News

The outpouring of love, support and gratitude shown toward our magnificent health care workers has helped to keep them going in the strenuous battle against COVID-19. The gestures and praise for our health care heroes is a wonderful thing, and we must keep it up.

The AHA and American Nurses Association urged Congress to “act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system,” so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services.

The Food and Drug Administration issued Gilead Sciences an emergency use authorization for the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease.

The Food and Drug Administration issued Gilead Sciences an emergency use authorization for the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease.

The AHA, along with five other health organizations, urged Attorney General Bill Barr in providing “relief from the technical requirements of the Federal fraud and abuse laws and the unnecessary risk they pose to hospitals during a declared public health crisis.”

AHA and its American Organization for Nursing Leadership voiced strong support for the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, bipartisan legislation that would recapture 40,000 authorized but unused visas to help address the nation’s shortage of nurses and physicians. Sens. David Perdue, R-Ga., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Todd Young, R-Ind., and Chris Coons, D-Del., plan to introduce the bill when the Senate reconvenes.

The Health Resources and Services Administration hosted webinars for health care providers on the agency’s COVID-19 Uninsured Program Portal. During the webinars, representatives from HRSA and United Health Group, the portal administrator, reviewed the process for submitting claims through the portal.

Hospitals and health systems continue to provide care for our most vulnerable communities by addressing social needs, educating on COVID-19 risks and collaborating with community organizations to expand these efforts beyond their walls.

Cyber actors have launched phishing campaigns against first responders, initiated denial-of-service assaults against government agencies and threatened medical facilities with ransomware attacks.

Today marks the first day of Mental Health Awareness Month, an important topic especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study of 305 hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients in Georgia found an overrepresentation of black patients, with over a quarter lacking known risk factors, according to a report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership yesterday unveiled a new resource to provide nurse leaders with practical tips and effective strategies for addressing challenges unique to a crisis.

A study published yesterday in Health Affairs proposes the federal government organize a national effort to exchange mechanical ventilators between states to take advantage of differences in demand, which the author estimates could save 7,070 to 28,197 lives based on a federal forecasting model and estimates of ventilator availability.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched the National Healthcare Safety Network COVID-19 Module Data Dashboard, which shows the share of inpatient and intensive care unit beds occupied by state as reported by acute care facilities participating in the Patient Impact and Hospital Capacity pathway of the NHSN COVID-19 module.

An independent commission will assess the response to COVID-19 and offer recommendations to nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved for emergency use a ventilator specially developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to treat COVID-19 patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services, through its Health Resources and Services Administration, awarded $20 million to increase capability, capacity and access to telehealth and distant care services for providers, pregnant women, children, adolescents and families.

Participating today in a virtual event on the COVID-19 pandemic, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack talked with David Rubenstein, president of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., about the financial challenges hospitals face.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a number of new waivers related to COVID-19. The waivers apply nationwide and are generally retroactive to March 1, 2020.

Every day the women and men of America’s hospitals and health systems continue the battle against COVID-19. As our heroes on the front lines care for our family members, friends and neighbors, the AHA is focused on three areas – relief, recovery and rebuilding – to support the field.