Weekly Edition: April 4, 2021

Lost on the Frontline: Explore the Database
By The Staffs of KFF Health News and The Guardian As of Wednesday, the KHN-Guardian project counted 3,607 U.S. health worker deaths in the first year of the pandemic. Today we add 39 profiles, including a hospice chaplain, a nurse who spoke to intubated patients "like they were listening," and a home health aide who couldn't afford to stop working. This is the most comprehensive count in the nation as of April 2021, and our interactive database investigates the question: Did they have to die?

They Tested Negative for Covid. Still, They Have Long Covid Symptoms.
By Lydia Zuraw Despite a negative covid test, people could have been infected with the coronavirus anyway. And some of them might face lingering health issues.

Fauci Thanks US Health Workers for Sacrifices but Admits PPE Shortages Drove Up Death Toll
By Jessica Glenza, The Guardian Exclusive: The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says health workers ‘have lived up to the oath they take’ but says shortages of protective gear have contributed to excess deaths.

‘My Children Were Priceless Jewels’: Three Families Reflect on the Health Workers They Lost
By Danielle Renwick, The Guardian The daughter of an internist in the Bronx, the father of a nurse practitioner in Southern California and the son of a nurse in McAllen, Texas, share how grief over their loved ones' deaths from covid has affected them.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Health Care as Infrastructure
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes items not traditionally considered “infrastructure,” including a $400 billion expansion of home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, and a $50 billion effort to replace water pipes lined with lead. Meanwhile, the politics of covid-19 are turning to how or whether Americans will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KFF’s Mollyann Brodie about the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor.

‘Go Ahead and Vote Me Out’: What Other Places Can Learn From Santa Rosa’s Tent City
By Angela Hart As cities across California wrestle with a crisis of homelessness that has drawn international condemnation, Santa Rosa’s bold experiment with a city-sanctioned encampment suggests a way forward.

Calls Mount for Biden to Track US Health Care Worker Deaths from Covid
By Ed Pilkington, The Guardian As The Guardian and KHN end Lost on the Frontline, a yearlong project to count health care worker deaths in the pandemic, the White House is under pressure to take up the task.

12 Months of Trauma: More Than 3,600 US Health Workers Died in Covid’s First Year
By Jane Spencer, The Guardian and Christina Jewett Lost on the Frontline, a yearlong investigation by The Guardian and KHN to count health care worker deaths, ends today. This is what we learned in a year of tracing the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Events of 2020 Moved Medical Students to Political Activism
By Victoria Knight The emergence of an organization for med students motivated by progressive concerns highlights the changing attitudes of some physicians in training.

California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors
By Jenny Gold Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.

Doctor Survived Cambodia’s Killing Fields, but Not Covid
By Emily Bazar Dr. Linath Lim came to the U.S. as a refugee after slaving at work camps under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Even with little English or education when she arrived, Lim put herself through college and medical school. As an internal medicine doctor in California’s Central Valley, she treated farmworkers and other Cambodian refugees.

Colleges and Universities Plan for Normal-ish Campus Life in the Fall
By Mark Kreidler Universities need full dorms and dining halls to make back some of the estimated $183 billion in losses they’ve suffered over a year of remote education. The hope is widespread vaccination will keep covid chaos to a minimum.

What Covid Means for the Athlete’s Heart
By Markian Hawryluk As athletes at all levels resume their sports, what risks do their hearts carry if they’ve had covid? Initial data shows the risk may be low but still possibly deadly.

How One Indie Artist Used Her Pandemic Lockdown to Create an Album With Global Collaborators
By Chaseedaw Giles The pandemic-induced lockdowns have only increased the demand for music-streaming services. This independent singer wrote, recorded and produced an album with musicians around the world during the pandemic’s rolling stay-at-home mandates.

For This Hospice Nurse, the Covid Shot Came Too Late
By Heidi de Marco Antonio Espinoza, a hospice nurse in Southern California, ministered to terminally ill patients, including those with covid. He tested positive for covid five days after getting his first dose of vaccine and died a few weeks later.

Missouri ‘Voted for This Lie,’ Says State Rep Trying to Block Medicaid Expansion
By Sebastián Martínez Valdivia, KBIA Even with extra federal dollars and a flush budget, Show Me State Republicans are putting up roadblocks to the voter-approved constitutional amendment that would give 275,000 people health insurance.

Despite Covid, Many Wealthy Hospitals Had a Banner Year With Federal Bailout
By Jordan Rau and Christine Spolar As the crisis crushed smaller providers, some of the nation’s richest health systems thrived, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses after accepting huge grants for pandemic relief. But poorer hospitals — many serving rural and minority populations — got a smaller slice of the pie and limped through the year with deficits and a bleak fiscal future.

Families With Sick Kids on Medicaid Seek Easier Access to Out-of-State Hospitals
By Harris Meyer Many state Medicaid programs pay out-of-state providers much less than in-state facilities, often making it hard for families with medically complex children to get the care they seek.

Vermont to Give Minority Residents Vaccine Priority
By Phil Galewitz Covid cases have disproportionately affected the state’s Black residents, so officials are moving them to the front of the line for vaccinations before the state expands eligibility to all adults.

Montana Sticks to Its Patchwork Covid Vaccine Rollout as Eligibility Expands
By Katheryn Houghton Photos by Tailyr Irvine Montana’s overstretched counties and tribal governments have developed a mishmash of policies and plans that require ingenuity and mutual support to work. A reporting project by KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism finds the biggest test of that disparate system looms as vaccine eligibility expands. Plus: a county-by-county guide to vaccine availability in Montana.

Journalists Dive Deep Into Roots of Vaccine Distrust in Prisons and Covid’s Toll on Public Health
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.