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About 50% of the covid-19 patients who got the last-ditch life support treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center died. Researchers wanted to know what happened to the many patients they had to turn away because ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines and the specialized staffers needed were in short supply. The grim answer: 90% of those turned away perished.
As states expand Medicaid鈥檚 dental benefits, they鈥檙e running up against a shortage of dentists willing to work on those patients, especially in rural communities. So Tennessee is helping dental schools expand and offering to pay off student loans for those who work in high-need areas.
A new investment fund launched by one of the few Black venture capitalists in health care is focused on backing Black entrepreneurs. And the investors include some of the biggest names in for-profit health care.
State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, including those who may spread false information about medical care. But in Florida, Tennessee, and other states, lawmakers are moving to protect physicians using unproven covid treatments or spreading misinformation.
Medical bills are a leading reason people get stuck in a cycle of debt. Declaring bankruptcy is one lifeline, but attorney and court fees can put it out of reach. The nonprofit Upsolve created an app it calls the 鈥淭urboTax of bankruptcy鈥 to help people hit the reset button and rebuild their financial lives.
National data shows that Black Medicare patients and their families are not making the move to comfort care as often as white patients are. Experts speculate it's related to spiritual beliefs and widespread mistrust in the medical system due to decades of discrimination.
More than most schools, the country鈥檚 historically Black colleges and universities are funneling stimulus money directly to students, wiping out loans and past-due fees. But one is going a step further with its financial assistance.
With few options for health care in their rural community, a Tennessee couple鈥檚 experience with one outrageous bill could have led to a deadly decision the next time they needed help.
Hospitals and doctors are facing more demands for ivermectin as a covid-19 treatment, despite a lack of proof it works. In some Republican-dominated states, pushing for ivermectin interventions has become a conservative rallying cry.
Managers are trapped in a pricey hiring cycle, competing for critical care nurses who can monitor covid patients on life support. Some hospitals are looking abroad to replace staffers who quit to become travel nurses or leave the profession.
Unvaccinated people are filling intensive care beds and dying of covid in record numbers in Tennessee and other Southern states. Many tell their nurses and doctors they regret the decision not to get the vaccine when they could.
Many more people could benefit from the lifesaving treatment than are receiving it, which has made for messy triaging as the delta variant surges across the South and in rural communities with low covid vaccination rates.
Community Health Systems, a large, for profit hospital chain, shrank from more than 200 to 84 facilities. It is continuing to sue patients for hospitals that now exist as little more than legal entities.
Vermont and Massachusetts lead the nation, with more than 70% of adults having had at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine. Southern states like Tennessee lag far behind.
Some immigrant groups are closing the ethnic gap on COVID-19 shots. For many Kurdish Americans, their fears about vaccination are entangled with their experiences in refugee camps after fleeing Iraq.
Hospitalizations are down 62% for childhood respiratory illnesses, a study shows. Masking and social distancing are keeping a variety of viruses in check this flu season.
As the speed of covid vaccinations picks up, so do the reports of doses going to waste. Health officials are trying to rein in waste without slowing down vaccinations.
Community health clinics are key to getting more Black and Hispanic Americans vaccinated, federal officials say. In Nashville, a vaccination push at federally funded clinics is underway.
In most Tennessean counties, residents currently eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine are health care workers, long-term care residents and people 75 and older. But don't expect strict enforcement.
More than 93,000 COVID patients are hospitalized across the country. But beds and space aren't the main concern for hospital administrators 鈥 It's the health care workforce.
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