Despite Covid, Many Wealthy Hospitals Had a Banner Year With Federal Bailout
Last May, Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest nonprofit hospital system in Texas, laid off 1,200 employees and furloughed others as it braced for the then-novel coronavirus to spread. The cancellation of lucrative elective procedures as the hospital pivoted to treat a new and less profitable infectious disease presaged financial distress, if not ruin. […]
Montana Sticks to Its Patchwork Covid Vaccine Rollout as Eligibility Expands
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana’s covid-19 vaccine distribution is among the most efficient in the nation, but closer examination reveals a patchwork of systems among counties and tribal governments that will be put to the test as the state opens vaccine eligibility to all people 16 and older starting this month. KHN, Montana Free Press and […]
Journalists Dive Deep Into Roots of Vaccine Distrust in Prisons and Covid’s Toll on Public Health
Reporter Eric Berger discussed vaccine hesitancy among inmates at a Missouri correctional center with Newsy on Thursday. Click here to watch Berger on Newsy Read Berger’s “Inmates’ Distrust of Prison Health Care Fuels Distrust of Covid Vaccines” KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal discussed how the U.S. has focused on international terrorism at the expense of public […]
Beating the Pavement to Vaccinate the Underrepresented — And Protect Everyone
Leonor Garcia held her clipboard close to her chest and rapped on the car window with her knuckles. The driver was in one of dozens of cars lined up on a quiet stretch of road in Adelanto, California, a small city near the southwestern edge of the Mojave Desert. He was waiting for the food […]
Battle Brews Over Neutral Zone Where Border-Crossing Parties Rendezvous, Risking Infection
BLAINE, Wash. — In the shadows of covid travel restrictions, a 42-acre park on the far western edge of the U.S.-Canadian dividing line has become a popular opening in an otherwise closed border, a place where Americans and Canadians can gather without needing permission to go through an official border crossing. What is known as […]
In California, Blue Shield’s Vaccination Takeover Fixes What Wasn’t Broken
In California’s Mendocino County, public health officials and community clinics say they have hit their vaccination stride. Despite the county’s remoteness and its largely rural population spread among wooded mountains, rugged coastline and idyllic vineyards, about 40% of eligible adults have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine. But now they face renewed […]
‘It Didn’t Really Stick With Me’: Understanding the Rural Shrug Over Covid and Vaccines
At 70, Linda Findley has long been active in her small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, which sits more than an hour away from any major city. Findley, whose husband died in an accident just after the local hospital closed, helps with the Elks and fundraising, and — like many people in this part of […]
Backed by Millions in Public and Private Cash, Rapid Covid Tests Are Coming to Stores Near You
Scientists and lawmakers agree that over-the-counter covid tests could allow desk workers to settle back into their cubicles and make it easier to reopen schools and travel. But even as entrepreneurs race their products to market, armed with millions of dollars in venture capital and government investment, the demand for covid testing has waned. Manufacturing […]
Dramatic Drop in Common Viruses Raises Question: Masks Forever?
Masks and physical distancing are proving to have major fringe benefits, keeping people from getting all kinds of illnesses — not just covid-19. But it’s unclear whether the protocols will be worth the pain in the long run. The teachers at New Hope Academy in Franklin, Tennessee, were chatting the other day. The private Christian […]
Durango’s Covid ‘Cowboy’ Rounds Up Spring Break Scofflaws, Lines ’Em Up for Shots
Bartenders were pouring Old-Fashioneds at a bar with a bullet hole straight through the wood. Servers in corsets and fishnet stockings roamed the room, passing an old piano that, twice a week, fills the building with ragtime tunes. It was a Friday evening at the Diamond Belle Saloon on the main drag in Durango, Colorado. […]