Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Urgent Care or ER? With ‘One-Stop Shop,’ Hospitals Offer Both Under Same Roof

Hospitals in several states are partnering with a private equity-backed company to offer combined emergency and urgent care in a single building. But patients may not realize prices vary between the two services — often by a lot.

California Lawmakers Debate Sending Local Health Inspectors Into Immigration Facilities

Immigration is regulated by the federal government, but California lawmakers may give local public health inspectors the authority to inspect privately operated immigration detention facilities, citing complaints and lawsuits from detainees alleging inadequate medical care and unsanitary conditions.

‘We’re Flying Blind’: CDC Has 1M Bird Flu Tests Ready, but Experts See Repeat of Covid Missteps

Three months into the U.S. bird flu outbreak, only 45 people have been tested. Laboratories that are the foundation of diagnostic testing have yet to get approval to detect the bird flu virus. They say their path forward has been slowed by miscommunication and uncertainty from the CDC and FDA.

The Chicken and Egg Problem of Fighting Another Flu Pandemic

The spread of an avian flu virus in cattle has again brought public health attention to the potential for a global pandemic. Fighting it would depend, for now, on 1940s technology that makes vaccines from hens’ eggs.