health care

Health Care Workers Plead With Americans To Take Pandemic More Seriously

3:48pm November 27, 2020

by Shamane Mills

Health workers and hospitals already strained by the pandemic are increasingly making direct appeals to the public with open letters, asking people to mask up and stay at home this holiday season.

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Medical staff prepare for an intubation procedure on a COVID-19 patient in a Houston intensive care unit. In some parts of the U.S., as hospitals get crowded, hospital leaders are worried they may need to implement crisis standards of care.

Near Crisis, Some Hospitals Face Tough Decisions In Caring For Floods Of Patients

9:30pm November 25, 2020

Hospitals are getting so crowded with COVID-19 patients that they're having to resort to workarounds to treat them all. Experts warn this may hamper doctors' ability to save lives.

Hospitals Puzzled With How To Administer Monoclonal Antibodies To COVID-19 Patients

6:08pm November 25, 2020

by Richard Harris

Hospitals are figuring out how to administer drugs that are designed to treat people with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. The drugs are in short supply, and there is no guarantee they will work.

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Adam Woodrum and his son, Robert, get ready for a bike ride near their home in Carson City, Nev., this month. During the summer, Robert had a bike accident that resulted in a hefty bill from the family's insurer.

A Kid, A Minor Bike Accident And A $19,000 Medical Bill

4:01pm November 25, 2020

by Julie Appleby

It was a surprise even for a family of lawyers. A process called "subrogation" began with a Nevada family's health insurer denying their claim for an ER visit after their 9-year-old fell off his bike.

A flu vaccine is administered at a walk-up COVID-19 testing site, in San Fernando, Calif. Emergency use authorization is expected soon for vaccines for COVID-19.

Initial Batch Of COVID-19 Vaccines Will Go To States Based On Population, Not Risk

9:26pm November 24, 2020

by Pien Huang

Operation Warp Speed is allocating the first batch of 6.4 million COVID vaccines to states, based on population. This circumvents a CDC advisory committee, which proposed allocation based on risk.

A lab technician sorts blood samples for a COVID-19 vaccination study at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Fla., on Aug. 13.

Health & Safety

Vaccine Expert: Once A COVID Vaccine Is Available, 'Don't Overthink It. Don't Wait'

6:17pm November 24, 2020

by Terry Gross

Dr. Peter Hotez is part of a team working to develop a low-cost COVID vaccine that could be distributed globally. "Vaccines are coming," he says. "We have to get everybody through to the other side."

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Hospitals Across U.S. Find Themselves Understaffed, With No Reinforcements Available

4:25pm November 24, 2020

by Blake Farmer

Nurses and doctors across the U.S. pitched in when New York City was overwhelmed with the coronavirus. Now with the pandemic simmering coast to coast, hospitals can't count on reinforcements.

Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City is one of the 18 hospitals in the Saint Luke's Health System. Two-thirds of the COVID-19 patients transferred to Saint Luke's from rural areas need intensive care. "We get the sickest of the sick," says Dr. Marc Larsen

Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients To The Cities, Straining Hospital Capacity

9:40pm November 23, 2020

by Alex Smith

In Kansas City, hospitals are treating local COVID-19 patients as well as patients transferred from rural counties in Missouri and Kansas, where there's no mandate or culture for wearing masks.

What It Means When Hospitals Say They Have To Ration Care

5:28pm November 23, 2020

by Will Stone

As more hospitals across the U.S. reach the level of rationing care, NPR explains what that move, called "crisis standards of care," means in practical terms.

Mask Mandates Work To Slow Spread Of Coronavirus, Kansas Study Finds

11:04am November 23, 2020

by Jane Greenhalgh

When Kansas issued a mask mandate, 81 counties opted out. Researchers found coronavirus infection rates rose sharply in the opt-out counties, while falling in those that required masks.