Health Care

Pulitzer Prize nominee Linda Villarosa's book UNDER THE SKIN examines why Black Americans’ health outcomes are so much worse than those of white Americans.

Hispanic and Latino immigrants make up one of Collier County’s largest yet most underrepresented communities. As of 2020, more than one quarter of Collier’s population was born outside of the United States. Still, immigrants in the area face numerous socioeconomic challenges — including access to health care.According to The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hispanic people are more likely to be uninsured than any other racial or ethnic group. A study published in March of this year by the Kaiser Family Foundation said that Hispanics in this country have higher death rates from diabetes than white people. That study used data from several federal agencies, and found the age-adjusted rate of death from diabetes for every 100,000 Hispanics was 29; it was 22 for white Americans.

If you’re a voter in Lee County, you have candidates for the Board of Directors of Lee Health on your ballot. We tell you why.

After the overturn of Roe V. Wade in June, and a state-wide 15-week abortion ban effective July 1, local Planned Parenthood clinics are navigating ways to provide care.

Health workers are continuing to provide life-saving COVID-19 information and other health resources throughout the community of Immokalee.

Former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult for giving a patient the wrong medication. Vaught now faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, and some nurses believe the case sets a worrisome precedent for the criminalization of medical mistakes.

The measure would require the Medicaid program to pay Medicare deductibles and cost sharing for non-emergency transportation services.

The bill would broaden the “scope of practice” for physician assistants, authorize them to prescribe 14-day supplies of psychiatric controlled substances for minors and bill insurers for services.

A pair of new legislative proposals would place a 10 percent THC cap on smokable marijuana and limit THC levels to 16 percent in other medical-marijuana products, excluding edibles.

Broward Health Medical Center is part of the North Broward Hospital District, which decided this week to hire Shane Strum, Gov. DeSantis’ chief of staff, as its CEO.