Tag: Mayo Clinic

Non-COVID vaccines offer some COVID protection, Mayo Clinic reports

The research suggests parents should get children up to date on shots before school starts, and senior citizens should schedule their vaccinations before the winter flu season.

Vaccines for everything from influenza to measles provide partial protection against COVID-19, according to new Mayo Clinic research, suggesting that parents should get children up to date on shots before school this fall, and senior citizens should schedule their vaccinations before the winter flu season.

People showed a 28% reduction in COVID-19 risk if they received the PCV13 pneumonia vaccine in the past year compared with those who didn’t, and a 43% reduction if they received the polio vaccine before travels to at-risk locations, the study showed.

While the population-based study has limitations and was posted online Tuesday without peer review, Mayo officials said there is little harm in using the results to encourage people to seek shots that are recommended anyway. Continue reading.

Report: Mayo Clinic furloughed 23,000 workers after $170 million bailout

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, the nation’s 60 largest hospital chains received more than $15 billion in emergency funds from the federal government, according to the New York Times.

The Times sifted through the tax and securities filings of each of those chains and found that altogether, they’re “collectively sitting on tens of billions of dollars of cash reserves that are supposed to help them weather an unanticipated storm.”

At least 36 of these hospital chains have also laid off, furloughed, or cut the pay of their employees in order to save money during this crisis. Among those is Rochester’s Mayo Clinic.

According to the Times, Mayo received a whopping $170 million in bailout funds, but is furloughing or reducing the working hours of some 23,000 employees. Continue reading.

Pence’s mask-free visit to the Mayo Clinic speaks volumes about Trump’s coronavirus stance

Washington Post logoSince mid-March, President Trump has adjusted his tone about the threat of the coronavirus — but only so much. Trump has continued to optimistically suggest that the virus might disappear sooner than experts say it could, and has played down the potential death toll and the severity of the situation, all in the service of praising the federal (and his own) response.

On Tuesday, his approach seemed to bleed over in a way that prompted one of the country’s top hospitals to rebuke the White House.

Vice President Pence visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Tuesday. But conspicuously absent from his visit was a mask. While pictures and video show plenty of people around Pence all using masks, he wasn’t wearing one. Continue reading.

Mike Pence refuses to wear mask at health clinic

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Tuesday as it works on expanding the state’s capacity to test for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But in an apparently brazen act of defiance, Pence didn’t wear a mask during his visit to the facility, despite the clinic’s own rules.

“Beginning today (Monday, April 13), Mayo Clinic is requiring all patients and visitors to wear a face covering or mask to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” the facility explained in a recent news bulletin. “Patients and visitors are asked to bring their own face covering or mask to wear. If a patient or visitor does not have a mask, Mayo Clinic will provide one. This updated masking guidance is based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Mayo Clinic experts. Mayo Clinic continues to assess and prioritize personal protective equipment needs to ensure the safety of its staff, patients and visitors.”

During the visit, Pence met with officials and subjects at the facility. In video clips, everyone but the vice president could be seen wearing a mask: Continue reading.

Mayo Clinic develops COVID-19 detection test

The test specifically detects SARS-CoV-2, a virus that the clinic says causes COVID-19 coronavirus.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic in Rochester says it has developed its own way of testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to its website Thursday afternoon.

The test specifically detects SARS-CoV-2, a virus that the clinic says causes COVID-19 coronavirus.

Some of the methods used to obtain samples include nasopharyngeal swabs, sputum, throat swabs, bronchoalveolar lavages, and bronchial washings.  Continue reading.

Mayo to give preference to privately insured patients over Medicaid patients

The following article by Jeremy Olson was posted on the StarTribune website March 15, 2017:

Mayo Clinic’s chief executive made a startling announcement in a recent speech to employees: The Rochester-based health system will give preference to patients with private insurance over those with lower-paying Medicaid or Medicare coverage, if they seek care at the same time and have comparable conditions.

The number of patients affected would probably be small, but the selective strategy reveals the financial pressures that Mayo is facing in part due to federal health reforms. For while the Affordable Care Act has reduced the number of uninsured patients, it has increased the share covered by Medicaid, which pays around 50 to 85 cents on the dollar of the actual cost of medical care.

Mayo will always take patients, regardless of payer source, when it has medical expertise that they can’t find elsewhere, said Dr. John Noseworthy, Mayo’s CEO. But when two patients are referred with equivalent conditions, he said the health system should “prioritize” those with private insurance. Continue reading “Mayo to give preference to privately insured patients over Medicaid patients”