CDC says certain people in Bourbon, Henderson, Nicholas and Union counties should mask up in indoor public spaces

CDC map shows Union, Henderson, Bourbon and Nicholas counties with a medium level of Covid-19. By Al Cross Kentucky Health News Four Kentucky counties are back in yellow on the national Covid-19 risk map, meaning certain people there are advised to wear masks in indoor public spaces, says the Centers for Disease Control...

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OPINION: Insurers say killing bill hospitals, pharmacists backed against pharmacy benefit managers saved Kentuckians money

By Tom StephensExecutive Director, Kentucky Association of Health Care Plans Pocketbook issues were front and center in this most recent session of the Kentucky General Assembly as runaway inflation at the national level continues to outpace wage gains. Lawmakers and the governor worked to ease inflationary burdens for working...

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USA Today reports on its analysis of Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes last winter, with a focus on Trilogy Health Services

Some Trilogy Health Services residents who died of Covid-19 (Photos contributed to USA Today) USA Today recently published its findings from an in-depth analysis that looked at Covid-19 nursing home deaths during the 2020-21 winter surge, with a focus on one company that had twice the national average of deaths for...

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Coronavirus positive-test rate rose from 3.12% to 4.35% last week, even as cases and Covid-19 hospital numbers dropped

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the coronavirus went up for the third week in a row last week, but coronavirus cases and hospitalizations for Covid-19 dropped.  The state's report for the last Monday-to-Sunday reporting period showed the percentage of Kentuckians testing positive in the past seven days is 4.35 percent, a significant increase from 3.12% the week before and up from a low of...

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First phase of $87 million HEALing Communities Study to address opioid epidemic has touched thousands of Kentuckians

UK's Sharon Walsh, Carrie Oser and Amanda Fallin-Bennett, along with the Clark County Health Department's Jennifer Gulley (second from left) presented an update on community engagement in UK's HEALing grant at the 2022 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit. (University of Kentucky photo) Thousands of Kentuckians in eight...

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Tick season nears. 10% of ticks carry debilitating diseases; quick action can prevent them. And UK wants you to send in your ticks!

Lucie Conchou works in UK entomologist Zainulabeuddin Syed’s lab. (Photo by Matt Barton) Kentucky Health News Ticks are a threat in Kentucky year-round, but especially in the summer months. The next time one bites you, stop and think before flushing it down the toilet. You could help other people by mailing it to...

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Latest CDC map shows all of Kentucky has low level of Covid-19

CDC map shows all of Kentucky in green, for low levels of Covid-19 transmission.  By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Every county in Kentucky has a low level of coronavirus transmission, according to the latest weekly analysis of risk based on cases and hospital capacity by the Centers for Disease Control...

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Appalachian Food for Health Diabetes Prevention virtual event is Tuesday, April 26; it's free, but registration is required

The fourth Appalachian Food for Health Diabetes Prevention event will take place Tuesday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. The virtual event will focus on food and nutrition policy that impact diabetes. It will also include a discussion about diabetes prevention and how better access to fresh, healthy foods can play...

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One stable at Keeneland focuses on addiction recovery while offering instruction on the basics of horsemanship

Will Walden and Tyler Maxwell of Ready Made Racing at Keeneland on April 2. (Photo by Silas Walker, Lexington Herald-Leader) Jacalyn Carfagno, a contributing writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader, tells a story about a group of men training horses at Ready Made Racing, a stable where all of the staff are in addiction...

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Albert B. Chandler Hospital at UK opened 60 years ago today

The latest Chandler Hospital is on Limestone Street. By Kristi Willett University of Kentucky Sixty years ago today, the Albert B. Chandler Hospital at the University of Kentucky opened its doors and welcomed its first patients. The hospital has evolved into the UK HealthCare system, operating three hospitals – UK...

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Free academy at Pikeville June 12-25 will introduce rising high-school seniors and juniors in Appalachian Kentucky to nursing

The regional development group Shaping our Appalachian Region and the state Department for Public Health’s Office of Health Equity are hosting the first Appalachian Nursing Academy June 12-25 at the University of Pikeville for rising juniors and seniors at high schools in Kentucky's 54 Appalachian counties. The free two-week...

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Kentucky gets $4.19 million to expand AmeriCorps work in public health, with the hope it will funnel more people into such work

Kentucky has received nearly $4.2 million to expand the public-health role of the AmeriCorps program in the state. The grant comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, last year's pandemic relief bill. "This funding will support the recruitment, training and development of a new generation of public health leaders,” Gov....

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Kentucky highway fatalities rose again in 2021, by 3%; once more, most of those killed were not wearing their seat belt

Deaths from highway accidents in Kentucky rose 3.3 percent last year, according to the State Police and the Transportation Cabinet. But so far this year, fatality numbers are running below last year.  Again last year, most of those killed were not wearing a seat belt. "Of the 806 highway fatalities last year in Kentucky, 54.7 percent were not wearing a seat belt and 15 percent involved alcohol," the agencies said in a press release. "Approximately...

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Coronavirus cases and positive-test rate in Kentucky are rising, but deaths and hospital numbers are declining more

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Daily cases and the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the coronavirus are rising again, apparently reflecting a national trend. The state's report for the last Monday-Sunday period showed 3,257 new cases of the virus, an average of 465 per day, up 4.5% from 445 a day the week before.   The New York Times reports that cases are rising again in the U.S., going up 39% in the last two...

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Cancer plagues Appalachia, so a UK program brings high-school and college students from the region into the study of it

The nation's highest cancer rates are in Appalachia, especially in Appalachian Kentucky. But the state is also home to an effort to get young people from the region involved in research to prevent and cure cancer. It's at the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center, where college and high-school students from Appalachian...

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Kentucky's two clinics suspend abortions as lawsuits challenge new law that is called 'one of the most restrictive in the nation'

Rep. Randy Bridges, R-Paducah, gives a thumbs down to abortion advocates who chanted "Bans off our bodies" at the state Capitol April 13. (Photo by Ryan C. Hermens, Lexington Herald-Leader)  By Melissa PatrickKentucky Health News Kentucky's Republican-majority legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's...

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Health bills were among those that passed (some with overrides of vetoes) and failed in the last two days of the legislative session

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The Republican legislature overrode more than two dozen of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's vetoes Wednesday and Thursday, including a wide-ranging abortion bill that was immediately challenged in court and another that sets new rules for public-assistance programs, including Medicaid.  Tulips...

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