Fresh Faces, Fewer Tools: Meet the New Bosses Fighting Covid
Local health officials who quit or were forced out during the pandemic have been replaced by people who must face an increasingly polarized public with fewer powers than their predecessors.
Montana Tribes Want to Stop Jailing People for Suicide Attempts but Lack a Safer Alternative
The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes are working with academics and policy experts on possible solutions. Their challenge is how to attract the needed mental health personnel to the remote reservation.
Covid Testing, Turnaround Times Are Still Uneven This Far Into Pandemic
The availability of covid testing and turnaround times for results still vary widely around the country, some 19 months since the pandemic was declared a national crisis. A jumbled testing system, technician burnout and squirrely spikes in demand are all part of the problem.
Reluctant Localities Are Being Dragged Into Court to Fix Sidewalks for People With Disabilities
Hundreds of towns, cities and states across the U.S. have ignored part of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and now it’s costing them billions of dollars to comply.
Our Covid Cocoon: The Parents Aren’t Alright (But Help May Be Coming)
After experiencing multiple quarantines and school closures in less than two months, covid vaccine approvals for 5- to 11-year-olds can’t come soon enough for a KHN editor in Montana.
The ‘Burn Scars’ of Wildfires Threaten the West’s Drinking Water
Sediment from massive blazes chokes rivers and reservoirs, contaminating water supplies. The problem is only getting worse as climate change intensifies wildfires and lengthens the fire season.
Wildfire Smoke Is Here to Stay. Here’s How to Clean the Air Inside Your Home.
There are many ways to cleanse indoor air of dangerous smoke particles, which are particularly harmful to people with chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions. Some are expensive, but cheap alternatives exist.
At an Overrun ICU, ‘the Problem Is We Are Running Out of Hallways’
Billings Clinic in Montana is past the tipping point as it looks for places to add intensive care unit beds and is on the cusp of rationing care to deal with the surge of sick covid patients in a state with significant anti-vaccination sentiment.
Más de la mitad de los estados han revertido poderes de salud pública durante la pandemia
Motivados por votantes enojados por los cierres y los mandatos sobre el uso de máscaras durante la pandemia, legisladores republicanos en más de la mitad de los estados de EE.UU. están quitando los poderes que los funcionarios estatales y locales usan para proteger al público contra las enfermedades infecciosas
Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic
At least 26 states have passed laws to permanently limit public health powers, a KHN investigation has found, weakening the country’s ability to fight not only the current resurgence of the pandemic but other health crises to come.
Under Pressure, Montana Hospital Considers Adding Psych Beds Amid a Shortage
A hospital in Bozeman, Montana, is considering whether to add inpatient psychiatric care after a concerted push from mental health advocates. But even if it adds beds, hospitals across Montana provide a cautionary tale: finding enough workers to staff such beds is its own challenge, and some behavioral health units routinely reach capacity.
Colorado Clinic’s Prescription for Healthier Patients? Lawyers
Medical-legal partnerships in Montana, Colorado and elsewhere across the nation operate on the notion that fixing patients’ legal ills is a vital part of their health care.
New Montana Law Sows Confusion, Defiance Over School Quarantines
Some counties are changing their covid quarantine policies in line with a law that bans discrimination based on a person’s vaccine status. But one county has decided to defy the rule.
Have Vaccines, Will Travel: On the Road With a Covid Entrepreneur
While many businesses scaled back at the height of the pandemic, one Montana man used covid-19 to open his own mobile pharmacy. He’s now bringing covid shots to Montana’s vaccine deserts while filling his wallet. But he cannot fill all the vaccination gaps.
A Quarter of US Hospitals, and Counting, Demand Workers Get Vaccinated. But Not Here.
Amid a surge in covid-19 cases driven by the highly contagious delta variant, nearly 1,500 health systems across the nation are requiring their employees to get vaccinated. In Montana and Oregon, that’s not an option.
Journalists Assess the Latest Covid Surge and the Nation’s Vaccination Effort
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Feds to Nix Work Requirements in Montana Medicaid Expansion Program
State health officials say the federal government will likely reject any work or community engagement requirements, which were key to Republican lawmakers agreeing to extend the program that insures 100,000 low-income Montana adults.
Covid Renews Interest in Radiation, but Docs Caution Against Pilgrimages to Radon-Filled Mines
Each year, people in pain travel to Montana and pay to sit amid radon gas, which is pitched as therapy for a long list of health issues. While low-dose radiation therapy is getting another look amid the pandemic, experts say that treatment is different than sitting in a tunnel of radioactive gas.
Readers and Tweeters Connect the Dots on Topics From Vaccine Development to Long Covid
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Wildfire Smoke Drives People in Low-Vaccinated Areas Indoors, Raising Outbreak Fears
Unvaccinated Westerners are flocking to movie theaters, malls and other indoor spaces to beat the smoke and heat. Health officials worry that may fuel covid outbreaks.
