hospitals

It’s difficult to put into words how hard COVID-19 is hitting rural America’s hospitals. North Dakota has so many cases, it’s allowing asymptomatic COVID-19-positive nurses to continue caring for patients to keep the hospitals staffed. Iowa and South Dakota have teetered on the edge of running out of hospital capacity. Yet in many communities, the initial cooperation and goodwill seen early in the pandemic have given way to COVID-19 fatigue and anger, making it hard to implement and enforce public health measures, like wearing face masks, that can reduce the disease’s spread. Rural health care systems entered the pandemic in already precarious financial positions. Over the years, shifting demographics, declining revenue and increasing operating expenses have made it harder for rural hosp...

Most Americans find a number of common hospital fundraising practices ethically unacceptable, according to a new study published in July. Examples of these sometimes troubling approaches included providing people who have a track record of making large donations with concierge services such as nicer rooms or doctor’s cellphone numbers, screening patients to identify those who are wealthy enough to give lots of money to charity and getting doctors directly involved with fundraising efforts that involve their current or former patients. Which conversations about hospital donations are unethical? CDC via Unsplash We found that 85% of the people who took our survey agreed that patients feel good when they donate to the hospitals where they received their medical care. Yet 83% said they felt ...

Tag: hospitals

What Doctors Are Facing, In Their Own Words – Rural Hospitals Are Under Siege From COVID-19

Hospitals And The Pitfalls Of Seeking Donations From Their Rich Patients