pandemic

shows a man in a respirator helmet talking to a woman in a facemask in an intensive care unit where there have been many coronavirus or COVID patients.

Coronavirus Today – Jan. 8 – New record COVID case counts and hospitalizations; More vaccine plan details; UNC-CH delays in-person classes

January 8, 2021 by Anne Blythe Leave a Comment

Coronavirus Today – Jan. 8 – New record COVID case counts and hospitalizations; More vaccine plan details; UNC-CH delays in-person classes - North Carolina Health News

Even as vaccine distribution begins, North Carolina's top public health official is the “most worried” she’s been since the start of the pandemic.

By Anne Blythe Though COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna being distributed across the state offer rays of light in the fight against the coronavirus that continues to disrupt the world, North Carolina is in a very dark place. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, has spent the past […]

shows the facade of one of Mission Hospital's buildings

Mission sale: Good for WNC, or just HCA?

November 27, 2020 by Asheville Watchdog

Mission sale: Good for WNC, or just HCA? - North Carolina Health News

Two locally managed hospitals both have sold in recent years. New Hanover Regional Medical Center, a smaller, less-profitable hospital netted twice the price of MIssion.

By Peter Lewis AVL Watchdog Years from now, the decision in 2018 by the directors of Mission Health to sell to HCA Healthcare might be seen as a brilliant strategic maneuver, one that guaranteed affordable, high-quality healthcare for future generations of western North Carolinians. This was, and still is, the position of the directors and […]

illustration shows birds emerging from someone's head, as a symbol for mental health issues, COVID

Report: 20 percent of COVID-19 patients develop mental health issues

November 22, 2020 by Daily Yonder

Report: 20 percent of COVID-19 patients develop mental health issues - North Carolina Health News

For rural patients already struggling with access to mental health care, the long term effects of the pandemic could mean even greater barriers in receiving the help they need.

By Liz Carey Daily Yonder As COVID cases rise in rural areas, a new report found that one in five COVID-19 patients develop mental illness within 90 days of recovery. That could spell trouble for rural residents who already have a harder time getting access to mental health services. The report, published this week in […]

COVID positive inmates housed alongside uninfected in Pitt County

August 26, 2020 by Hannah Critchfield

COVID positive inmates housed alongside uninfected in Pitt County - North Carolina Health News

Inmates fear catching the virus amid outbreak but say staff is declining to test other inmates in the dorm.

By Hannah Critchfield Dylan’s bunkmate tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. He’s still sleeping right below him. Despite not yet being reported on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website, Pitt County Detention Center currently has an outbreak of the novel coronavirus which has upended the country. COVID-19 has caused 10 deaths in the […]

When mental health moves to Facebook

August 3, 2020 by Liora Engel-Smith

When mental health moves to Facebook - North Carolina Health News

Facebook mental health communities satisfy the need for connection in an increasingly isolated world. But that virtual connection sometimes comes at a price.

By Liora Engel-Smith When Tessah O’Neill felt sad about her miscarriage, she turned to Facebook for comfort. It was her first Mother’s Day after the loss, the 22-year-old Jacksonville resident recalled. “I ended up losing my eventual kid early in my pregnancy and I don’t feel like a mother … ,” O’Neill wrote in the […]

shows a group of students, many in Carolina blue, walking on the brick pathways of UNC Chapel Hill

Coronavirus Today – July 30 – The SCOOP on coping with pandemic stress; Tropical storm and NC pathway; Return of NC college students

July 30, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – July 30 – The SCOOP on coping with pandemic stress; Tropical storm and NC pathway; Return of NC college students - North Carolina Health News

The pandemic is taking a mental health toll with increased reports of anxiety, depression, binge drinking and substance-abuse overdoses.

By Anne Blythe This coronavirus pandemic swooped into North Carolina as an unwelcome visitor might and has lingered for months now with no signs of going away any time soon. The weight of that reality has bred higher rates of anxiety and depression, particularly among younger people, as well as more binge drinking and emergency […]

photo lookin up at the US Capitol with clouds behind it. Congress has tried, and failed, to make changes to the health care system in the past

Rapid changes to health system spurred by COVID might be here to stay

June 13, 2020 by Kaiser Health News

Rapid changes to health system spurred by COVID might be here to stay - North Carolina Health News

The COVID-19 pandemic has done what no president or social movement or venture capitalist could have dreamed of: It forced sudden major changes to the nation’s health care system.

By Julie Rovner Kaiser Health News The U.S. health care system is famously resistant to government-imposed change. It took decades to create Medicare and Medicaid, mostly due to opposition from the medical-industrial complex. Then it was nearly another half-century before the passage of the Affordable Care Act. But the COVID-19 pandemic has done what no […]

we see an industrial complex / poultry plant where multiple Latino workers have tested positive for COVID

Latino North Carolinians infected with COVID-19 ‘simply by going to work’

June 11, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Latino North Carolinians infected with COVID-19 ‘simply by going to work’ - North Carolina Health News

Duke professors, physicians and state leaders eye ways to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Hispanic communities, where it's hit hard.

By Anne Blythe Many Latino North Carolinians have felt the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 because they have been essential workers during the pandemic, working at meat processing plants, on construction sites or in grocery stores and other places where it can be difficult to avoid the virus. A nursing professor, a pediatric physician and doctor […]

A bottle of pills is on its side and blue pills are spilling from it.

With more questions than answers, hydroxychloroquine still under the microscope

June 4, 2020 by Anne Blythe

With more questions than answers, hydroxychloroquine still under the microscope - North Carolina Health News

Duke University is leading a nationwide study of frontline health care workers to test whether HCQ can prevent COVID-19.

By Anne Blythe Four months ago, few would have fathomed that a 65-year-old drug would become a household name now recognized by many North Carolinians and the subject of heated political discourse. But that’s the recent history of hydroxychloroquine. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday parlance to include such phrases as “flattening the curve,” “social […]

Teletherapy in the Age of COVID-19

June 3, 2020 by Melba Newsome

Teletherapy in the Age of COVID-19 - North Carolina Health News

The mental health crisis brought on by the pandemic has helped speed up the adoption of teletherapy.

By Melba Newsome Maudeb Maybin suffers from PTSD and uses a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy. Part of his overall maintenance plan includes seeing a therapist to help him cope with his depression issues. But just traveling to and from his appointment can take hours. “It was a huge coordination effort to go anywhere, whether […]

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