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California endured a brutal spike in homicides in 2020 across large swaths of the state, registering the largest year-over-year increase in victims in three decades. Experts cite as one significant factor a rise in gang violence fueled by pandemic shutdowns of schools, sports leagues and programs for at-risk youth.
Across Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, where death rates from stroke are above the national average, routing patients from rural areas to the right level of care can be an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The closest hospital might not offer the full scope of stroke treatments, but hospitals with more advanced care could be hours away.
California officials are optimistic they can vaccinate millions more before hitting a hard wall of vaccine resistance.
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
As the crisis crushed smaller providers, some of the nationās richest health systems thrived, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses after accepting huge grants for pandemic relief. But poorer hospitals ā many serving rural and minority populations ā got a smaller slice of the pie and limped through the year with deficits and a bleak fiscal future.
Montanaās overstretched counties and tribal governments have developed a mishmash of policies and plans that require ingenuity and mutual support to work. A reporting project by KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism finds the biggest test of that disparate system looms as vaccine eligibility expands. Plus: a county-by-county guide to vaccine availability in Montana.
Access to physician-assisted death is expanding across the U.S., but the procedure remains in Montanaās legal gray zone more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled physicians could use a dying patientās consent as a defense.
Californians are venturing out to shop, dine and work far more now than a year ago, when state officials issued the first sweeping stay-at-home order. But weāre still sticking to home way more than before the pandemic, according to mobile phone tracking data.
Covid-19 has become the countryās third-leading cause of death, and isnāt far behind cancer.
In the past two months, covid-related infection and death rates have jumped exponentially in Californiaās least populated counties. The winter surge has scarred corners of the state that went largely unscathed for much of 2020.
COVID infection rates in California are consistently higher in low-income neighborhoods than more affluent areas, according to an analysis by ZIP code. Our findings underscore the heightened risks borne by millions of low-wage workers whose jobs are deemed essential.
At least 181 public health leaders in 38 states have resigned, retired or been fired amid the turmoil of the pandemic. The departures come as backlash against public health is rising with threats to officialsā personal safety and legislative and legal efforts to strip their governmental public health powers.
Over the past four years, the dialysis industry has spent $233 million on both political offense and defense in California. Most of it went toward protecting its revenues against ballot initiatives, but the industry also strategically worked the corridors of the state Capitol.
Gun sales are surging in California, where handgun-related FBI background checks this spring and summer were up 83% over 2019. Whether pro or con on gun control, experts agree the trend has been fueled by pandemic-related unrest.
Strict enforcement of coronavirus protocols at factories and shops where some of the worst outbreaks have occurred has reduced the racial and ethnic disparities in COVID deaths and illness, say public health officials. They want to expand the effort by creating workplace safety councils.
Californiaās death count for the first five months of the pandemic was 13% higher than average for the same period during the prior three years. Subtract the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 and experts say that still leaves scores of āexcessā deaths among people of color that likely were mistakenly excluded from the coronavirus death tally.
A KHN review found more than 20 states either donāt count or have incomplete data on the use of COVID-19 antigen tests, leaving the public in the dark about the true scope of the pandemic.
The county, a hotbed of coronavirus infection in California, has seen a steady reduction in positive test results, new cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the past few weeks. But officials are concerned about public behavior over the Labor Day holiday weekend and wary of relaxing strictures too soon.
Older Blacks are perishing quietly, out of sight, victims of the pandemic and a lifetime of racism and its attendant adverse health effects.
Rural hospitals were already struggling before the coronavirus emerged. Now, the loss of revenue from patients who are afraid to come to the emergency room, postponing doctorās appointments and delaying elective surgeries is adding to the pressure.
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