.

‘I Couldn’t Let Her Be Alone’: A Peaceful Death Amid the COVID Scourge

For three years, staffers at UCLA Health have been quietly fulfilling final wishes for dying patients in the intensive care unit. Amid the isolating forces of the pandemic, their work has become all the more meaningful.

Among Those Disrupted By COVID-19: The Nation’s Newest Doctors

For new medical residents, this has been a year like no other. In part that’s because getting from here to there — from medical school to residency training sites — has been complicated by the coronavirus.

How We Reported ‘Underfunded And Under Threat’

To assess the state of the public health system in the United States, KHN and The Associated Press analyzed data on government spending and staffing at national, state and local levels. Here’s what data we used and how we did it.