Iowa

A new federal designation would allow struggling hospitals to end inpatient services, but some have concerns about how that could affect rural health care.

More seniors and people with disabilities are choosing to stay in their homes, and home health aides are vital to providing them basic assistance. The profession is projected to be one of the fastest growing nationally in the next decade, but it’s getting harder to recruit and retain these workers.

While cancer death rates in the U.S. have declined in recent years, racial disparities persist. Midwestern states — including Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana — have some of the highest rates of cancer mortality for Black residents in the country. Public health advocates have worked for years to close the racial gap, but some worry the pandemic will delay progress.

Emilia Marroquín ha experimentado de primera mano lo mucho que ha cambiado Storm Lake en las últimas dos décadas.

Amner Martínez aún no conoce todos los detalles de cuando su padre, Concepción, de 74 años, enfermó gravemente de COVID-19 cerca del comienzo de la pandemia.

A finales de octubre, Debbie Berkowitz, experta en seguridad y salud de los trabajadores y ex asesora principal de políticas de la Administración de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional, se presentó ante un subcomité de la Cámara de Representantes del Congreso sobre el coronavirus y ofreció algunas estadísticas impactantes.

The coronavirus swept through the nation’s meat processing facilities in 2020. Nearly two years into the pandemic, many are still searching for answers — and calling for change.

Immigrants make up an estimated 40 percent of the U.S. meat processing workforce. Last year’s wave of COVID outbreaks at meatpacking plants exposed many vulnerabilities among the industry’s diverse workforce.

Nationwide, COVID-19 disproportionately affected communities of color — in part because the U.S. relies on immigrant workers in food and agriculture.

The number of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 remains high across the country — and the Midwest. With the delta variant dominating cases, patients now are younger, sicker and often require more intensive care, hospitals like Methodist in Des Moines are facing pressure.