Five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsinites are more divided than ever on whether closing schools and businesses was appropriate, according to the results of a Marquette Law School Poll released Wednesday.Â
The Department of Health Services on Friday welcomed updated federal guidance that shortens isolation recommendations for COVID-19.Â
The closure of more than a dozen western Wisconsin healthcare facilities, the return of Medicaid renewals and efforts to address workforce shortages are among the top healthcare issues to watch this year, based on feedback Wisconsin Health News received last month.Â
Wisconsin health system and hospital leaders say workforce shortages are abating, although challenges remain coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.Â
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Democratic lawmakers last week unveiled a bill that would repeal a restriction on local health officers’ powers included in a sweeping overhaul of state law on local governments enacted earlier this year.
Milwaukee County will no longer move forward on a proposal to leverage federal COVID-19 relief funds to forgive low-income residents’ medical debt.Â
Nearly $500,000 will go to seven organizations providing mental health services to veterans, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday.Â
Cases of flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are on the rise. However, unlike last year, the diseases seem to be on a trend to peak around or after the holidays, rather than earlier, a state health official said Thursday.Â
Wisconsin’s school immunization rates remain lower than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent report.
State health officials are urging healthcare providers to step up syphilis screening and testing, especially during pregnancy, after cases of the sexually transmitted infection rose 19 percent between 2021 and 2022.Â
Health plan leaders name rising healthcare costs — especially for specialty drugs — and ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic as among the top challenges facing their industry.
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Madison healthcare and public health organizations are taking aim at staff burnout, which was magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
