Blake Farmer
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Hospitals are facing more demands for the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19 — despite no proof it works. Elected officials are stepping in to help patients.
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In areas overwhelmed by COVID cases, hospitals must rely on traveling nurses to operate ICUs. Hospitals pay a premium for that temporary help, while also struggling to keep their staff nurses happy.
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ECMO, the highest level of mechanical life support, functions as a temporary heart and lungs for some of COVID-19's sickest patients. But the waitlist is too long for many patients who need it.
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Hospitals across the South are warning of a catastrophe if a surge of COVID-19 cases doesn't subside. Medical centers are maxed out. But space isn't the biggest problem — it's staffing.
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As Community Health Systems has downsized, what remain are like zombie hospitals – little more than legal entities still taking patients to court even though the new owners don't sue.
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Vermont and Massachusetts lead the nation, with more than 70% of adults having had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Southern states such as Tennessee lag far behind.
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The nation as a whole fell short of President Biden's July Fourth vaccine goal — giving at least one shot to 70 percent of adults. Some states exceeded expectations, and others didn't come close.
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Southern Baptists are meeting in Nashville for their annual gathering. A contentious year, they're addressing the denomination's response to sexual abuse in the church and broader cultural issues.
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Congregations are figuring out how to safely meet in person now that the COVID-19 vaccine is more widely available. But vaccination remains divisive even as it allows them to come together again.
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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.