HEALTHCARE

Healthcare workers battling fatigue prepare for next wave of COVID-19 cases Healthcare workers battling fatigue prepare for next wave of COVID-19 casesWASHINGTON, D.C. — While many U.S. communities are shifting toward normalcy with pandemic restrictions relaxing, health care workers told members of Congress this week the COVID-19 pandemic is still taking a major toll on its workforce. “We keep showing up, but our work keeps getting tougher,” said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Rhode Island Hospital. Dr. Ranney shared her experience with a House subcommittee to shed light on the on-going health care worker shortages plaguing hospitals and doctors’ offices around the country. Ron DeSantis says First Lady Casey DeSantis is cancer-freeHealth care workers urged Congress to pump more funding into recruitment and training for the health care industry to help combat worker shortages. “While these offer the chance for hospitals to bolster their workforce during surges, their costs have risen to unsustainable levels.

Andy Nesbitt looks at why it took so long for the Giants to finally dump Joe Judge and which head coaching vacancy is the most attractive destination.

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GuideWell to acquire Triple-S Management

A Volusia County woman says an emergency medical procedure is costing her thousands of dollars out of pocket, even though she has insurance.

You need to have steady hands.”Cyr’s shaking symptoms and chronic fatigue she believes were brought on by coronavirus, and nearly three months later, she has yet to shake the symptoms off. It really validated my experience.”Long-haulers like Makely often find themselves standing side by side with another group experiencing their own kind of coronavirus fatigue. Once the patient leaves, they tend to be followed more by primary care providers.”That can make it hard for medical professionals like Crespo to track his patient’s long hauler symptoms. We are in it for the long haul.”RESOURCES FOR LONG HAULERS:*If you know of a legitimate resource to add to this list, please email mbadcock@wkmg.com. COVID-19 Long Hauler Advocacy Project - https://www.facebook.com/groups/Covid19LonghaulerAdvocacyProjectFlorida COVID Longhaulers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/808469586361857Long COVID Support Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/longcovid/Survivor Corps - https://www.survivorcorps.com/Crowd-sourced survey of Long Hauler Survivors, by Karyn Bishof, Founder of the Covid-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BrWY0OEZTSM03QJfgwkSMj2jH6mpcxThPKcd0wEbBJw/edit?fbclid=IwAR383WMCKcqos4zVN8fBTqftim8J33M39NrzMFXFYMPl4dVxQhOk8CHFesM

The United States government is planning to pay for a future coronavirus vaccine for all Americans. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made the announcement on Wednesday and said it will pay for any vaccine authorized or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. [TRENDING: ‘Smell of rotting flesh’ leads to body in trunk | How to celebrate Halloween during pandemic | 98 ‘murder hornets’ removed]While the federal government is paying for the vaccine, insurers including Medicare, Medicaid and private plans must cover the cost of administering it. This is a costly undertaking the agency says. If the 62 million people in the Medicare program got vaccinated it would cost around $2.6 billion.

(AP Photo/Channi Anand)NEW DELHI — India has reported 48,648 new coronavirus cases, continuing a downward trend in infections even as the country’s caseload has crossed 8 million and is only behind the U.S. The country confirmed 808 new cases on Thursday, bringing the cumulative COVID-19 cases to 100,334, including 712 cases found on a cruise ship earlier this year, according to the ministry figures. About one-third of the cases come from Tokyo, where 221 cases were confirmed Thursday, bringing a prefectural total to 30,677, with 453 deaths. Italy added a record number of new confirmed cases Thursday at more than 26,000. ___LONDON — The World Health Organization says Europe had a record 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the last week and has reached 10 million of the 44 million global cases.

Walmart is launching healthcare plans that will be available for seniors for the first time. It comes in time for Medicare open enrollment. Walmart announced the move on Tuesday. It comes as insurance companies compete for the growing number of seniors eligible for Medicare benefits. [TRENDING: Newlywed couple killed in plane crash | Ballot for dead wife meant to ‘test system’ | FSU president tests positive for COVID-19]Walmart says the insurance services will help people with the historically confusing process of enrolling in insurance plans.

Essential caregivers are those who provide health care services or help with daily life, including dressing and eating, while compassionate care visitors provide emotional support. Daniel said she fought hard for compassionate care visitors to be able to hug residents. All visitations will be by appointment and long-term care residents can designate up to five visitors, with two at a time seeing someone. Essential and compassionate care visitors are exempt from the 14-day rule, according to the governor. Mayhew said the current positivity rate for COVID-19 infections among long-term care staff is about 1.2%.

Working with healthcare facilities, the agency created a dashboard that shows hospital bed availability totals, including ICU beds, at both the county and hospital level. Statewide, there are 59,271 hospital beds and only 41% of those are currently available, according to the data released Friday afternoon. More than 60% of adult and pediatric ICU beds across the state are occupied, according to the hospital data. While many Florida counties have more than 50% of their beds available, that could quickly change. Florida’s AHCA data does not include information about available ventilators available in the state.

Heroes on the front lines in the battle against the coronavirus outbreak can get a free pair of shoes from Crocs. It’s a new program called “A Free Pair for Healthcare.”Individual healthcare workers can go to Crocs.com to place their free order of classic Crocs or Crocs at work. The website opens for requests each day at noon ET and stays open until that day’s allotment has been fulfilled. Crocs is also donating up to 100,000 pairs of shoes to be distributed to employees at select healthcare facilities and organizations. To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter or go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.

Florida child healthcare program improves plan for uninsured childrenPublished: March 10, 2020, 4:50 pmFlorida Healthy Kids, a Florida KidCare partner, has drastically reduced its costs to better cover families in need of healthcare for their children.