Author Archives: henrykotula

US surpasses 6 million coronavirus cases nationwide

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https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/514364-us-passes-6-million-coronavirus-cases-nationwide

US surpasses 6 million coronavirus cases nationwide | TheHill

The United States has passed six million confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The country has also passed 183,000 deaths nationwide.

President Trump and his 2020 Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, have battled for months over the U.S.’s coronavirus response, with allies of the Democratic nominee hammering the administration over the U.S.’s status as the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world.

In July, Biden accused Trump of giving up on the U.S.’s efforts to control the disease’s spread, claiming that the president “raised the white flag.”

“He has no idea what to do. It’s zero. It’s only one thing he has in mind — how does he win reelection? And it doesn’t matter how many people get COVID and or die from COVID because he fears that if the economy is strapped as badly as it is today that, in fact, he is going to be in trouble,” the former vice president told MSNBC.

Trump, meanwhile, has struck an optimistic tone on the virus when addressing it in recent months and claimed that he believes a vaccine could be available before the election. He also claimed in a recent Axios interview that the virus is “under control as much as you can control it” in the U.S.

“They are dying, that’s true. And you have — it is what it is,” Trump said earlier in August. “But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague.”

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts health system lays off 118 furloughed workers, extends exec pay cuts

Posted on by • Posted in Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Employee Furlough, Employee Hiring Freeze, Employee Layoffs, Employee Pay Cuts, Employer-Based Health Insurance, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/massachusetts-health-system-lays-off-118-furloughed-workers-extends-exec-pay-cuts.html?utm_medium=email

Cape Cod Hospital - Office of Student Affairs at UMass Medical School

Citing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnstable, Mass.-based Cape Cod Healthcare will lay off 118 employees and extend salary reductions for executives, according to The Cape Cod Times.

In May, Cape Cod Healthcare furloughed 595 employees due to low patient volume and revenue declines amid the pandemic. Of the workers furloughed, 477 have returned to work, and 118 will be laid off. 

Employees affected by the layoffs include eight vice presidents, a nurse, lab workers, environmental service workers and dietary employees.

In addition to the personnel reduction, Cape Cod Healthcare is extending a 10 percent salary cut for its senior executives, according to the report. 

Cape Cod Healthcare CEO Michael Lauf told the Times that the layoffs were “an extremely difficult decision to make, as Cape Cod Healthcare values each and every one of our employees.”

Read the full report here. 

 

 

Northwell records $329M loss in first half of 2020

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/northwell-records-329m-loss-in-first-half-of-2020.html?utm_medium=email

Northwell Health pairs with Israel Innovation Authority to develop new medical innovations | MobiHealthNews

Northwell Health, a 19-hospital system based in New Hyde Park, N.Y., ended the first half of 2020 with an operating loss despite a revenue increase year-over-year, according to recently released financial documents. 

In the six months ended June 30, the health system recorded revenue of $6.3 billion, up from $6.1 billion reported in the same period in 2019.

The health system saw its patient revenue drop 9.7 percent in the first half of the year to $5.1 billion, compared to the same period in 2019. The patient revenue drop was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Northwell’s expenses climbed in the first six months of this year to $6.6 billion, an increase of about 9.5 percent from the same period in 2019.

The health system recorded an operating loss of $249.6 million.

After accounting for nonoperating gains and losses, the system ended the first half of 2020 with a $329 million net loss. This compares to a net income of $393 million in the first half of 2019.

Northwell Health estimated that the negative financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic in the six months ended June 30 was about $1.2 billion and attributed most of the financial impact to lower patient volume.

Through Aug. 28, Northwell has received $1.2 billion in grants from the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act. In the six months ended June 30, the health system recorded $754 million of this relief aid as “other operating revenue.”

“While the financial impact estimates noted above have been made using the best available information at the time, the ultimate net impact of the pandemic to Northwell and its financial condition is uncertain,” Northwell Health stated.

 

 

 

 

Cleveland Clinic posts $201.8M operating loss in Q2

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/cleveland-clinic-posts-201-8m-operating-loss-in-q2.html?utm_medium=email

Find a Doctor | Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic ended the second quarter of this year with an operating loss, which the system attributed to financial damage tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The 18-hospital system’s revenue declined to $2.3 billion in the second quarter of this year, down from $2.7 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to unaudited financial documents. In the first six months of this year, the health system experienced net patient service revenue shortfalls of more than $830 million, compared to plan, and incurred more than $165 million in COVID-19 preparedness costs. 

Cleveland Clinic reported operating expenses of $2.36 billion in the second quarter of this year, up from $2.34 billion in the same period last year.

The hospital system ended the most recent quarter with an operating loss of $201.8 million, compared to operating income of $116.2 million in the second quarter of 2019. Looking at the first six months of this year, Cleveland Clinic reported an operating loss of $241.7 million, compared to operating income of $152.4 million a year earlier. 

To help offset financial damage tied to the pandemic in the first six months of this year, Cleveland Clinic recognized $324 million in federal grants made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. The health system also applied for and received $849 million in Medicare advance payments, which must be repaid. 

After factoring in investment gains of $477.5 million and other nonoperating items, Cleveland Clinic closed out the second quarter of this year with net income of $276.1 million. In the same period a year earlier, the health system posted net income of $256.4 million.

 

 

Cartoon – Covid Dining

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Political Cartoon on Twitter: "Dave Brown's @Independent cartoon... #RishiSunak #SummerStatement #EatOutToHelpOut #COVID19 #Coronavirus # SuperSpreader - political cartoon gallery in London https://t.co/dePcTdnXF6… https://t.co/XDxWE1jDGh"

Cartoon – Sheep will be Sheep

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Covid Lemmings

Cartoon – Talk About Super Spreaders

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6-02 cartoon | Cartoons | heraldandnews.com

Cartoon – Coronavirus Mask Fashions

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5-27 cartoon | Cartoons | heraldandnews.com

Cartoon – Social Distancing

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What Should We Do with These Super Spreader Bozos? | The Tyee

A single conference may have seeded 20,000 COVID cases

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Asymptomatic Transmission, Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Evidence-based Leadership, Evidence-Based Plan, Evidence-Based Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, National Strategy, Pandemic, Public Health, Public Opinion, Public Perception, Public Safety, Public Trust, Quarantine, Scientists, Social Distancing, Superspreader, Superspreader Event, Superspreader Facilities, Superspreading Events • Leave a comment

https://mailchi.mp/95e826d2e3bc/the-weekly-gist-august-28-2020?e=d1e747d2d8

COVID-19 'superspreaders' behind most new cases, researchers say | wcnc.com

A conference bringing together 175 Biogen leaders in Boston during the last week of February demonstrated the anatomy of a superspreader event: attendees from all over the world working, eating and drinking together, at a time when little was known about COVID-19 and few precautions were taken.

A new study reveals the magnitude of spread of this single event: 20,000 COVID infections may have been linked to the conference by early May, orders of magnitude greater than the previously reported 99 cases. A group of researchers evaluated the viral genomes from 772 patients across the greater Boston area, finding over 80 separate introductions of the virus, primarily from Western Europe or elsewhere in the US.

But the Biogen event was far and away the largest source of infections, accounting for 37 percent of investigated cases, which extrapolates to an estimated 20,000 cases across the area (the event also seeded clusters in several states and overseas).

Many patients with the Biogen virus had no direct connection with the event, including a large number of homeless individuals.

As college campuses reopen and states flirt with allowing larger gatherings, the study provides an important lesson of the potential for exponential spread of the virus when left unchecked by preventive measures, and the need for testing and contact tracing to quickly stop the chain of transmission.