-
U.S. hospitalization rates more than doubled during the latest omicron wave compared to the prior delta wave, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black adults were more likely to end up hospitalized than White adults, regardless of their vaccination status.
-
While cancer death rates in the U.S. have declined in recent years, racial disparities persist. Midwestern states — including Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana — have some of the highest rates of cancer mortality for Black residents in the country. Public health advocates have worked for years to close the racial gap, but some worry the pandemic will delay progress.
-
Some small towns in the Midwest are growing due to an influx of immigrants, which includes some who speak rare languages. Hospitals and community leaders have had to adapt to make COVID vaccines accessible to those communities.
-
Nursing home staff, fed up with low pay and long hours, are leaving — but then coming right back. Many are turning to staffing agencies where they can make a lot more money for the exact same work.
-
In Columbia, Missouri, some community members are stepping up to help unhoused individuals find solutions. They say city leaders have not done enough.
-
When the pandemic forced schools to close in 2020, children spent more time at home. That’s when calls to national and local domestic abuse hotlines skyrocketed, advocates say.
-
Research suggests breast milk from vaccinated mothers offers at least some protection against the coronavirus. With children under 5 still too young for the vaccine, some parents are seeking out donated breast milk with antibodies for protection.
-
As competition for low-wage workers heats up, residential treatment centers across the U.S. are suffering from staff shortages. When the facilities that care for the nation’s most vulnerable youth are short-staffed, the consequences can be dire.
-
The Lincoln Scholars program at Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine aims to train up-and-coming physicians to work in rural areas by providing them with rural clinical experience right off the bat.
-
As the pandemic drags on, doctors continue to be pulled away from their normal duties to care for COVID patients. For early-career physicians, that means less time for specialized training.