Demand for COVID testing skyrockets as delta surges
People needing a COVID-19 test for travel, work or school are spending hours, sometimes days, looking for a place that can squeeze them in and turn around results quickly.
John Russell
Articles
Q&A with Mary Kay Foster, who gets real with pathogens day in and day out
Foster, 58, is a registered nurse and program manager of the special pathogens unit at Indiana University Health, which is dealing with many facets of the pandemic, from vaccinations to keeping bedside workers safe.
Lawsuit accuses Lilly of favoring millennials over older job applicants
Two former job applicants, aged 55 and 49, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis on Wednesday, accusing the Indianapolis-based drug maker of age discrimination.
IU Health suspends hundreds of unvaccinated workers, postpones all inpatient elective surgeries
IU Health, the state’s largest hospital system, said unvaccinated workers will be placed on a two-week suspension and will be allowed to return to work if they attest to partial or full vaccination.
Holcomb orders hospitals to report ambulance diversions, ending secretive practice
The order cites the recent strain on hospitals from the pandemic, and states they must report the number of hours each day they close their doors to ambulances bringing in new patients.
Roche Diagnostics says all U.S. employees must be vaccinated by Nov. 15
Roche Diagnostics is requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all 8,000 people in its U.S. workforce, including about 4,500 in Indianapolis. Employees will have until Nov. 15 to get fully vaccinated, or will be terminated, the company said in a statement.
Health care and life sciences sectors generate $84B in economic impact, study says
The sectors in central Indiana account for one out of every 10 jobs here, or 164,144 workers, and the jobs pay an average of $77,229, according to the report commissioned by BioCrossroads.
Indiana health officials: ‘Things are going to get much worse’
Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box pointed out that the vast majority of people showing up at hospitals needing treatment for COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
The rise and fall of a renewable energy darling
The U.S. government is suing WindStream, which shut down in 2016. It says the company owes $3.12 million in loans that the U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteed as WindStream was expanding globally.
IU Health to suspend half of elective surgeries, procedures in response to COVID-19 surge
The state’s largest hospital system said the move was “needed to alleviate some of the enormous pressure our care teams are under and to reserve inpatient space for those who need it most.”
AES Indiana sues insurers over coal-ash cleanup liability
The Indianapolis-area electric utility claims more than a dozen insurers have refused to indemnify and defend it for coal-ash environmental cleanup that could exceed $177 million at three generating plants.
An Olympic medalist promotes Lilly’s migraine medicine (with an asterisk)
Eli Lilly and Co. has produced at least two video commercials featuring Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy promoting its migraine treatment, Emgality. But one of the ads contains a fleeting disclaimer: Murphy doesn’t take Emgality.
Indiana sets up blue-ribbon commission to modernize state’s public health system
The 15-member commission will be co-chaired by former state Sen. Luke Kenley and former Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe.
Indiana National Guard to help conduct COVID-19 testing as demand skyrockets
Gov. Eric Holcomb acknowledged that people were waiting up to three hours at some sites to get tested as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations climb across the state to levels not seen since early in the year.
Cybersecurity company denies it ‘improperly accessed’ Indiana health records
Cybersecurity company UpGuard Inc. told IBJ that it was trying to help the Indiana Department of Health by notifying it of “leaked” data and “securing the information.”
COVID contact tracing information of nearly 750K Hoosiers improperly accessed
The data included names, addresses, email addresses, gender identification, ethnicity and race information, and dates of birth. The state said no medical information was accessed.
Hoosier doctors among the nation’s highest paid
Doctors in Indiana earn an average of $337,000 a year, ranking them fourth in the nation, according to the annual survey by Medscape, a website for doctors and health professionals, released Monday.
Nursing shortage, COVID surge force hospitals to divert ambulances
At emergency rooms across central Indiana, “No Vacancy” signs are flashing on at unprecedented rates.
Eli Lilly to require all U.S. employees to be vaccinated
The mandate covers about 15,400 Lilly employees in numerous states and Puerto Rico, including about 11,000 in Indiana.
SEC subpoenas Elanco records related to sales practices
Greenfield-based Elanco Animal Health Inc. disclosed on Monday that it received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 1 related to its channel inventory and sales practices prior to mid-2020.