Health Care
MN children’s hospitals facing severe bed shortage, pediatricians warn
There are just two pediatric intensive care beds available in the entire state of Minnesota, per the latest data from the Department of Health. The other 142 beds are occupied mostly by children suffering from a variety of respiratory ailments, including RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and influenza. Pediatricians are warning that pressure on the childrens’ […]
Minnesota seeks to end blood donation discrimination
Christopher Johns got into the habit of donating blood when he was in high school. But after graduation and coming out as gay, he was surprised to learn that blood banks would refuse donations from him and other gay men who were sexually active. “I was very caught off guard by it,” he said. “I […]
15,000 Minnesota nurses will vote on second strike
Union leaders representing 15,000 nurses at hospitals across the Twin Cities and Duluth area said Thursday they will take a second strike authorization vote — after a three-day strike in September yielded little progress. “Our hospital leadership have failed,” said Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner during a news conference. “They have failed to solve […]
Recreational marijuana use will be legal in 21 states after ballot measures pass
Advocates for marijuana liberalization saw mixed results as legalization ballot measures were counted Tuesday, with Maryland and Missouri voters approving recreational use for adults but Arkansas, South Dakota and North Dakota rejecting the proposal. Maryland and Missouri will bring the list of states where recreational marijuana use is legal to 21. Maryland’s referendum passed easily, […]
Mental health workers reach tentative deal at Fairview as strike continues at Allina
The union representing about 350 mental health workers at M Health Fairview announced a tentative agreement on a first labor agreement on Monday, a year after workers voted to unionize with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. While workers at M Health Fairview hammered out a deal, more than 130 mental health workers at Allina hospitals launched a […]
Mental health workers launch 3-day strike at Allina hospitals in Twin Cities
More than 130 mental health workers at two Minneapolis area hospitals began a three-day strike on Monday to pressure Allina Health for higher wages, better benefits and more safety protections from violent and abusive patients. The strike at Abbott Northwestern and Mercy Hospital-Unity Campus comes amid growing unrest among health care workers, who say they’re […]
Minnesota overdose deaths up sharply last year, driven by fentanyl
Minnesota drug overdose deaths hit a record high in 2021, according to provisional data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The sharp uptick in fatal overdoses mirrors a pandemic-era trend also seen in other so-called deaths of despair, like suicide and alcoholism. Nearly 1,500 Minnesotans lost their lives to drugs last year, […]
Minnesotans are drinking themselves to death at an unprecedented rate
More than 1,100 Minnesotans died due to excessive drinking in 2021, according to data recently released by the CDC. The number is a record high for the state, representing a doubling of the mortality rate since 2014 and a continuation of a pandemic-era spike in alcohol deaths. Last year more Minnesotans died of alcohol-induced causes […]
Here’s where Minn. congressional candidates stand on national abortion ban
For decades, Republicans promised voters they’d ban abortions if only the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade. Sure enough, abortion was swiftly banned in Republican-controlled states around the country in the wake of the court’s June decision striking down Roe. But a public backlash — evident in polls, a Kansas ballot question and several […]
Minn. physicians criticize Scott Jensen for COVID-19, abortion views
A band of Minnesota physicians on Friday criticized Republican nominee for governor Scott Jensen, condemning a fellow doctor for his advocacy of unscientific COVID-19 treatments and for expressing desire to ban abortion in the state. At a press conference in the State Capitol, doctors from multiple specialties, such as infectious disease and obstetrics, deplored Jensen […]
U.S. senators criticize federal health officials for lagging monkeypox response
WASHINGTON — Congress held its first hearing on monkeypox Wednesday, with lawmakers rebuking federal public health officials for their slow response to the outbreak, even though the hearing came four months after the first U.S. case was diagnosed. “By any measure, in fact by every measure, the response from the Biden administration on the monkeypox […]
15,000 nurses launch historic 3-day strike at hospitals across Twin Cities, Duluth
Thousands of union nurses walked off the job at 15 hospitals across the Twin Cities and Duluth area on Monday morning, launching the largest private-sector nurses strike in U.S. history. The picket line in front of Allina’s United Hospital and Children’s Minnesota in St. Paul stretched for two blocks, with nurses holding signs reading “Patients […]