Free Republic

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state’s hospitals Monday to consider postponing all elective surgeries Monday in order to combat a surge in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. In a letter to the Texas Hospital Association, Abbott asked medical centers to “to take steps to ensure the availability of adequate hospital capacity to care for COVID-19 patients.” In addition to rescheduling elective procedures “for which delay will not result in loss of life or a deterioration in the patient’s condition.” Abbott also ordered the opening of five new centers to provide antibody treatments for COVID-19 in addition to an existing...

Tracy Doherty was let go from her job as a pediatric nurse at Valley View Hospital in early May. The hospital’s CEO is projecting $30-45 million in lost income this year, which led to staff cuts. ... Her line of work usually comes with some stability, so she was surprised when she was laid off earlier this month. “Being a nurse you kind of never expect to lose your job,” Doherty said. “I knew they were going to be cutting staff, but I didn't think it would be nursing staff.” Valley View let go of about 100 employees, or roughly...

Excuse but abortion is elective. Why do we have to pay for elective medical items. If we do have to pay for elective items, do we have to pay for facial items also?

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope John Paul II underwent a successful operation Thursday night to insert a tube in his throat to relieve his breathing problems, hours after he was rushed back to the hospital for the second time in a month with flu-like symptoms of fever and congestion, the Vatican said. The pope was conscious and back in his hospital room late Thursday, breathing with the help of a respirator, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. A top aide to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who visited the pope said John Paul was "serene" after waking up from the...

Surgeons Cut Out the Blushes March 15, 2002 8:19 am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Hot under the collar? A London clinic is charging stressed professionals $5,680 to drill a hole in their armpits, snip away their nerve endings and eliminate their blushes for good. Its patients include television presenters and financiers, fearful that any sign of weakness could damage their careers. "We're talking about professional people whose lives have been blighted by blushing," Anthony Mitra, surgical director of the exclusive Highgate Private Hospital in north London, told Reuters. In the 40-minute operation, surgeons drill a hole near the patient's...