Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'We Had No Idea What Was Going To Hit Us': Community Physicians From Queens Face Unique Challenges In Virus War
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Takes Severe Toll On Community Doctors In Queens
Victor Peralta is a pediatrician, but in reality he cares for entire families. Working-class, Spanish-speaking immigrants pour into his small office beneath New York City’s No. 7 subway line—parents, grandparents, young brothers and sisters.In recent weeks, Dr. Peralta says, the new coronavirus that has torn through his patients’ multigenerational households has also infected his staff—three employees recovered at home, but a medical assistant ended up in critical condition at nearby Elmhurst Hospital. They had kept the Jackson Heights, Queens, office open even after much of the city shut down in mid-March. (O'Brien and West, 4/17)
The New York Times: How A Respiratory Therapist, Working ‘Code To Code,’ Spends His Sundays
Before the coronavirus, respiratory therapists mostly worked in the shadows. But now what they do — help people breathe — has thrust them into the spotlight. “Breathing is the most important life function,” said David Van De Carr, a respiratory therapist at Mount Sinai Morningside, in Manhattan. “This disease is very much focused on that.” (Howard, 4/17)
The Washington Post: Health Care Workers Stay At Hotels And Clean Meticulously To Avoid Infecting Their Families With Coronavirus
After long shifts treating covid-19 patients in New York hospitals, emergency room doctor Calvin D. Sun goes home and works for another 45 minutes. He cleans. He peels off his shoes, scrubs his jacket and places his protective suit outdoors to bake in the sun. Finally, he takes a shower, hot and scouring, to eliminate any microbes that could cling to his body like invisible thorns. This new homework is as stressful as it is tedious. (Guarino, 4/16)
Kaiser Health News: California Shies Away From Calls To Eliminate Restrictions On Nurse Practitioners
As the demand for health care workers surges with the coronavirus case count, many states are rushing to lift restrictions on nurse practitioners, who provide much of the same care as doctors do. But California allows nurse practitioners to work only under the supervision of a doctor, and most limitations on their practice are likely to hold. (Bluth, 4/17)
Kaiser Health News: NYC Nurse Says He’s Not Scared: ‘I Am Only Doing My Job’ For COVID-19 Patients
Before the deadly coronavirus hit New York, Francisco Díaz’s job as a gerontological nurse practitioner was educating seniors on managing their diabetes. Now, he’s at the heart of the pandemic, working in a New York City emergency room. (Andalo, 4/17)
Houston Chronicle: Doctors Treating COVID-19 At Houston Methodist Get Inside Giant Plexiglass Boxes
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is transmitted by coughing, sneezing or simply speaking, releasing infected droplets into the air. And since seriously ill COVID-19 patients often require ventilators, Masud, director of the Critical Care Center at Houston Methodist, wanted to protect his colleagues during this intubation procedure. So he helped create a clear plexiglass box that covers the patient’s head and shoulders. (Leinfelder, 4/16)
WBUR: After Recovering From COVID-19, Some Detroit Health Care Workers Are Back On The Job
When Jones' test came back positive as well, he joined a growing club: health care workers in the metro Detroit area who have contracted COVID-19. Nobody knows how many, exactly, because some health systems aren't sharing or collecting that data. But more than 2,600 health care workers in the area either have been out sick with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 or have tested positive for the coronavirus. (Wells, 4/17)
