MASSACHUSETTS IS AGAIN experiencing a COVID-19 surge and our hospitals are overwhelmed, mostly with unvaccinated patients. As a practicing physician who takes care of many high-risk diabetic patients, I ask […]
Health
Posted inHealth Care
Rapid tests play crucial role in curbing COVID-19 spread
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. AS WINTER BEGINS and the holidays are in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic has entered another worrying phase. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker halts non-essential hospital procedures, urges indoor mask wearing
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is requiring Massachusetts hospitals nearing capacity to cancel all non-essential, elective, invasive procedures as of December 27 in order to preserve room for incoming patients amid an […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care
Boston institutes COVID vaccine mandate for leisure-related indoor spaces
THE CITY OF BOSTON is instituting a vaccine requirement for entry into leisure-related indoor spaces, including restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues. “This is just one step in an aggressive approach […]
Posted inHealth Care
Vaccine mandates kick in as hospitals struggle with staffing
DOUGLAS BROWN, president of UMass Memorial Community Hospitals, put it bluntly: “We’re going through the worst staffing crisis in our history.” Yet, UMass fired more than 200 employees earlier this […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Back to the future: Red Sox launching booster facility
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE START of next year’s baseball season may be in jeopardy, but the turnstiles will be turning again at Fenway Park when it is expected to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Report finds Hispanic residents have harder time getting health care
HISPANIC RESIDENTS IN Massachusetts have experienced some of the most significant struggles in obtaining timely, affordable health care in an appropriate setting, according to a study released Thursday by the […]
Posted inHealth Care
State to distribute 2.1 million rapid COVID tests to hard-hit communities
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the state will make 2.1 million rapid COVID tests available to more than 100 lower-income communities as part of the effort to curb the spread of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker says deal coming ‘soon’ on universal vaccine proof
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said Monday that a deal could be reached “soon” with a number of other states to create a scannable code that could be used to prove someone has been vaccinated. “We’ve been working […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
High court sides with DOC on prison COVID rules
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ruled Thursday that the Department of Correction has not been “deliberately indifferent” to inmates’ health during the COVID pandemic, because it took precautions and, most significantly, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Report finds older adults use telehealth far less than others
THE POPULARITY OF telehealth has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, as doctors shut their offices to nonemergency visits, then even once they reopened, patients remained hesitant to go to a […]
Posted inHealth Care
Rocky road continues at Biogen
FOR CAMBRIDGE-BASED Biogen, it’s been the best of times and the worst of times. The biotech powerhouse saw its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm approved in June by the Food and Drug […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate unveils major mental health bill
LEADERS IN THE Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive mental health bill, which would set a floor for the rates insurers must pay for mental health services, address the […]
Posted inUncategorized
2 more House lawmakers provide proof of vaccination
TWO MORE STATE representatives provided proof over the weekend that they have received COVID-19 shots, leaving the House with only five of its 160 members out of compliance with the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospitals help mental health patients – by sending them away
THE 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL was stuck in a hospital emergency room waiting for mental health services, after she found a sharp object in school and tried to hurt a teacher. The […]
Posted inEducation
The kids are not okay
THE MEMES going around the internet in the early days of the pandemic, as schools and daycares shut down, made it clear: the parents are not okay. A year and […]
Posted inHealth Care
Pediatric COVID vaccines now available in Massachusetts
MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH CARE providers prepared to start vaccinating children against COVID-19 on Thursday, now that the federal government has signed off on the safety and efficacy of Pfizer’s vaccine. “Pediatric […]
Posted inUncategorized
Seven reps not complying with House vaccine mandate
THERE ARE SEVEN state representatives who have not yet provided proof of vaccination or requested a religious or medical exemption from the vaccine mandate imposed by the House of the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate ARPA bill includes $400m investment in mental health
LEADERS IN THE Massachusetts Senate will unveil a plan on Wednesday to spend $400 million improving the mental health system, part of a larger proposal for how to spend federal […]
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts doesn’t need happy hours
MULTIPLE EFFORTS are under way to repeal the longstanding ban on happy hour in Massachusetts. If you’re not old enough to remember, happy hour ended here in 1984, when legislators, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham invests $50m in community partners
THE STATE’S LARGEST hospital system says it intends to invest $50 million over the next five years in 20 community partners who can help address mental health care shortages, chronic […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. lags badly in workplace accessibility for disability community
OCTOBER IS National Disability Employment Awareness Month. NDEAM’s roots go back to 1945. It is held each October to “commemorate the many and varied contributions of people with disabilities to […]
Posted inEducation
State: School testing delays are being resolved
MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH and education officials acknowledged on Thursday that “logistical challenges” led to a delayed rollout of the state’s COVID-19 testing program in schools, but they said the problems, which […]
Posted inOpinion
What our ‘anchor mission’ means for central Mass.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, UMass Memorial Health, the largest health care system in central Massachusetts, welcomed Harrington Hospital in Southbridge into its family. A merger of a community hospital into a […]