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Idaho Legislature’s budget committee approves day care grants through June
This story was first published by Idaho Reports on March 21, 2023. The Joint Finance Appropriations Committee approved $28 million in federal child care grants on Tuesday. The child care grants, made possible through the American Rescue Plan Act, expire on June 30, the end of fiscal year 2023. The federal government made the funds […]
Bill advances to guarantee visitors for patients, long-term care residents
This story was published by Idaho Reports on March 15, 2022. The House Health and Welfare Committee has passed a bill guaranteeing a right to visitation from essential caregivers for hospital patients and residents in long-term care facilities. The bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, was crafted in response to early COVID-19 restrictions […]
Democratic candidate Rognstad registered as Republican voter
This story originally published and updated on March 12 by Idaho Reports. Shelby Rognstad does not appear on the Secretary of State’s website of gubernatorial candidates, despite announcing he had filed as a Democratic candidate for governor before the Friday deadline. That’s because according to public records, Rognstad is registered as a Republican. Idaho law requires that […]
House committee narrowly backs guaranteed in-person visits at Idaho care facilities
Originally published Feb. 16, 2022, by Idaho Reports The House Health and Welfare Committee narrowly endorsed a bill to guarantee in-person visitation at assisted living and nursing facilities, voting 6-5 to send the proposal to the House floor. Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, sponsored the legislation, which would require facilities to allow in-person visits, while also allowing […]
FAQ: Crisis standards of care, round two
This story was originally published Jan. 27, 2022, on the Idaho Reports blog. On Monday, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare declared crisis standards of care for part of southern Idaho. The circumstances around this declaration are different than when IDHW declared crisis standards of care in fall 2021, prompting a number of questions […]
‘Such a traumatic experience.’ Nampa toddler recovering after COVID nearly causes liver failure
In late August, Megan McCabe found herself at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, holding her 2-year-old daughter still while doctors sewed a dialysis line into her neck. A week earlier, the girl, Charlotte, had been playing with her brothers at their home in Nampa and was jumping off the kitchen counter into her […]
As Idaho hospitals fill, patients end up in other states, at great expense
In late August, 2-year-old Charlotte McCabe started vomiting in the middle of the night. Her parents, Megan and Cliff McCabe, initially thought she had a stomach bug. When she began acting listless, they brought her to an urgent care center, where a provider recommended driving her to the emergency room right away. Charlotte was soon […]
Saint Alphonsus, St. Luke’s delay vaccination requirement deadlines
Idaho’s two largest hospital systems have paused a requirement that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. “While we remain committed to our vaccine requirement policy, we are pausing the requirement for our Idaho colleagues only while crisis standards of care are activated,” said Mark Snider, communications director for Saint Alphonsus. The pause affects only Idaho-based Saint […]
Kootenai Health converts classroom to COVID care unit in preparation for crisis standards of care
Kootenai Health has converted a classroom to a COVID-19 care unit in preparation for crisis standards of care.