Author: Elizabeth B

HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — As summer comes to an end and the number of recent cases increases, local health officials are urging residents in local and neighboring counties to reduce their risk of mosquito- and tick-borne illnesses.According to a Knox News article, the Knox County Health Department is warning local residents about an increase in cases of the La Crosse virus, which is spread by mosquitoes. A recent press release from the Haywood County Health and Human Services Department also warned local residents, emphasizing the need to take precautions seriously.”Encephalitis and Lyme disease are serious health issues that can…

Health insurance premiums in Vermont are high and rising.Vermont’s average premiums for individual market plans are among the highest in the country, more than double the national average even after factoring in federal subsidies, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Premiums in Vermont are rising by double-digit percentages, a much higher increase than most other states, according to data from KFF, a health policy nonprofit. “There’s no debate: Vermont is expensive,” said Mike Fisher, Vermont’s chief health care advocate. “You see it when you look at insurance rates. You see it when you look at…

Methodist Health and Acadia Healthcare have broken ground on the new Methodist Jennie Edmundson Behavioral Health Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa, scheduled to open in 2026. (Photo: Daniel Johnson/Methodist Health System)COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa, Aug. 27, 2024–( BUSINESS WIRE )–Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital and Acadia Healthcare Company held a groundbreaking ceremony today for a state-of-the-art behavioral health hospital serving residents of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.The event, held at the future hospital site at 3620 S. 24th St. in Council Bluffs, Iowa, celebrated the previously announced joint venture partnership between Methodist and Acadia Healthcare. Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital is an affiliate…

I’ll be 60 soon. That’s the average age of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities and medical centers across the nation: 70% were built more than half a century ago. As the health needs of the veteran community evolve, VA’s infrastructure must evolve too. “Facilities from this era were not designed to meet the needs of the technological and design innovations that support our modern health care system,” John Retzer, DAV’s deputy national legislative director, told a congressional committee in March. To keep VA buildings up to date, DAV supports the Building for Veterans Act of 2023 (S. 42/HR 3225).…

A new study finds that more than half of adults worldwide surveyed expect to experience a serious threat from their drinking water within the next two years. The study, led by global health experts from Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, aimed to understand public perceptions about the safety of drinking water. Perceptions shape attitudes and behaviors, so distrust in water quality has negative effects on people’s health, nutrition, mental and economic well-being, even if the water meets safety standards. If we don’t think the water is safe, we will avoid using it.” …

No more wondering whether people are talking about Kodak or Knoxville when it comes to the Smokies’ stadium: The city’s new stadium, scheduled to open in April 2025, will be called Covenant Health Park.The Double-A Chicago Cubs affiliate announced the naming rights deal Aug. 27, which will put the East Tennessee health care network’s branding front and center at the nation’s newest minor league baseball stadium, which will play its first game on April 15.Knoxville-based Covenant Health is made up of multiple hospitals and a network of physicians across 25 counties.The baseball team plans to adopt a new name for…

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine finds that the United States has made little progress over the past two decades in closing remaining gaps in health care equity. Despite spending more on health care than any other developed country, the United States continues to draw racial and ethnic lines in the quality and access of health care. These disparities begin at birth. Earlier this year, the Lancet journal of Child and Adolescent Health published a study by scientists at Northwestern University, the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and several other…

Health care decisions are not always rational. The prevailing model is that medical professionals provide information to patients, and patients follow their advice, points out Collins Ilihenbwa, a global public health scientist with more than 30 years of experience in the field of public health. But look back to the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, when people were being pushed against vaccinations by influential people (some of whom claimed to be doctors themselves) who sowed doubts and skepticism about science. “Context matters. How people make decisions and what is important to them has to be part of how we understand…

Posted on August 27, 2024 MonHealth Marion Neighborhood Hospital has been named to the list of hospitals with the shortest emergency department visit times by Becker’s Hospital Review.According to Becker’s, based on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2023 Timely and Effective Care – Hospital data, MonHealth Marion Neighborhood Hospital’s ER is one of the 12 hospitals in the U.S. with the shortest emergency department visit times.The national average emergency department visit time is 163 minutes, measured during the 12-month period ending Sept. 20, 2023. MonHealth Marion Neighborhood Hospital’s median emergency department visit time, measured during the same…

US health officials are warning about mosquito-borne illnesses after two deadly mosquito-borne outbreaks, one of which has hospitalised Dr Anthony Fauci.Many have heard of West Nile fever, which recently hospitalized Dr. Fauci for a week. Now, another lesser known mosquito-borne disease is causing concern, with Massachusetts health officials urging residents to do all they can to avoid insect bites. The increased urgency comes after an elderly man in the state was infected with Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), leading the city of Plymouth to close its parks and open spaces from dawn to dusk, when the insects are most active, and…