smoking

Weed users nearly 25% more likely to need emergency care and hospitalization

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Using recreational marijuana is associated with a higher risk of emergency room care and being hospitalized for any reason, a new study has found.

“Cannabis use is not as benign and safe as some might think,” said study author Nicholas Vozoris, assistant professor and clinician investigator in the division of respirology at the department of medicine at the University of Toronto.

“Our study demonstrates that the use of this substance is associated with serious negative outcomes, specifically, ED (emergency department) visits and hospitalizations,” Vozoris said in an email. read more

Hospital

Thousands of medical residents are unionizing. Here’s what that means for doctors, hospitals, and the patients they serve

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Kaley Kinnamon, MD, still remembers the many challenges of being a new doctor when COVID-19 was raging through her hospital. “We were expected to do much more,” says Kinnamon, now a second-year neurology resident at the University of Vermont Medical (UVM) Center in Burlington. “We were having to take on a lot more patients — and a lot sicker patients.”

And though Kinnamon appreciated that the hospital was also battling tremendous challenges, she was disappointed that it failed to offer residents such supports as additional compensation and help with childcare.

“A lot that was happening during COVID made me want to advocate more vocally for what residents need. I saw unionizing as a powerful way to do that,” she says.

Many of her colleagues at UVM shared that sentiment, and on April 14, they voted to launch a residents union there.

These trainees joined a growing number of medical residents — sometimes known as house staff — who have unionized across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. read more

The Untamed Rise Of Hospital Monopolies

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Last month, Michigan’s two largest hospital systems, Spectrum Health and Beaumont Health, announced they wanted to become one. The $12.9 billion “megamerger” would create a health industrial complex spanning 22 hospitals, 305 outpatient facilities, and an insurance company. It would employ 64,000 people, making it the largest employer in Michigan. Local newspapers had expected the merger to “sail through” government approval. But now they’re not so sure.

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Hospital

Healthcare Ransomware Outages: Scripps, Ireland HSE, and NZ Hospitals

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Healthcare remains a key target for ransomware hacking groups, as seen in recent research data and multiple hospital system outages. Scripps Health is continuing recovery efforts two weeks after an attack, while Ireland’s health system and multiple New Zealand hospitals are currently operating under EHR downtime procedures.

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Uber

Uber driver bravely rushes shooting victims to the hospital

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Michael Bussan said he knew there was no time to waste and he had to get to these two wounded men in the back of his car.

The shooting happened before midnight, but Wednesday morning Bussan was still cleaning the blood from his car.

Bussan had dropped off some customers on the South Side when he saw the crash and people gathered around.

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Doctors in Hospital

Patient Stabs Doctor in Face and Head Inside Pennsylvania Hospital

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A doctor is recovering after she was stabbed in the face and head inside Pennsylvania Hospital.

Police say the doctor was treating a patient inside the hospital on 800 Spruce Street on Tuesday when the patient stabbed her multiple times. The doctor is currently in stable condition while the patient was arrested.

A Penn Medicine spokesperson told NBC10 the hospital is working closely with Philadelphia police in response to the incident and that the doctor received immediate care.

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Covid Vaccine

Tennessee Hospitals: State’s Vaccine Rollout Plan Isn’t Enough To Keep Sites Open

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The state’s top health official describes Tennessee’s progress in meeting the need for the Covid-19 vaccine as “nowhere close.”

With a towering demand, this month our weekly shipment of doses is going up 15%.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said on Tuesday starting this month, Tennessee will receive 93,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine every week.

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Coronavirus Warning Sign

L.A. Has Avoided A New York-Level COVID-19 Hospital Meltdown as Conditions Improve

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Just weeks ago, Los Angeles County’s hospitals were overwhelmed and on the brink of a worst-case catastrophic scenario, with plans ready if doctors needed to ration healthcare.

But with the region now in its fourth week of declining hospitalizations, it was clear Wednesday that the county was decisively on its way out of its third surge of the pandemic, its deadliest yet.

Yes, hospitals this week are still under pressure — scheduled surgeries are still suspended, and there’s still a shortage of medical staff, with hospitals relying on nurses drafted from clinics, contract agencies and the federal and state governments. L.A. County’s hospitals are still under great strain, with nearly three times as many COVID-19 patients as it did during the peak of the summer wave. The state has opened up two surge hospitals — in Sun Valley and Hawaiian Gardens — that have been used to relieve the strain on other facilities.

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Nurse Stressed Out

North Carolina Hospitals Brace For Growing Impact From COVID-19 Cases

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DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Last week, North Carolina saw record COVID-19 hospitalizations, with at least 3,992 patients battling COVID-19 statewide last Wednesday. But those hospitalizations didn’t affect all parts of the state equally.

An analysis of the latest data from the US Department of Health and Human Services shows more COVID-19 patients occupied beds in Triangle hospitals last week than they did a month ago.

At Duke University Hospital in Durham, 82 COVID-19 patients were admitted to the hospital between January 8 and January 14. That week, 98% of the hospital’s 740 adult inpatient beds were occupied on average each day, an increase from 93% the week before. According to the data, an average of 113 adult COVID-19 patients occupied those beds each day, meaning COVID-19 patients occupied 16% of all inpatient beds, up from 10% a month ago.
Doctor with vaccine

Hospitals and Businesses Are Offering Incentives To Those Hesitant About Getting COVID-19 Vaccines

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While millions have eagerly awaited the arrival of coronavirus vaccines, hoping they’ll help restore a sense of normalcy, many others, including some health care workers, still appear concerned with their efficacy.

Less than a month after vaccines by Pfizer and the Moderna COVID-19 were granted emergency use authorization, hospitals and state officials are reporting that some doses are being left unused. For months, polls have revealed that some Americans remain hesitant to take the vaccine, with many concerned that it was developed too rapidly.

“I am definitely concerned that health care workers are electing to wait to get vaccinated,” Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a briefing last week.

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