Category: Health Care
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Hey, Commish, Not So Fast on the COVID Vaccine
by Kerry Dougherty Well, he did it again. Virginia’s Commissioner of Misinformation, er Health, shot off his mouth and alarmed the public, and then state government factotums had to do damage control. On Friday, WRIC ABC News reported that Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver “plans to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for Virginians once one is…
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Bringing Analytical Clarity to the COVID Shutdown Debate
by James A. Bacon While we’re on the subject of lazy, undisciplined thinking about COVID-19 vaccine mandates (see previous post), let’s address the topic of lazy, undisciplined thinking about economic shutdowns. The Wall Street Journal‘s Greg Ip brings some refreshing analytical clarity to the debate. Ip addresses public policy responses to the COVID contagion around…
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It’s Way too Early to Discuss a Vaccine Mandate
by James A. Bacon Four days ago State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver said he planned to mandate a COVID-19 immunization once it’s safely released to the public. Yesterday Governor Ralph Northam said he’s not planning a mandate, despite what his top health official said. When asked why the the Governor wasn’t embracing the stance…
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Police and People in a Mental Health Crisis
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The Senate Judiciary Committee reported many of the Democrats’ criminal justice reform bills at its meeting last week. I will discuss the most important ones, in some depth, in installments, rather than all at once. This first installment is on the interaction between police and mentally ill folks. For many years, police…
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Nursing Home PPE Shortages and Deaths Still Rising
by Carol J. Bova After a review of over 15,000 nursing home reports submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Brian E. McGarry, David C. Grabowski, and Michael L. Barnett published a paper in Health Affairs on August 20th. In “Severe Staffing and Personal Protective Equipment Shortages Faced by Nursing Homes During the…
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The Tell Tale Heart: Racism in Richmond Medicine
By Peter Galuszka On Saturday, May 25, 1968, the Medical College of Virginia, now part of Virginia Commonwealth University, made medical history. A surgeon recruited from Stanford University a couple of years before successfully transplanted the heart from one middle-aged man to another. MCV officials in Richmond officials were ecstatic. Organ transplants were a hot,…
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Shhh. COVID Deaths Drop. Keep It Quiet.
Isn’t this always the way? Just as the Virginia General Assembly arrives in Richmond to save us from COVID-19, Virginia’s number are getting way better.The 7-day average for deaths in the Northern Virginia region tracked by the Virginia Department of Health is zero. Zero. It has recorded zero deaths in August so far. The statewide…
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Governor Northam, Crack Down on Nursing Homes, Not Restaurants
By Carol J. Bova Last week Julie Henderson, director of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Environmental Health Services, said her agency was going to request $6 million for 92 positions to educate the public and businesses about executive orders and how to enforce them. If there is $6 million available for enforcement…
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COVID Workers Comp On House Democrat Bill List
By Steve Haner The coming Special Session of the General Assembly will be narrowly focused but filled with controversy, based on the legislative wish list just released by House of Delegates Democrats. Only two bills listed fall outside of the major categories of “COVID-19 Relief” or “Criminal Justice and Police Reform.” Under the heading “COVID…
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Do Summer Camps Warrant Bail-out Funds?
by James A. Bacon A philosophical question to ponder: If the Commonwealth of Virginia shuts down an entire industry by executive order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, what moral obligation does it have to help the businesses survive the epidemic? Literally no industry in Virginia has been more impacted by the emergency…
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Covid-19 Testing for Nursing Homes – the Strange Case of Heritage Hall
By Carol J. Bova and James C. Sherlock The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would begin to provide 2000 nursing homes with a point of care (POC) rapid-response testing assessment instrument and an initial supply of COVID-19 test assays starting July 20th. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema…
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What if COVID-19 Never Goes Away?
by James A. Bacon Here’s a question my wife and I have been asking ourselves recently: What if COVID-19 doesn’t go away? From the beginning of the epidemic, we assumed that we (along with the rest of the country) were enduring a temporary inconvenience. We’d hunker down, restrict our social interactions, wear masks in indoor…
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Why Have Nursing Home Outbreaks Continued?
by Carol J. Bova In a July 29 tele-press conference, Dr. Norman Oliver, Virginia’s Commissioner of Health, said, “We’ve made a concerted effort at testing in nursing homes and other congregate settings. … We’ve done 456 such point prevalence surveys [PPS] covering all of our skilled nursing facilities and correctional facilities.” As of June 5th,…
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Hospitals Made Their Bed, but They Don’t Like Laying in It
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association has joined the Virginia College of Emergency physicians in suing the state Medicaid program over emergency budget cuts that they claim will cost them $55 million in reduced Medicaid payments, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The cuts will create hardship for hospitals already struggling with increased…
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Take a Seat, the Doctor Will See You Shortly
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The latest action by Virginia hospitals is sheer chutzpah. The 2020 General Assembly adopted actions aimed to reduce state Medicaid payments for emergency room services later deemed to be unnecessary. As described by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the aim was to discourage Medicaid recipients from unnecessary use of emergency departments instead of seeking…