Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Most Health Professionals Who Got Covid Caught It At Work, Early
CIDRAP: Most COVID-Infected Healthcare Workers Were Exposed At Work Early In Pandemic
In its first evaluation of COVID-19 exposures among US healthcare professionals (HCPs) over the first year of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that most HCPs were likely infected at work rather than in the community. The study, published yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control, used national surveillance data on 83,775 HCPs with information on where they were likely infected with COVID-19 from Mar 1, 2020, to Mar 31, 2021. (4/14)
And more on how the pandemic has affected health care workers —
Oklahoman: Oklahoma Sen. Julie Daniels Under Fire For Not Hearing PTSD Bill
The head of the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police is crying foul after the chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee declined to hear a bill that would have given workers' compensation benefits to first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. FOP President Mark Nelson said it was disappointing that Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, declined to give a hearing to the bill from Rep. Chris Kannady, R-Oklahoma City, that they have been trying to pass for six years. Daniels chalked up the issue to a policy disagreement. (Forman, 4/14)
Side Effects Public Media: Children Of Health Care Workers Had A Front Row Seat To The Pandemic. It Took A Toll
Seven-year-old Phil Will still recognizes where the tape that split his house into two sides was glued to the ground. The kitchen and shelves where his mom stores board games were on one side, and the staircase leading to the basement was on the other side. That tape stayed there for more than four months before his parents ripped it off. It did not leave much of an imprint on the ground, but it left a big one on Phil’s mental health. In March 2020, when most people felt a knot in their stomachs as they watched COVID-19 news coverage, Phil had a front row seat to the pandemic’s most uncertain and scariest moments, because his dad is a doctor at a hospital in Indianapolis. (Yousry, 4/15)
KHN: It’s Not Just Doctors And Nurses. Veterinarians Are Burning Out, Too
At the park near Duboce Triangle in San Francisco, 5 p.m. is canine happy hour. About 40 dogs run around, chasing balls and wrestling, as their owners coo and ’90s hip-hop bumps out of a portable speaker. One recent afternoon, a Chihuahua mix named Honey lounged on a bench wearing a blue tutu and a string of pearls. Her owner, Diana McAllister, fed her homemade treats from a zip-close bag, then popped one into her own mouth. (Dembosky, 4/15)
In other news —
Houston Chronicle: America Faces A Serious Shortage Of Home Healthcare Workers. A New Houston Co-Op Says They Have A Fix
A group of Houstonians has created one of Texas’ only cooperatives for home care workers aimed at creating a self-sustaining community care network and providing higher wages amid a growing national shortage of at-home care providers. The new collaborative gives its care providers a $15 minimum hourly wage, a share in annual profits and a say in business and budgetary decisions. Many graduates of the co-op’s five-week training sessions are single mothers who live in Houston’s Third and Fifth wards, where they say there is a desperate need for access to higher-wage jobs and affordable, long-term elderly care. (Downen, 4/15)
Houston Chronicle: Scared, Exhausted Texas CPS Workers Get More Shifts Watching Foster Kids In Unlicensed Facilities
For more than a year, Texas CPS employees have been sounding alarm bells over the state’s practice of lodging dozens of foster children with acute needs in hotels and other temporary housing, overseen by caseworkers who are not trained to care for them and cannot discipline them. The problem hit a high point last summer, with 416 foster children lacking a permanent place to stay. Since then, the number has dropped dramatically — 184 kids didn’t have a placement in all of March, and 69 were awaiting placements early this week. (Harris and McKinley, 4/15)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Workers Warn Of The Harms Of Consolidation
The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department asked for input as they rework their horizontal and vertical merger guidelines. Most speakers claimed that mergers and acquisitions involving hospitals, physicians, pharmacy benefit managers and insurers have increased prices, stifled wages and reduced care quality. "One thing that we often hear from hospital executives that are trying to get their deal through is that the merger will be efficient, it will lower costs and let them improve quality," FTC Chair Lina Kahn said after hearing commentary from nurses, physicians, pharmacists and patients. "As we've heard from several of you, sometimes that cost cutting can come at the expense of quality of care." (Kacik, 4/14)
KHN: Readers And Tweeters Sound Alarm Over Nurse’s Homicide Trial
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (4/15)
