Latest California Healthline Stories
In Reversal, Kansas Will Count All Positive COVID Cases, Even Asymptomatic Ones
Following a KCUR report, Kansas officials said the state’s public reporting of pandemic trends will count all tests that come back positive for the new coronavirus, even when the patient has no symptoms.
Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care
Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.
Massachusetts Recruits 1,000 ‘Contact Tracers’ To Battle COVID-19
“I know we will succeed somewhat and we will fail somewhat,” says one of the plan’s chief architects. “We won’t be able to find every single person — but we will hopefully prevent a lot of deaths.”
Cancer Patients Face Treatment Delays And Uncertainty As Coronavirus Cripples Hospitals
As hospitals across the country are forced to delay or cancel certain medical procedures in response to the surge in patients with COVID-19, those hard choices are disrupting care for some people with serious illnesses.
Long-Standing Racial And Income Disparities Seen Creeping Into COVID-19 Care
Many health officials around the nation have not released data on the ethnic and racial demographics of people tested for the new coronavirus. But public health experts said the anecdotes are adding up, and they fear the response to the pandemic will result in predictable health care disparities.
Pandemic-Stricken Cities Have Empty Hospitals, But Reopening Them Is Difficult
In Philadelphia, New Orleans and Los Angeles, former safety-net hospitals sit empty in the middle of the city. But reopening a closed hospital, even in the midst of a pandemic when health resources are scarce, is not easy or cheap.
Already Taxed Health Care Workers Not ‘Immune’ From Layoffs And Less Pay
Revenue is way down for primary care, specialty physicians and some hospitals as patients avoid non-urgent visits. Practices small and large are doling out layoffs and furloughs to staff.
Addiction Is ‘A Disease Of Isolation’ — So Pandemic Puts Recovery At Risk
People in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction have to weather a new storm of depression, anxiety and isolation during the pandemic, just as the social supports of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs move online.
Coronavirus Has Upended Our World. It’s OK To Grieve.
To weather uncertain times, it’s important to acknowledge and grieve losses — even if they seem small in the scheme of the global pandemic, psychologists and grief experts say.
Under Financial Strain, Community Health Centers Ramp Up Coronavirus Response
Many of the nation’s safety-net clinics for low-income patients are having to turn their model of care upside down overnight to deal with the realities of the pandemic — a challenge both financially and logistically. Federal funding is on the way.