Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Please Come Help Us': States, Hospitals Call On Retired Doctors, Med Students And Workers From Cold Spots For Relief
The Wall Street Journal: To Fight Coronavirus, States Call On Retired Medical Staff And New Graduates
Dr. Lay is among thousands of retired and inactive doctors and nurses who are returning to the field to help as the number of coronavirus patients surges, inundating health-care facilities across the U.S. In heavily hit New York, 76,000 health-care workers, many of them retired, had volunteered to help as of Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. In addition, some medical schools are starting to graduate students early so they can jump into the fray. Dr. Lay is working to get approved to also do telemedicine consultations, but said he is willing to do anything. “Heck, I can take out the garbage,” he said. Though he has spent time away from the field, he said: “An injured soldier is better than no soldier at all.” (De Avila and Chen, 3/31)
Stat: Volunteer Network Tries To Help Health Care Workers Who Have 'Helped Us'
It started with a need: With the closure of schools and a shortage of household supplies in local stores, health care professionals responding to the Covid-19 pandemic were struggling to support their families. In Minneosta, a couple of medical students came up with an idea. Why couldn’t they help try to relieve the burden? The result was a volunteer network throughout the state that matches medical students with health care workers in need of child care, pet-sitting, or just help with errands like grocery runs. (Zia, 3/31)
Los Angeles Times: Health Corps For Coronavirus Help Created In California
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an urgent call for healthcare workers to join the state in caring for an expected surge of COVID-19 patients while announcing an executive order to expand the services medical professionals can perform in their jobs. Newsom said he believes the state can add 37,000 healthcare workers by asking recently retired providers, those in the process of getting a medical license in the state and students enrolled in medical or nursing schools to apply to the newly created California Health Corps. (Gutierrez, 3/30)
WBUR: Cuomo Makes Plea To Medical Workers Nationwide: 'Please Come Help Us In New York'
More than 1,200 people have now died of the coronavirus in New York, but the worst of the outbreak has yet to arrive, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.Cuomo said the coronavirus is overtaxing the state's health care workers. He asked for the assistance of medical volunteers from other parts of the country as the pandemic continues to devastate New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. (Allyn, 3/30)
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Redeploy Specialists To COVID-19 Front Lines
As the pandemic sweeps the U.S., prominent health systems have rolled out plans to redeploy specialists who don't typically treat infectious diseases to care for patients battling the novel coronavirus. But nowhere has this shift taken on the same urgency as in New York City, which as of Monday morning had more than 36,000 COVID-19 cases. (Bannow and Castellucci, 3/30)
Kaiser Health News: Already Taxed Health Care Workers Not ‘Immune’ From Layoffs And Less Pay
Just three weeks ago, Dr. Kathryn Davis worried about the coronavirus, but not about how it might affect her group of five OB-GYNs who practice at a suburban hospital outside Boston. “In medicine we think we’re relatively immune from the economy,” Davis said. “People are always going to get sick; people are always going to need doctors.” Then, two weeks ago, she watched her practice revenue drop 50% almost overnight after Massachusetts officials told doctors and hospitals to stop performing elective tests and procedures. For Davis, that meant no more non-urgent gynecological visits and screenings. (Bebinger, 3/30)
Boston Globe: For Patients And Workers Alike, Home Health Visits Fraught With Fears Of Coronavirus
Those who need in-home care, ranging from housekeeping chores and help bathing to vital health services, are afraid of being infected by workers who travel from home to home. Workers, too, feel vulnerable as they worry about catching and transmitting the virus to their own families while trying to protect themselves and their clients amid a national shortage of masks. (Murphy and Weisman, 3/30)
ABC News: Doctor Who Shares Practice With Virus-Stricken Husband Says 'Commitment' To Patients Keeps Her Working
Dr. Luz Ares, a primary care physician who shares a private practice with her husband, Dr. Carlos Gonzalez, said he thought his allergies were acting up when he first began feeling symptoms of the novel coronavirus. It’s been 10 days since Gonzalez was admitted into the hospital for COVID-19 on the eve of their 38th wedding anniversary and his 66th birthday, Ares said. But with her husband in stable condition, Ares said she still has a "commitment" to caring for her patients in Elmhurst, New York, the so-called "ground zero" of COVID-19 in New York City. (Rivas, 3/31)
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Prompts Hospitals To Find Ways To Reuse Masks Amid Shortages
Hospitals and research groups are racing to roll out new ways to reuse face masks safely, an effort that could protect front-line workers grappling with shortages while also creating a potential path to reducing medical waste long term. As the coronavirus spreads, demand for N95 respirators is far outstripping supply, endangering the lives of health workers. The masks, which capture 95% of air particles when properly fitted, are a crucial defense against the virus but are typically used just once. (Chaudhuri, 3/31)
The Hill: Shortage Of Medical Gear Sparks Bidding War Among States
A shortage of life-saving medical gear has pitted states against each other and the federal government as they scramble to try to purchase the medical equipment needed to fight COVID-19. Governors have been pleading with the Trump administration to take charge and make sure states can access enough equipment, but President Trump has been reluctant to do so, urging states to order their own personal protective equipment. Experts and governors said the lack of a central coordinating authority has turned the medical supply market into a free-for-all. (Weixel, 3/30)
NBC News: 'So Many Patients Dying': Doctors Say NYC Public Hospitals Reeling From Coronavirus Cases
A doctor at a major public hospital in New York City described having worn a single N95 mask, a critical tool in protection from the coronavirus, for an entire week. Normally, the Brooklyn doctor would change it after every visit with a patient. Colleague after colleague, including nurses and residents, have been falling sick with the virus. Patients were coming in for unrelated health issues and suddenly testing positive for coronavirus after coming to the hospital. (Silva, 3/30)
NBC News: No Evidence For Trump's Suggestion That Masks Are 'Going Out The Back Door' Of New York Hospitals
President Donald Trump again questioned the rate at which a hospital in New York is using medical supplies, suggesting that theft was why the unnamed facility needs 300,000 masks a week. The president claimed Monday that a distributor told him that a New York hospital's mask purchases were far too high to reflect actual need. "There's only a couple of things that could happen — is it going out the back door? And I've reported it to the city and let the city take a look at it. But when you go to 10,000 masks to 300,000 masks... there's something going on," Trump said during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House. (Timm, 3/30)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Agency Auctioned Off Small Lots Of N95 Masks In February
As the coronavirus was emerging as an international concern, a U.S. government agency sold 80 cases of protective masks that are now in high demand, though it canceled another sale weeks later as the nation was bracing for a domestic outbreak, reserving them for government use. The quantity of masks sold by the GSA was a tiny fraction of what is needed nationwide. Because of high demand, officials around the country are scrambling for additional masks, with some medical workers having to re-use them due to the shortage. (Kendall, 3/30)
