Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Families Question Why Hospitals Told Black COVID Patients To Go Home
ProPublica: Sent Home To Die
Sarah Johnson spent her entire life taking care of people — the six children she raised, mostly alone, and the hospital patients she served in her 25 years as a nurse. But at 86, she was the one who needed care. She was thin and frail and had COVID-19. Her son Rodney Lavalais anguished over the fact that she was all by herself; he’d moved in with her four years ago after he saw her struggling to open a jar. But when the ambulance took her to Ochsner West Bank, a hospital in the New Orleans suburbs, he couldn’t come with her. (Waldman and Kaplan, 9/2)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Report: As Hospitals Filled, New Orleanians With Coronavirus Were More Likely To Be Sent Home To Die
As coronavirus patients swamped New Orleans hospitals this spring, the number of available ventilators and intensive care beds got critically low at times. But as health care providers struggled to keep up with the patient crush, doctors at some New Orleans hospitals made decisions about coronavirus patients that were at odds with those made by doctors elsewhere, according to an investigation published Wednesday by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica. (Gallo, 9/2)
In news from Florida —
Fox News: Florida Health Care Association Exec Reacts To State Lifting Coronavirus-Related Ban On Nursing Home Visits
By September, it had been about six months since Florida nursing homes had last allowed families to visit vulnerable seniors due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The restriction had "saved thousands of lives," Emmett Reed, the executive director of the Florida Health Care Association, told Fox News on Wednesday. However, he says it is about time to reunite seniors with family members, noting that facilities have made significant progress statewide since March. (Genovese, 9/2)
Kaiser Health News: Watch: Florida Gutted Its Public Health System Ahead Of Pandemic
KHN Midwest editor and correspondent Laura Ungar appeared on Spectrum News Bay News 9 to discuss her recent investigation with The Associated Press on how Florida slashed its local health departments — downsizing staffing from 12,422 full-time equivalent workers in 2010 to 9,125 in 2019 and cutting spending from $57 to $34 per resident over that period. The staffing and funding fell faster and further in the Sunshine State than the nation, leaving Florida especially unprepared for the worst health crisis in a century. Ungar also spoke on Fox 35 Orlando about the story, explaining how the cuts hampered the state’s ability to respond to the pandemic. (Ungar, (9/2)
The New York Times: As Covid Wanes In Florida, A City Battles ‘Pandemic Fatigue’
Of all the places in the country that are most vulnerable to the coronavirus, Hialeah is easy prey: a Hispanic blue-collar enclave outside Miami where households are packed, incomes are tight and work is essential. The virus lurks in the South Florida city’s nursing homes, nestles in its densely crowded apartment buildings and multiplies among families whose breadwinners must go out each day to toil at construction sites, hospitals and factories. (Mazzei, 9/2)
In news from California —
San Francisco Chronicle: Death Rate From COVID-19 In Prisons Twice Rate Of General Population
The death rate nationwide from COVID-19 is higher inside prison walls than outside and more than twice as high in California prisons, according to a study released Wednesday. The study by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, a nonprofit with bipartisan leadership, comes while inmate advocates are calling for more releases from overcrowded prisons, where cleaning supplies and protective equipment are sometimes limited, and social distancing is nearly impossible. (Egelko, 9/2)
CalMatters: CA’s Newsom Tries Again To Reopen State Amid Coronavirus
Will the third time be the charm for Gov. Gavin Newsom and his somewhat erratic efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic while preventing irreparable damage to the state’s once-vibrant economy? Newsom won widespread praise for his earliest efforts at preventing spread of the sometimes fatal coronavirus six months ago, ordering widespread shutdowns of consumer businesses such as restaurants and bars. It set California apart from other states, such as New York, that were experiencing sharp spikes in infections and deaths. (Walters, 9/2)
Los Angeles Times: EPA Chief Announces Projects To Address Border Sewage Spills
Federal investments in Tijuana River Valley infrastructure to address problems with sewage runoff could mean an end to beach closures that have plagued the South Bay in recent years, officials announced Wednesday in San Diego.Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, alongside local political leaders including San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, announced several projects funded in part by the agency at a news conference at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in San Diego. (Dyer, 9/2)
In news from Oregon and Washington —
AP: State Reaches Lowest Testing Positivity Rate In 2 Months
The rate of positive coronavirus tests in Oregon dropped to 4.4%, the lowest it has been in two months, officials from the state’s health authority said Wednesday. The weekly amount of cases in Oregon also continued to decline, decreasing 8.6 percent from the previous week. (Cline, 9/2)
AP: National Guard Headed To Pullman To Help Slow Coronavirus
The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus continues to grow rapidly in Whitman County, and various government agencies are working to slow the spread. A team from the Washington National Guard was headed to Pullman on Wednesday to set up a COVID-19 testing operation, according to county Director of Public Health Troy Henderson. (9/2)
In news from Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri and Texas —
Boston Globe: State Halts Admissions To Mission Hill Assisted Living Facility After Inspection
State officials have suspended the certification of a Boston assisted living facility after inspectors discovered that employees were locking dementia patients in their rooms to enforce a quarantine aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19. Inspectors from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs found a host of problems at the facility, Landmark at Longwood, when they investigated last month, describing it as an “unsafe environment” for residents with dementia or memory loss. They noted that, when they visited, the reception desk was unstaffed and some aides failed to wash their hands or wear gloves. (Estes, 9/2)
Detroit Free Press: Court Rules In Favor Of Mandatory Coronavirus Testing For Farms
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in favor of the state order mandating coronavirus testing for all farmworkers in Michigan. The court's decision was cheered by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and immigrant advocates who say the order protects farmworkers, most of whom are Latino immigrants. In a 3-0 ruling, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by farm owners in Michigan for a preliminary injunction to block the state order issued Aug. 3. In a lawsuit filed after the order, a group of farm owners had maintained that the state order unfairly targeted farms and was discriminatory since the workers affected are mostly Latino. (Warikoo, 9/2)
NBC News: Missouri Man Sentenced To 5 Years For Arson At Planned Parenthood Clinic
A Missouri man was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for throwing a firebomb into a Planned Parenthood clinic, federal prosecutors said. Wesley Brian Kaster, 43, of Columbia, was arrested in March 2019, about a month after he threw a Molotov cocktail inside the Columbia Health Center, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri said. He pleaded guilty two federal charges in November. (Helsel, 9/2)
Dallas Morning News: Dallas County To Open Quarantine Hotel For Residents With COVID-19
Dallas County Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that it would open a housing facility where residents with mild cases of COVID-19 can quarantine. The complex is intended to help prevent people from spreading the virus to others in their households, especially those who are elderly or immunocompromised, according to Dr. Philip Huang, the county’s director of health and human services. (Jimenez, 9/2)
