Arielle Dreher | The Seattle Times

A nurse sticks her head out of a room of a COVID-19 patient in the CoxHealth Emergency Department in Springfield, Mo., don personal protective equipment to treat patients with COVID-19, Friday, July 16, 2021. Southwest Missouri is seeing a surge in Delta variant cases, with hospitals nearing capacity and requesting help from the state for staffing and an alternative care site. (Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP) MOSPL303

October 10, 2021 at 8:01 am

Staffing has long been a challenge in long-term care. Washington state’s vaccine mandate could make it worse

These are difficult jobs to fill in the best of times; the shortage of nursing aides and assistants as well as nurses in long-term care...

The current COVID surge has led to a delay in procedures and surgeries that are “elective” but also important for many patients, including Colleen Gardner who needs her gall bladder removed, but because she’s high-risk, she needs to have that surgery in the hospital. Her surgery was supposed to be this week but now it’s been pushed to October. SR2109161659322665

September 17, 2021 at 8:01 am

‘I need surgery, and I don’t know when I am going to get it’: COVID’s impact on other vital health care

Emily Wynne needs a high-grade tumor in her left breast removed. But because her surgeon's entire medical team has been called to COVID wards instead,...

August 29, 2021 at 8:02 am

Rural hospitals, pushed to limits by COVID surge, face delays in treatment, surgeries

Aug. 29—Whatever you do in the next few weeks, don't suffer a heart attack or have a stroke. Don't hurt yourself so badly it requires...

August 16, 2021 at 8:01 am

COVID-19 is leaving Washington’s nurses stressed, with some seeking jobs elsewhere, survey finds

2020 was a brutal year for nurses. A recent survey of more than 400 nurses statewide, published by the Washington Center for Nursing, revealed that...

April 30, 2021 at 7:02 pm

Inslee relaxes mask guidelines for long-term care facilities in Washington state to try to counter 'stark social isolation'

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee relaxes mask guidelines for long-term care facilities to try to ease the social isolation experienced by many residents the past year.

March 20, 2021 at 8:02 am

Behind the scenes, yet on the front lines: Epidemiologists reflect on a pandemic year

It was a little over a year ago when Anna Halloran woke up in the early hours of March 14, 2020, to a phone call....

Nation & World

January 18, 2021 at 8:01 am

COVID-19 contact tracers in Spokane are now trained to give mental health assistance

The Spokane Regional Health District and the Public Health Institute have trained their contract tracing workers in mental health first aid, after finding that they...

December 11, 2020 at 12:16 am

Fired Spokane health officer to join state health department to help with COVID-19 response

In early November, the Spokane Regional Health District Board of Health fired Dr. Bob Lutz after Administrator Amelia Clark had locked him out of the...

Nation & World

October 10, 2020 at 8:02 am

Not headed in the right direction: Inland Northwest COVID cases continue to climb

Spokane County will have to do more to stop the spread of COVID-19 or health officials might tighten current guidelines in the county. In the...

Nation & World

May 22, 2020 at 8:59 pm

Spokane confirms 31 COVID-19 cases in two days, with most tied to pasta factory outbreak

The Philadelphia Macaroni Co. plant in Spokane confirmed Friday that 24 workers out of 72 tested positive for COVID-19 this week.

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