ICUs strained for 2 in 5 Americans
Two nurses put a ventilator on a patient in a COVID-19 unit at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif., Jan. 7. U.S. hospital intensive care units in many parts of the country are straining under record numbers of COVID-19 patients. AP PHOTO
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2021, file photo, a medical worker walks past a refrigerated trailer parked outside the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. U.S. hospital intensive care units in many parts of the country are straining under record numbers of COVID-19 patients. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ran into shortages of take-home oxygen tanks, which meant some patients who could otherwise go home were kept longer, taking up needed beds. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) Damian Dovarganes
Have hospital-at-home programs finally come of age?
Bill Eggbeer
Hospital-at-home programs have existed for more than 20 years. But only recently have they started to build momentum.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated interest in developing and expanding hospital-at-home programs, and with new payment support from CMS, these programs can be expected to proliferate in coming months and years. For those health systems with their own health plans and/or with a significant enrollment in accountable care organizations (ACOs) that are taking significant financial risk, a hospital-at-home program can offer the potential to improve care and reduce costs for a segment of the patient population.
Official Says New Mexico Doesn t Expect To Run Out Of Vaccine -
By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
New Mexico health officials say they don t expect to run out of coronavirus vaccine.
Health Department spokesman Matt Bieber said Wednesday that the state orders the maximum number of doses it can and its orders are typically filled.
Nearly 200,000 doses already have been delivered to the state, and more than three-quarters of those have been administered. That puts New Mexico among the top states when it comes to distribution rates.
The state continues to have one of the fastest distribution times in the U.S. It has administered nearly 153,000 shots so far. More than 471,000 New Mexicans have registered for the vaccine.
How Education Funding Could Change In New Mexico -
By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press/Report For America
The New Mexico Legislature is expected to increase near-term education funding and pursue long-term reforms that will change how schools are funded.
Education accounts for about half of the approximately $7 billion in general funds that lawmakers will haggle over during the 60-day legislative session that started Tuesday.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and legislative researchers have recommended increases in education funding to overcome learning losses and enrollment declines caused by the pandemic.
Lawsuits targeting the state s school funding formula also are creating legal pressure for spending increases.