One interesting question for the months and years ahead is how the pandemic will permanently affect people’s habits and lifestyles. Many gyms, pools, and other recreational facilities closed or operated at limited capacity in 2020, and one study conducted early in the pandemic found that ove…
Two health-care players embroiled in a legal controversy that could affect hundreds of thousands of Georgians’ health care faced off in state Supreme Court Tuesday. Lawyers for Anthem, a large health insurance company, and Northside, an Atlanta hospital system, debated the meaning of “public health emergency” and jurisdiction over legal appeals. The dispute is […]
ATLANTA – Georgia’s hotel industry will receive by far the largest chunk of more than $415 million in federal pandemic relief grants announced by Gov. Brian Kemp Monday. The Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association (GHLA) will get $150 million to help offset the losses hotels across the state have sustained during the pandemic. The GHLA […]
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp has signed into law a bill that modernizes some of Georgia’s rules around HIV-status disclosure. Under the prior law, any person living with HIV who did not disclose positive HIV status prior to a sexual act could face a felony charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to Georgia Equality, […]
ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Public Health discussed increasing fentanyl overdose deaths, COVID rates, and a mysterious hepatitis outbreak among children at its monthly meeting Tuesday. Fentanyl-involved overdose deaths in Georgia increased 218% from 2019 to 2021, said epidemiologist Dr. Laura Edison. That drastic increase represents 1,248 deaths in a two-year-period. Fentanyl, a synthetic […]
If there is any question about whether the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office's Mental Health Task Force is needed, the answer may lie in the number of phone calls the task force gets about mental health resources.
When it comes to suicide in America and in Gwinnett County, the numbers are startling and sobering.
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner Tiffany Porter, who had survived two bouts of breast cancer, died on Thursday after a long battle with the disease, according to her office.
Gwinnett County families will have a chance to enjoy some fun while also learning about children's health at both of the county's YMCA locations this weekend.
Piedmont Eastside Medical Center recently announced the arrival of two vascular surgeons — Raquel C. Jones and Marshall Lutske — who will provide care as a part of the Piedmont Heart Institute.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Thursday creating a task force to look for ways to grow the ranks of Georgia’s health-care workforce. The 15-member Healthcare Workforce Commission will focus on shortages plaguing a wide range of health-care professions including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and emergency medical personnel. Kemp’s executive order cites […]
Northside Hospital patients who use Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia for their insurance can continue to be covered for their visits while the hospital system and health insurance company continue their ongoing dispute in the court system.
Georgia Department of Public Health officials announced on Thursday that they will stop doing daily COVID-19 case updates and replace them with weekly reports.
Where did all the nurses go?
One of my family members ended up in the ER for a week after a bad fall.
ATLANTA – The out-of-pocket cost of prescription drugs covered through Medicare would be capped at $2,000 a year under legislation introduced into the U.S. Senate by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. More than 1.2 million senior citizens paid more than $2,000 for prescription drugs in 2019. “Our country should never allow for our seniors to have […]
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Monday aimed at pulling Georgia off the bottom among state rankings for access to mental-health services.
Illegal drugs laced with fentanyl have caused a surge of overdoses recently in Georgia, state health officials say.
In October of 2020 the Good Samaritan Health Centers of Gwinnett opened a charitable medical and dental clinic in Norcross during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October of 2020 the Good Samaritan Health Centers of Gwinnett opened a charitable medical and dental clinic in Norcross during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state Senate unanimously approved landmark legislation Wednesday that aims to improve services for Georgians who have mental health and addiction problems.
ATLANTA — The General Assembly gave final passage Wednesday to an overhaul of the state’s mental health-care delivery system praised as “transformative” by one legislative supporter.
The day that fourth-year medical students work toward from their first day of orientation took place last week. Known as Match Day, this date in mid-March that compares to the baseball draft, but traditionally falls in the midst of basketball’s March Madness, is the day students learn where …
ATLANTA – Georgia’s insurance department has fined Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield $5 million for several violations of state law following a months-long investigation. “This examination uncovered a number of serious issues, including improper claims settlement practices, violations of the Prompt Pay Act, failure to reply to consumer complaints in a timely manner, inaccurate provider directories, […]
ATLANTA — State agencies, local governments and local schools could not require Georgians to get a COVID-19 vaccination to receive government services or access government facilities under legislation that cleared the state House of Representatives Tuesday.
ATLANTA – A state Senate committee approved its version of an overhaul of Georgia’s mental-health system Monday with some changes from legislation the House passed three weeks ago but with key provisions intact. House Bill 1013 was introduced by House Speaker David Ralston as a response to Georgia’s dismal 48th ranking among the states in […]
A spike that was seen in Gwinnett County's seven-day COVID case averages a week ago did not amount to much of anything in the end, as all signs since then continue to point to an ongoing decline in cases in the county.
Today, medical cannabis has been legalized in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As a result, an estimated two to three million patients are receiving treatment with the drug for condit…
Gwinnett County's two-week new case rate has fallen to its lowest point since last July as new reports of cases continue to decline after the Omicron-related spike seen earlier this year.
People living in northeast Georgia are one step closer to having improved access to more life-saving and life-changing care, as Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) officially broke ground to build a new, multi-story tower in Gainesville this week, hospital officials said.
ATLANTA — U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, is pushing to get legislation he introduced last month capping the cost of insulin to the Senate floor by the Easter recess.
ATLANTA — The Georgia House and Senate passed separate bills Tuesday aimed at restarting a medical marijuana program that has been sidetracked by a dispute over the awarding of licenses to produce low-THC cannabis oil.
ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers may be about to start over the state's long-delayed medical marijuana program.
ATLANTA — After years of nibbling around the edges of regulations governing how Georgia hospitals operate, the General Assembly may decide to scrap the Certificate of Need (CON) law altogether.
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a comprehensive overhaul of a mental health-care system rated among the worst in the nation. “Mental health touches almost every family in Georgia,” House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, who has made the bill his top priority this year, told lawmakers before the 169-3 vote. […]
ATLANTA — A bipartisan overhaul of Georgia's mental health system took a first step toward passage Wednesday when it cleared a state House committee.
ATLANTA — Women in Georgia would be prohibited from obtaining abortion-inducing drugs through the mail without seeing a doctor under legislation that cleared the state Senate Tuesday.
Gwinnett County residents no longer have to wear a face mask when they enter county government-owned facilities.
Gwinnett County's two-week COVID-19 case rate remains above 100 cases per 100,000 residents, but it is continuing to fall closer and closer to being in only the double-digits.
After being open for more than a year, the Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale Health Departments' mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Gwinnett Place Mall is significantly scaling back operations starting this week.
District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins III is partnering with community organizations to host the Healthy, Vibrant and Vaxxed Walk-in Vaccine Clinic Saturday at Lenora Park in Snellville.
Thanks to a grant from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Gwinnett-based View Point Heath will be able to expand its response to the needs of community members struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Saturday from noon to 4 p.m., medical students from PCOM Georgia will teach the free National Two Step CPR program at the Mall of Georgia in Buford.
ATLANTA – Bipartisan legislation aimed at improving the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services in Georgia got its first hearing in the General Assembly Wednesday. The 75-page Mental Health Parity Act would require health insurance companies to treat mental illness in the same way they treat physical illness. The parity provision also would […]
The new case numbers for COVID-19 show community spread of the disease continues to drop significantly — and quickly — in Gwinnett County, according to numbers released by the Georgia Department of Public Health on Monday.
The surge of new COVID-19 cases that was seen in late December and early January has fallen off significantly in the last few weeks, according to numbers from the Georgia Department of Public Health.
ATLANTA - Georgia's court system continues to suffer from case backlogs brought on by the coronavirus pandemic two years ago, David Nahmias, chief justice of the state Supreme Court, said Tuesday.
ATLANTA – New mothers in Georgia could receive health coverage through Medicaid for up to a year after giving birth, up from the current six months, under legislation that cleared the state Senate unanimously. Gov. Brian Kemp backs the measure and included $28.2 million in his fiscal 2023 budget proposal to pay for it. Expanding […]
The city of Lilburn will host a free vaccination event on Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ATLANTA - The Georgia Senate passed legislation Tuesday aimed at encouraging more Georgians to become living organ donors.
Gwinnett County officials joined U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux on Monday to announce a $25 million expansion of the OneStop Centerville facility in the southern part of the county.
ATLANTA – Letting first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) collect workers’ compensation to pay for their treatment would ensure mental illness is treated the same as physical injury, supporters told Georgia lawmakers Wednesday. But the fate of House Bill 855 remained uncertain after Rep. Bill Werkheiser, R-Glennville, chairman of the House Industry & Labor […]
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