This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe U.S. Army will open a 30- to 50-bed COVID-19 care unit within United Memorial Medical Center, the Acres Homes hospital serving one of Houston’s hardest hit communities.An Army specialty unit of 85 doctors, nurses and other personnel will arrive at United Memorial this week and begin accepting COVID-19 patients transferred from other hospitals, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, which coordinates the region’s emergency medical responses.“This is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Darrell...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe U.S. Army will open a 30- to 50-bed COVID-19 care unit within United Memorial Medical Center, the Acres Homes hospital serving one of Houston’s hardest hit communities.An Army specialty unit of 85 doctors, nurses and other personnel will arrive at United Memorial this week and begin accepting COVID-19 patients transferred from other hospitals, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, which coordinates the region’s emergency medical responses.“This is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Darrell...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateOne night last September, just after dinner, Michael’s Schwab’s 1-year-old daughter suddenly started convulsing, her tiny back arching as her eyes rolled back in her head.Terrified, he and his wife called 9-1-1. Soon, an ambulance arrived at their west Houston home.The emergency workers did a quick examination, but by then the seizure had passed and she showed no sign of distress except a fever. Still, as a precaution, the child and her mother rode by city ambulance for the 6-mile trip to Texas Children’s Hospital in Katy for a...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateOne night last September, just after dinner, Michael’s Schwab’s 1-year-old daughter suddenly started convulsing, her tiny back arching as her eyes rolled back in her head.Terrified, he and his wife called 9-1-1. Soon, an ambulance arrived at their west Houston home.The emergency workers did a quick examination, but by then the seizure had passed and she showed no sign of distress except a fever. Still, as a precaution, the child and her mother rode by city ambulance for the 6-mile trip to Texas Children’s Hospital in Katy for a...WW…

In the fall of 2018, Dr. John Hellerstedt described a nightmarish scenario for fellow members of a panel tasked with preparing Texas for a pandemic.Before taking over as director of the , Hellerstedt was a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Austin. He said that as H1N1 swept through Texas in 2009, hospital administrators scrambled to erect tents outside to treat patients, fearing they’d be overwhelmed.Luckily, the virus proved mild. But what if a new and far more dangerous bug arrived? One that jumped easily from person to person?“That’s the thing that we all fear,” he said.Would...…In the fall of 2018, Dr. John Hellerstedt described a nightmarish scenario for fellow members of a panel tasked with preparing Texas for a pandemic.Before taking over as director of the , Hellerstedt was a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Austin. He said that as H1N1 swept through Texas in 2009, hospital administrators scrambled to erect tents outside to treat patients, fearing they’d be overwhelmed.Luckily, the virus proved mild. But what if a new and far more dangerous bug arrived? One that jumped easily from person to person?“That’s the thing that we all fear,” he said.Would...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe large refrigerated trailer suddenly appeared one day near the loading dock at HCA Healthcare Northwest, taking some on staff by surprise. But soon its purpose became clear.When a patient died last week in the hospital’s intensive care unit — nearly full these days of critically ill COVID-19 patients — the body was packed in ice and moved into the trailer. The hospital’s morgue was full. HCA officials confirmed the trailer was used as temporary storage until the body could be picked up by a funeral home.As other hospitals...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe large refrigerated trailer suddenly appeared one day near the loading dock at HCA Healthcare Northwest, taking some on staff by surprise. But soon its purpose became clear.When a patient died last week in the hospital’s intensive care unit — nearly full these days of critically ill COVID-19 patients — the body was packed in ice and moved into the trailer. The hospital’s morgue was full. HCA officials confirmed the trailer was used as temporary storage until the body could be picked up by a funeral home.As other hospitals...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe large refrigerated trailer suddenly appeared one day near the loading dock at HCA Healthcare Northwest, taking some on staff by surprise. But soon its purpose became clear.When a patient died last week in the hospital’s intensive care unit — nearly full these days of critically ill COVID-19 patients — the body was packed in ice and moved into the trailer. The hospital’s morgue was full. HCA officials confirmed the trailer was used as temporary storage until the body could be picked up by a funeral home.As other hospitals...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe large refrigerated trailer suddenly appeared one day near the loading dock at HCA Healthcare Northwest, taking some on staff by surprise. But soon its purpose became clear.When a patient died last week in the hospital’s intensive care unit — nearly full these days of critically ill COVID-19 patients — the body was packed in ice and moved into the trailer. The hospital’s morgue was full. HCA officials confirmed the trailer was used as temporary storage until the body could be picked up by a funeral home.As other hospitals...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateBy the time Andrea Seboyon arrived at United Memorial Medical Center on June 6, she could no longer draw a full breath or speak in sentences. Her body had become so starved of oxygen her fingernails had turned purple.An X-ray showed the 34-year-old fast-food worker had less than 20 percent function left between two lungs. Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer, quickly ordered two COVID-19 tests although he already knew the answer. “Everything lit up like a Christmas tree,” he said of the results.What troubled him, he said, was...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateBy the time Andrea Seboyon arrived at United Memorial Medical Center on June 6, she could no longer draw a full breath or speak in sentences. Her body had become so starved of oxygen her fingernails had turned purple.An X-ray showed the 34-year-old fast-food worker had less than 20 percent function left between two lungs. Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer, quickly ordered two COVID-19 tests although he already knew the answer. “Everything lit up like a Christmas tree,” he said of the results.What troubled him, he said, was...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe 64-year-old man staggered into United Memorial Medical Center’s emergency room on Monday, gravely ill. It is unknown when he became infected, though the doctors believe it was recent. An X-ray showed spider webs of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, coating both lungs, making them all but useless.By Thursday morning, his kidneys were failing. The staff was looking for next of kin.Death, it seemed, was moving from possible to likely in Room 409 of the hospital’s newly expanded COVID-19 unit.“I have a bad...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe 64-year-old man staggered into United Memorial Medical Center’s emergency room on Monday, gravely ill. It is unknown when he became infected, though the doctors believe it was recent. An X-ray showed spider webs of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, coating both lungs, making them all but useless.By Thursday morning, his kidneys were failing. The staff was looking for next of kin.Death, it seemed, was moving from possible to likely in Room 409 of the hospital’s newly expanded COVID-19 unit.“I have a bad...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAs the nation cheers its emergency room physicians as warriors fighting a pandemic, the big-money firms who employ them are quietly slashing doctors’ income to make up for shortfalls in corporate revenue.Across Houston’s largest hospital systems, some emergency room doctors are reporting their overall income has dropped as much as 25 percent either through direct pay cuts, reduced hours or both — even as the number of COVID-19 patients continues to climb in the region.The Houston region has yet to hit its peak, officials said, and...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAs the nation cheers its emergency room physicians as warriors fighting a pandemic, the big-money firms who employ them are quietly slashing doctors’ income to make up for shortfalls in corporate revenue.Across Houston’s largest hospital systems, some emergency room doctors are reporting their overall income has dropped as much as 25 percent either through direct pay cuts, reduced hours or both — even as the number of COVID-19 patients continues to climb in the region.The Houston region has yet to hit its peak, officials said, and...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateBack in 2017, Cheryl Billings was having a run of bad health, so her trips to Cedar Park Regional Medical Center near Austin have since blurred together. That’s why when she was later served with court papers saying the 108-bed Williamson County hospital was suing her, she had no idea why.The 64-year-old is disabled and lives on about $700 monthly in Supplemental Security Income and other federal assistance. The $5,255 she was told she owed for a hospitalization seemed almost laughable. Almost.“There’s no way I can pay,” she said...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateBack in 2017, Cheryl Billings was having a run of bad health, so her trips to Cedar Park Regional Medical Center near Austin have since blurred together. That’s why when she was later served with court papers saying the 108-bed Williamson County hospital was suing her, she had no idea why.The 64-year-old is disabled and lives on about $700 monthly in Supplemental Security Income and other federal assistance. The $5,255 she was told she owed for a hospitalization seemed almost laughable. Almost.“There’s no way I can pay,” she said...WW…