Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Tension Ramping Up Between Health Care Workers, Hospitals Over Personal Protective Equipment
The New York Times: Frightened Doctors In Coronavirus Pandemic Face Off With Hospitals Over Gear
Just after 6:30 on a recent morning, Dr. Henry Nikicicz, an anesthesiologist in Texas, finished an emergency intubation of a man in his 70s who was suffering severe respiratory distress. Then the doctor’s own trouble began. Stepping out of an elevator after finishing the procedure, Dr. Nikicicz put his respirator face mask back on when he saw a group of people walking down the hallway toward him — reflexively trying to protect himself, and them, should anyone have been infected by the coronavirus. In the days that followed, Dr. Nikicicz said, he was told that his job was at risk because policy at the hospital where he works, University Medical Center in El Paso, prohibited the use of protective masks in the hallways. (Richtel, 3/31)
The New York Times: Traders Seek China's Masks To Help U.S. Hospitals Battle The Coronavirus
Million-dollar wire transfers to strangers. Rumors of hidden supplies in forgotten warehouses. Wheeler-dealers trying to talk regulators and customs officials into letting that one precious shipment through. Global desperation to protect front-line medical workers battling the coronavirus epidemic has spurred a mad international scramble for masks and other protective gear. Governments, hospital chains, clinics and entrepreneurs are scouring the world for personal protection equipment they can buy or sell — and a new type of trader has sprung up to make that happen. (Bradsher, 4/1)
PBS NewsHour: For Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19, Crisis Spurred Innovation
In response to the growing strain brought on by the pandemic, providers are coming up with new workarounds when the normal protocols, like seeing patients in person, have become fraught with risk. Meanwhile, how health care institutions approach potential cases of COVID-19 is entirely dependent on what resources they have at their disposal — a dilemma that may spur innovation, born of tough choices. (Isaacs-Thomas, 3/31)
KQED: DIYers Rally To Make 'Last Resort' Face Masks For Health Care Workers
Across the Bay Area and beyond, crafty people have mobilized to make face masks for health care workers, who are reporting dire protective equipment shortages. There’s a whole lot of heart in the effort, but are these homemade jobs truly suited to front line health care workers confronting COVID-19? That depends on how desperate they are. (Myrow, 3/31)
Crain's Chicago Business: Medline Resumes Ethylene Oxide Operations, Plans To Resterilize Used N95 Masks
The medical supplier's emission control system meets state approval. So now it is looking for a federal OK to re-sterilize used face masks for hospitals.Medline Industries is pursuing U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of a plan to resterilize hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers' face masks now that sterilization services are back online at its Waukegan, Il. facility. (Asplund, 3/31)
Politico: Lawmakers Grow Desperate In Hunt For Supplies To Shield Health Workers
As Speaker Nancy Pelosi draws up plans for the next coronavirus rescue package, lawmakers on the ground say they’re faced with a more urgent task: finding basic supplies for doctors and nurses. Democrats and Republicans across the country say they’re desperately trying to acquire masks, gloves and ventilators for the most at-risk health care workers in their districts — a crisis that, for now, can’t be solved with simply more cash. (Ferris and Caygle, 4/1)
San Francisco Chronicle: As California Stops Releasing Data About Health Workers’ Coronavirus Infections, Nurses Cry Foul
The California Department of Public Health drastically curtailed the kind of coronavirus data it is sharing with the public this week — including the number of health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 each day — at a time when the public is hungry for the information. To the consternation of health care workers who say infection details are crucial to tracking and halting the pandemic, the state health department announced Monday that it will report only the running total number of statewide infections every day, rather than breaking down where they came from. (Moench, 4/1)
WBUR: Mass. Prisoners Are Making Masks, Gowns And Other Coronavirus Supplies
The scarcity of supplies to protect against the coronavirus has prompted one sheriff to tap prisoners for help. Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi said 20 prisoners are making masks and gowns at the jail in Ludlow. He said so far, they've made about 1,000 items to be used mostly at the jail, but also for some first responders. (Becker, 3/31)
ABC News: EMS On The Front Lines Dealing With 'Madness,' Sleeping In Their Cars To Avoid Infecting Their Families
Emergency medical service workers in Queens, New York, described living and working in what amounts to a "war zone" as they seek to help residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We have thousands of people that are sick. Thousands that are dying," Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY-EMS Local 2507, told ABC News on Tuesday. "It's all over our city. It's not just an isolated case. It's all around us." (Pilgrim, O'Brien, Margolin and Francis, 3/31)
ABC News: As Coronavirus Patients Surge, Medical Students Rushed Into Practice To Fight Pandemic
The United States health care system is mobilizing to triage a public health emergency that is rapidly taking members of its workforce out of the ranks... Amid an alarming rise in cases in California where hospitalizations have doubled and ICU admissions have tripled in recent days, Gov. Gavin Newsom launched an initiative Monday aimed at increasing the ranks of the state's health care workforce in advance of an expected surge in coronavirus patients. "If you're a nursing school student, a medical school student, we need you," Gov. Newsom said at a press conference Monday. (Cannon, 4/1)
Boston Globe: R.I. Governor Raimondo Pleads For Retired Doctors And Nurses To Help With The State’s Coronavirus Outbreak
As the number of Rhode Islanders becoming infected with the coronavirus shot up overnight, Governor Gina M. Raimondo called on all retired and part-time medical professionals to sign up to help the state handle the pandemic. Rhode Island is in “desperate need” of trained medical and behavioral health professionals, Raimondo said during a news conference Tuesday at the State House. (Milkovits, 3/31)
Boston Globe: Boston Medical Center Furloughs 10 Percent Of Its Workforce As Part Of Cutbacks Across The Health Care Industry
Boston Medical Center is putting 700 employees on furlough — about 10 percent of its workforce — as it braces for major financial losses from the coronavirus pandemic.Like other hospitals, it cut elective surgeries and nonurgent medical appointments to slow the spread of the virus and to make space for patients sick with the virus. The top official at the hospital, which serves much of the city’s indigent population, said that a sudden and drastic drop in revenue is the reason behind the painful move. (Dayal McCluskey, 3/31)
ProPublica: A Major Medical Staffing Company Just Slashed Benefits For Doctors And Nurses Fighting Coronavirus
Emergency room doctors and nurses many of whom are dealing with an onslaught of coronavirus patients and shortages of protective equipment — are now finding out that their compensation is getting cut. Most ER providers in the U.S. work for staffing companies that have contracts with hospitals. Those staffing companies are losing revenue as hospitals postpone elective procedures and non-coronavirus patients avoid emergency rooms. Health insurers are processing claims more slowly as they adapt to a remote workforce. (Arnsdorg, 3/31)
Stat: Private Equity-Backed Company Slashes Doctor Benefits Amid Covid-19
A private equity-backed health care company is slashing its doctors’ benefits in response to the coronavirus pandemic, even as many of those same doctors work to treat patients infected with the virus. Alteon Health, which employs about 1,700 emergency medicine doctors and other physicians who staff hospital emergency rooms across the country, announced it would suspend paid time off, matching contributions to employees’ 401(K) retirement accounts, and discretionary bonuses in response to the pandemic, according to an email obtained by STAT. (Facher, 1/1)
