Mountain States Bureau

Latest California Healthline Stories

Amid Covid Health Worker Shortage, Foreign-Trained Professionals Sit on Sidelines

Hospitals dealing with staff shortages during the current covid surge are unable to tap into one valuable resource: foreign-trained doctors, nurses and other health workers, many with experience treating infectious diseases. Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Nevada are the only states to have eased credentialing requirements during the pandemic.

Black Women Find Healing (But Sometimes Racism, Too) in the Outdoors

A Colorado woman formed an adventure group to encourage other Black women to enjoy the outdoors, and now it has chapters across the U.S. and Canada. Yet many Black adventure seekers say they often face racism when partaking in healthy outdoor activities.

In Fast-Moving Pandemic, Health Officials Try to Change Minds at Warp Speed

It typically takes years of persuasion to change habits in the name of health safety. Local officials who are stuck with the responsibility of enforcing statewide pandemic-related mandates are trying to transform behavior fast.

At Risk of Extinction, Black-Footed Ferrets Get Experimental COVID Vaccine

Months before federal officials authorized experimental vaccines to ward off the coronavirus in humans, scientists tried a veterinary vaccine in endangered ferrets. Drugmakers are researching similar efforts for other animals proving vulnerable to the virus, such as farmed minks, in part to guard against virus mutations that could pose new risks to people.

Montana’s Mask Mandate in Doubt With Incoming Governor

Republican Greg Gianforte said that he will encourage people to wear masks and wear one himself when he’s sworn in as governor, but that he trusts Montana residents to make the right health decisions for themselves.