health care

With the virus still raging in the U.S., public health experts say we can't afford to just wait around for the vaccine. They share advice for what communities can do now to slow the death toll.

A South Los Angeles hospital has long provided for an underserved community where private insurance is scarce and chronic illnesses can flourish. And then came a devastating coronavirus surge.

Historian Janice P. Nimura tells the story of America's first and third certified women doctors and the role these sisters played in building medical institutions.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded, "Thank you my brother Tony" and thanks also to the U.S. for renewing its support.

Lou Gehrig's disease can take months to diagnose, then rapidly incapacitate patients, leaving many families bankrupt before disability payments and Medicare kick in. A recent law aims to change that.

Although vaccination has begun, this winter has been the deadliest season of the pandemic. The U.S. death toll jumped from 300,000 to 400,000 in just five weeks.

Dr. Rachel Levine is currently the secretary of health in Pennsylvania, where she leads the state's fight against COVID-19.

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America to earn her medical degree. Her sister Emily followed in her footsteps. Janice Nimura tells the story of the "complicated, prickly" trailblazers.

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to skyrocket in the U.S. NPR built a tool to explore the latest trends around the country. Look up your local hospital to see how it's faring.

The annual street survey of homeless people is being delayed or put off completely in some parts of the U.S. during the pandemic, even as the country's unsheltered population appears to be growing.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins about the ongoing pandemic, delays in the mass vaccination campaign and the impending political transition.

When schools closed last spring, children with severe mental illnesses were cut off from the services they'd come to rely on. Many have since spiraled into emergency rooms and even police custody.