Maryland hospitals are experiencing a staggering workforce shortage that limits their capacity to meet the needs of all Maryland residents. These challenges come after nearly two years on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and at a time when the total demand for hospital care—for COVID and everything else—is without precedent. We are pleased that … Read more
Vaccine mandates, issues with vendors, and more put Maryland Secretary of Health Dennis R. Schrader under scrutiny as he updated Senate President Bill Ferguson (D – Baltimore City) and other members of the Senate Vaccine Oversight Workgroup on the state’s response to the Omicron variant late last week. COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached an … Read more
Governor Larry Hogan issued a number of emergency orders on Tuesday to address rapidly increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations in Maryland. Aside from declaring a state of emergency, the governor called for the creation of alternate care sites, holds on nursing license expirations, and interstate health care license reciprocity. Data from the Department of Health … Read more
Maryland hospitals are nearly full, and emergency departments are stretched incredibly thin. Hospitals are seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases and have fewer clinicians ready to care for all patients. The statewide number of COVID inpatients at Maryland hospitals is now more than 2,000—surpassing the previous all-time high of 1,952 COVID inpatients reached nearly one … Read more
A post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID-19 cases—driven in part by the Omicron variant—are pushing hospitalizations in Maryland back up to levels similar to early 2020 and last winter’s surge. Current hospitalizations exceeded 1,500 this week, more than tripling the numbers in one month and surpassing those during the initial Delta variant surge in early fall. … Read more
For two years, the term “vaccine hesitancy” permeated public health dialogue around the country. In Prince George’s County, where 62% of residents are Black and 20% are Latino/Latinx, the term was often linked to the community as the state determined its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans, according to Stephen Thomas, Ph.D, director of the Maryland Center … Read more
Now over 20 months into the pandemic, four of Maryland’s key health care leaders gathered to discuss its impact on the state’s health care system and what’s yet to come in a webinar hosted Tuesday by the Maryland Daily Record. The panelists included Bob Atlas, president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association … Read more
Medicaid reimbursement rates, behavioral health, COVID relief funds, and more are tee’d up in Maryland’s fiscal year 2023 budget plan. The Department of Legislative Services’ Office of Policy Analysis released its Spending Affordability Briefing this month, and outlined appropriations ahead of the upcoming legislative session. Due to an influx of federal aid, such … Read more
Margaret Moon, MD, is the co-director, pediatrician-in-chief, and director of the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. She is also an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. On Oct. 29, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a smaller dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency … Read more
Brian D. Pieninck, president and CEO of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, announced the company’s successful implementation of its COVID-19 vaccine requirement, which ended this week. CareFirst is the largest insurer in the mid-Atlantic region, covering over 3.5 million members across Washington D.C, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. In August, CareFirst employees and the Board of … Read more