Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

The AdventHealth Orchestra has been a wonderful experience as well as an effective way to address staff burnout and promote resilience and mental health in the workplace.

On Dec. 15, the Department of Health and Human Services will stop collecting hospitals’ COVID-19 data through the TeleTracking portal and begin collecting the data through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., today encouraged all eligible Americans to get vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19, noting that hospitals continue to experience the highest flu admissions in a decade this early in the season.

Infants under 6 months old had the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rates among Americans under age 65 during March 20-Aug. 31, when the omicron BA.2 and BA.5 variants predominated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today.

There are many significant milestones in our nation’s history of voting.

The FDA revised its emergency use authorizations for all COVID-19 antigen tests to authorize serial testing and require updates to product labeling regarding serial testing, and designated the recall of 60,500 filters used in breathing systems a Class I recall.

CMS released new FAQs to help state Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Programs prepare for the eventual end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. 

FEMA released guidance outlining the process the agency will use to identify and reduce COVID-19 Public Assistance funding for any expense for which funding has already been received from another program or source.

AHA had urged the agency to renew the emergency to continue critical flexibilities.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, CMS will continue to exercise enforcement discretion under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to allow providers to test asymptomatic individuals using certain point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 tests authorized for symptomatic individuals, CMS announced.

The COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy Evusheld may not prevent COVID-19 caused by certain variants of the virus, the FDA announced this week.

Increasing bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccinations this year to 2020-2021 flu vaccination rates could prevent an additional 75,000 deaths and 745,000 hospitalizations and avert $44 billion in medical costs over the next six months, researchers estimate in a Commonwealth Fund blog post.

The New Hampshire Hospital Association and the Foundation for Healthy Communities Sept. 29 received a Power of Associations Gold Award for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Society of Association Executives' Power of Associations Awards recognize associations’ economic and societal contributions locally, nationally and globally.

With fall in full swing, there are two easy steps that individuals can take to protect themselves and their families against illness – get a flu shot and get a COVID-19 vaccination or booster.

In a study of 151 tax-exempt hospitals reported yesterday in JAMA Network Open, 84% updated their charity care policies between 2019 and 2021.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Friday reopened the comment period for a 2020 interim final rule that set forth certain requirements for states to claim a temporary increase in federal matching funds for their Medicaid programs under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

AHA will co-host a Sept. 27 Facebook Live event with AdventHealth on the importance of getting children vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, which will also cover the new bivalent booster shots.

In-hospital mortality among patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 fell from 15.1% during the delta period to 4.9% this April through June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week. 

As labor shortages and inflation drive up expenses, U.S. hospitals and health systems this year face the worst financial crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a report prepared for AHA by Kaufman Hall. 

The CDC recommended Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 vaccine booster for Americans aged 12 and older and Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine booster for Americans aged 18 and older, as recommended by its vaccine advisory committee.