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New York’s governor directed nursing homes to take COVID patients. But is it fair to say he “forced” them to do so, or that his directive led to the deaths of thousands of elderly residents? Most public health experts say no.
Two emergency room doctors, one in New York and the other in Houston, discuss their cities’ coronavirus outbreaks — and responses.
A review by KHN and the Associated Press finds at least 49 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. One of the latest departures came Sunday, when California’s public health director was ousted.
Health plan network changes occur all the time as doctors retire, relocate or leave networks. Unfortunately, patients may be the last to find out about such changes because there are often few requirements that either providers or insurers inform them.
About 1,000 children worldwide have had the condition known as MIS-C — Multisymptom Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. Children's hospitals around the U.S. are trying to keep tabs on young people after they recover from the ailment, to gauge any long-term effects.
Rochester, New York, and other cities have already weathered the first blasts of excessive heat, and they have done it while cooling centers and spray parks have been closed due to the pandemic.
Counting deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic is easier said than done. Without widespread testing, officials must sort through presumed COVID deaths and those who died with infections rather than from them. Then there are the indirect deaths of people who died from circumstances created by the pandemic.
Not having an accurate, honest, nationwide way to tally COVID-19 cases will only add to the current tragedy.
“The awful truth is families have no control over what’s happening,” one advocate says.
Public officials are putting high hopes on new blood tests as a means of determining who has developed antibodies to COVID-19, and with those antibodies, presumed immunity. But experts caution the tests are largely unreliable and the science is still catching up.
Politicians pledged to stop providers from charging for video appointments or telephone calls, but some patients are being charged $70 or $80 per virtual visit.
Francisco Díaz ordinarily works educating seniors about their diabetes, but he has moved to the emergency room, on the front line in the battle against coronavirus. He said his Latino background helps him communicate with the many Spanish-speaking patients and understand their culture.
New York City and hospital officials recommend testing only the sickest people and encouraging others to stay home to get well. But other officials say wider tests are needed to ensure that essential workers don’t spread the disease.
Dr. J. Ronald Verrier, a surgeon at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, spent the final weeks of his audacious, unfinished life tending to a torrent of patients inflicted with COVID-19. He died April 8 at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York, at age 59, after falling ill from the novel coronavirus.
Lack of protective gear and fears about all the unknown aspects of COVID-19 are parts of the mosaic of stress facing doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic.
Frank Gabrin knew the stakes of his job. What he found unsettling was having to reuse personal protective gear while caring for coronavirus patients.
“An Arm and a Leg” is back — sooner than we expected — with stories about how COVID-19 intersects with the cost of health care, and how we can all respond. So we’re calling it SEASON-19.
The prospect raises a grim dilemma: Should doctors take people off life support in order to save COVID-19 patients who might recover?
Hidden costs for ER visits and other fees could cost people thousands of dollars.
As they prepare for an onslaught of coronavirus patients, health officials in New York and other states urge retired medical professionals to rejoin the ranks.
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