Charles Ornstein

Why Do Hospital Generators Keep Failing?

It is a hospital’s nightmare: The power goes out and backup generators don’t kick in, leaving critically ill patients without the mechanical help they need to breathe. It happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when hospital staff were on their own when electricity and water cut out. Some died. It happened last year in San […]

Charles Ornstein
By Charles Ornstein
Medical workers assist a patient into an ambulance during an evacuation of New York University Tisch Hospital, after its backup generator failed when the power was knocked out by a superstorm, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

It is a hospital's nightmare: The power goes out and backup generators don't kick in, leaving critically ill patients without the mechanical help they need to breathe. It happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when hospital staff were on their own when electricity and water cut out. Some died. It happened last year in San

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Nursing Home Inspect App Allows Users To Analyze Inspections, Violations

By Charles Ornstein and Lena Groeger In February 2011, a nursing home resident in Michigan wandered away in a blizzard, unnoticed by staff. He was wearing only pajama pants, a sweater, canvas shoes and a knit cap. A technician driving to work found him half an hour later at a busy intersection, wet and covered […]

Charles Ornstein
By Charles Ornstein
A man plays the piano at a nursing home in 2008 as residents listen. (Photo by robinsan via Flikr)

By Charles Ornstein and Lena Groeger In February 2011, a nursing home resident in Michigan wandered away in a blizzard, unnoticed by staff. He was wearing only pajama pants, a sweater, canvas shoes and a knit cap. A technician driving to work found him half an hour later at a busy intersection, wet and covered with snow, government inspectors

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Mystery After the Health Care Ruling: Which States Will Refuse Medicaid Expansion?

For many people without insurance, a key question raised bythe Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold the Affordable Care Act is whether states will decline to participate in the law’s big Medicaid expansion. Although the court upheld the law’s mandate requiring individuals to buy insurance, the justices said the act could not force states to expand […]

Charles Ornstein
By Charles Ornstein
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Wednesday, June 20, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

For many people without insurance, a key question raised bythe Supreme Court's decision today to uphold the Affordable Care Act is whether states will decline to participate in the law's big Medicaid expansion. Although the court upheld the law's mandate requiring individuals to buy insurance, the justices said the act could not force states to

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Senators Launch Investigation of Pain Group Ties To Drug Companies

By Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein A version of this story was published in The Washington Post. As the U.S. Senate Finance Committee launched an investigation Tuesday into makers of narcotic painkillers and groups that champion them, a leading pain advocacy organization said it was dissolving “due to irreparable economic circumstances.” The American Pain Foundation, which described […]

Tracy Weber
Charles Ornstein
By Tracy Weber
And Charles Ornstein
black cancer patients

By Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein A version of this story was published in The Washington Post. As the U.S. Senate Finance Committee launched an investigation Tuesday into makers of narcotic painkillers and groups that champion them, a leading pain advocacy organization said it was dissolving "due to irreparable economic

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