Category: Health Care
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Abbott COVID-19 Rapid Testing Re-Visited
by James C. Sherlock When Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dr. Daniel Carey spoke yesterday at the Governor’s press conference, he mentioned that the state had received some Abbott ID NOW platforms from FEMA, but that they were too few to be of any use. Yet ID NOW platforms are point-of-care systems used at…
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Did Shoddy Science Shut Down America?
by Kerry Dougherty Let’s get one thing straight before some of you become apoplectic. Covid-19 is real. It’s a nasty virus that can make victims desperately sick. It appears to spread faster and do more damage than the seasonal flu. It viciously attacks the elderly and those with underlying medical issues. It’s a killer. Got…
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COVID-19 Update: Plague Still Intensifying
The COVID-19 epidemic is intensifying in Virginia. Twelve more people died from the virus yesterday, bringing the statewide total 121 yesterday, according to data published this morning by the Virginia Department of Health. Meanwhile, the number of new cases, 467, hit a new daily high, and so did the number of new hospitalizations at 87.…
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Bacon Bits: COVID, COVID, Cartel
More layoffs for healthcare workers. Ballad Health, which provides health care in the Kingsport-Bristol metropolitan area, has announced the furlough of 1,100 employees, including 200 to 250 in Virginia, reports the Herald-Courier. The loss of business due to federal efforts to reduce elective procedures, implemented to conserve personal protective equipment, has been financially devastating. “In…
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Why So Little COVID-19 Testing in Virginia?
by James A. Bacon Bacon’s Rebellion readers can’t seem to agree on much when it comes to the COVID-virus, but there is one area of consensus: Virginia needs to perform more testing. The Old Dominion ranks 12th in the nation for population (8.6 million) but only 22nd as of March 27 for testing. Only one…
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COVID-19 Update: Deaths Soar
Nationally, the experts are saying that the COVID-19 virus shows indications of leveling off. There may be signs of the same here in Virginia, but they are subtle. The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association show a steady increase in the number of confirmed cases, hospitalizations…
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Lessons From Canterbury Rehab
By Peter Galuszka For weeks, the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., has been seen as the epicenter of the threat of COVID-19 at tightly packed health care facilities. So far, 37 patients have died of the virus. It hardly gets the national media attention, but a suburban Richmond facility, the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare…
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Demand Rapid COVID-19 Testing
by James C. Sherlock Three days ago, I wrote the following: Now it has turned out that by far the most effective and timely test for COVID-19 has been produced for point-of-care (physicians offices, clinics, etc.) testing, not for centralized test labs. That fact has left the hospitals and the administration collectively clueless. … Daily…
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COVID-19 Update: Yikes!
I’ve divined hopeful signs in past statistical updates, only to have my hopes dashed. So, take this with a grain of salt. But Virginia may be turning a corner. Consider this nugget from the COVID-19 numbers reported by the Virginia Department of Health this morning: The number of confirmed new patients Tuesday was only a…
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Regulated States Have Fewer Hospital Beds
by James C. Sherlock Virginians have read my complaints for years that Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law has artificially reduced supply of healthcare facilities in Virginia, driving up prices and reducing access. Legislators who believe as I do have not won the argument for the past 30 years in Richmond. Unfortunately, I offer…
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COVID-19 Update: Back into Panic Mode
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has released its COVID-19 update, and I’m back into panic mode. The number of reported new cases leaped to 563 yesterday, the biggest number yet. What I had tentatively described yesterday as a respite in the exponential rate of increase over the weekend turned out to be an artifact…
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Right Wing Uses Virus To Stifle Needed Reforms
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Culture wars, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, General Assembly, Governance, Government Finance, Government Transparency, Gun rights, Health Care, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka Right-wingers in Virginia have been apoplectic for months that Democrats finally captured the General Assembly after years of Republican control. They also were enraged that the legislature this winter passed a number of reforms that would draw Virginia into the 21st Century such raising the minimum wage, boosting collective bargaining, tightening rules…
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Why Can’t the Northam Administration Hit the Curveball?
by James C. Sherlock The question in the title is a proxy for nearly every question people ask on this blog. I will try to answer that here so that expectations for the Northam administration’s performance are not are impossible to meet. The key thing to know about the “Virginia Way” in healthcare is that…
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Hospital Association Publishes More Granular COVID-19 Data
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association today unveiled its own COVID-19 dashboard — and it puts the Virginia Department of Health information portal to shame. The VHHA dashboard contains key metrics lacking in the state’s statistical summary, and its data on the number of hospitalizations conflicts with those provided by the…
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COVID-19 Update: A Glimmer of Hope
The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health are heartening. The COVID-19 epidemic in Virginia has not peaked, or come anywhere near peaking. But maybe, just maybe, the rate of acceleration is slowing. Another way to put it: It may take a bit longer than we thought for things to go all to hell.…