Across the board, medical groups, hospitals and health care personnel are requesting institutional vaccination mandates for healthcare workers as the Delta variant spread increases case counts and hospitalizations nationwide.
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) were joined by 58 other...
COVID-19 cases are on the upswing again in Arizona. For Wednesday, July 21, there were 1,043 new cases reported bringing the total case count to 911,479. There were 10 new deaths, and the total of COVID-19 related deaths in Arizona is now 18,127. The statewide vaccination percentage rests at 51.2%. Adult intensive care unit bed use is...
Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise again in Arizona as the Delta variant continues to spread. On Wednesday, there were 1,945 new cases reported and 21 new deaths. Just half, 50.7% of Arizonans are now vaccinated. Intensive care unit bed usage by COVID-19 patients is rising, now at 11% from 8% last week and 13% of ICU beds remain...
At AHCCCS' quarterly Arizona State Medicaid Advisory Committee (SMAC) meeting, members discussed continued Public Health Emergency (PHE) funding and other funding priorities.
AHCCCS now serves 2.2 million Arizonans, and over the last 17 months enrollment has grown by 373,000 - which is due to a condition of the enhanced federal match...
Despite vaccinating most residents against COVID-19, the decline in cases and deaths in nursing homes, and the relaxation of some visitation restrictions, residents and families continue to face limitations on visitation.
In January, the Consumer Voice released a report detailing the horrific impact of lockdowns on nursing home...
Pam Kehaly, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, said that when COVID-19 hit, everything she thought she knew about the healthcare workplace came crashing down - in the best way.
These are the three things that Kehaly learned that changed her outlook:
Nearly anything can be done in far less time than you think.
At the...Arizona News
Last week Steve Purves, President and CEO of Valleywise Health, became America’s Essential Hospitals’ board chair at a time when the nation’s safety net healthcare systems are in the national spotlight for leading the nation’s COVID-19 response.
Last week, Steve Purves, president and CEO of Valleywise Health, became...
There were 373 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona on Wednesday and a total of four new deaths related to COVID-19. On Tuesday, the state passed the 18,000 marker for total deaths. The 17,000 death benchmark was passed on April 7. In terms of vaccinations, 49.9% of the state has been vaccinated against COVID-19. 9% of intensive...
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lacked the authority to ensure that hospitals had appropriate emerging infectious disease preparedness plans in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OIG conducted this audit to asses how CMS is...National News
It's no secret that of all the industries hard hit by COVID-19, skilled nursing and long term care were two of the hardest hit.
A study released on Tuesday by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services found that four in ten Medicare beneficiaries who lived in nursing homes last year had or likely had...Arizona News
On Wednesday, Arizona reported 490 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 new deaths. 8% of the state's intensive care unit beds are currently in use by COVID-19 patients and 15% of ICU beds are available. 48.9% of Arizonans have been vaccinated and 13,238 new doses of vaccine were administered on Wednesday.
This information comes from the...Arizona News
To date, 6,220,506 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the state of Arizona and 3,468,999 Arizonans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the state vaccination rate to 47.6%. Nationwide 312 million doses have been provided and 146 million Americans have been fully vaccinated.
This...
On Wednesday, Arizona reported 433 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 885,042 since recording cases began. There were two new deaths, creating a pandemic total to date of 17,715. Nearly half (47.5%) of eligible Arizonans are now fully vaccinated and 42.8% of Americans nationwide. Intensive care unit beds in Arizona are 9%...
At least 50% of people in the United states have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, May 26. In Arizona, 45.6% of people are vaccinated with 5,798,330 doses administered. At this time, White Arizonans account for 47.5% of people vaccinated, 13.9% are Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% are some other race and...Arizona News
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday evening that it reached a resolution with the State of Arizona regarding its crisis standards of care (CSC) guidelines. The complaint argued that Arizona's CSC discriminated against older Arizonans, people of color and people...Arizona News
There were 540 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona today, bringing the state total to 874,605. There were 17 new COVID-19 related deaths, the state total is at 17,497. 44.1% of Arizonans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
This information comes from the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 data...Open
There were only two new COVID-19 related deaths reported in Arizona on Wednesday, and 469 new cases. The total number of Arizona deaths attributed to COVID-19 is 17,430 and there are 870,624 cases now reported in Arizona with 11% of intensive care unit beds in use by COVID-19 patients, 14% of ICU beds are available.
This information...Arizona News
The theory was that recovery in SNFs would occur with COVID-19 vaccination uptake among staff and residents, visitation policies of nursing homes, the willingness of family members to place their loved ones in the SNF setting, and acute care’s return to normal.
Now, the question is whether or not hospitals will continue to discharge...Arizona News
This week Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have allowed the board that regulates leadership at long-term care facilities to continue. Ducey wants to transfer those responsibilities to the Arizona Department of Health Services instead.
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said,
For...CMS Rules
On Sunday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two proposed rules for inpatient and long-term care hospitals. The first aims to fund medical residency positions in hospitals in rural and underserved communities in order to address workforce shortages in those areas and would require hospitals to report COVID-19...