HIV Aids is on the rise in Monongalia County as a group of WVU Medical students learned recently on a Zoom call with Dr. Anthony Fauci.

With All Hallow’s Eve approaching, the West Virginia State Police provided the public with some safety tips.

Two West Virginia state schools signed a memorandum of understanding to promote medical student’s acceptance.

The Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has replaced its COVID-19 dashboard with a new system to track three respiratory diseases.

Experts advise Medicare members to review their coverage and watch out for scams during open enrollment season.

As respiratory illness season ramps up, health experts are encouraging West Virginians to promote health and safety in their communities.

On a national level, the end of pandemic-era benefits will affect child care costs and access. West Virginia hopes to avoid those shortfalls by relying on individual child care subsidies that date back to the 1960s.

The Black Infant and Maternal Health Working Group hosted a breakfast and meet and greet with lawmakers Monday at the capitol.

Hundreds of middle and high school students gathered at the Raze Youth Summit to learn about the dangers of e-cigarettes and vaping.

West Virginia allows for medical exemptions to vaccines but does not allow for exemptions based on religious or philosophical beliefs. Some lawmakers would like to see those laws change.

A non-profit provider of pop-up clinics will deliver free dental, vision and medical care to those in need in Charleston.

An annual event is set to educate more than 600 youth from across West Virginia about the dangers of nicotine use.

In a release, the DHHR outlined seven grant programs that will support various health initiatives across the state.

A final pandemic era payment will be issued to child care centers across the state, according to Gov. Jim Justice.

Certain combat Veterans can enroll in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.

A film called Impossible Town, based in Minden, West Virginia features Dr. Ayne Amjad’s efforts to relocate the town’s residents after decades of exposure to chemical contamination during her tenure as the state’s health officer.

Hundreds of families in West Virginia could lose the support of Head Start if the government shuts down.

The West Virginia University School of Nursing undergraduate nursing program has again been named one of the top 100 nursing schools in the country.

Sherri Young, the interim secretary of the DHHR, and incoming secretary for the new Department of Health, spoke with Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials recommend West Virginians ages six months and older stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations.

A draft rule to protect coal miners from exposure to silica dust garnered more than 5,200 comments from advocates and the American public.

A study will measure the effectiveness of telehealth as a means for patients to remain at home while managing their care.

A $1 million grant provided by UniCare helped establish a program aimed at improving the livability and conditions of five homes throughout West Virginia.

A new COVID-19 has been approved for all Americans six months and older.

An event that started in West Virginia’s Kanawha Valley has now spread to all 13 federally recognized Appalachian states.

The Women’s Health Center of Maryland in Cumberland will see its first patients on Sept. 13.

The three appointed secretaries of the new bureaus of the DHHR provided lawmakers with updates on restructuring within the department. Legislation passed in 2023 required the department to be reorganized and split into three agencies after concerns of inefficiencies in the system.

The goal of the 988 line is to connect people in crisis with someone in their community who can point them to local resources.

The majority of West Virginia’s children in foster care are actually teenagers. Many of them are placed in group homes instead of foster care.

A new vaccine to protect against the many strains of COVID-19 will be available at the end of September.

September is adult family care month in West Virginia.

Federal funding was awarded to West Virginia in response to the overdose risk from fentanyl and other opioids.

State health care leaders met Thursday at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting and business summit at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.

Staffing shortages place an immense strain on the entire health care system, leaving hospitals and medical centers overwhelmed and unable to provide optimal care for patients.

A Friday summit at Marshall University will explore critical interventions against the use of the drug xylazine as part of the opioid crisis.

Nursing had the highest overall rates of vacancies and turnovers of all the professions studied in a hospital workforce report.

A new initiative aims to curb rates of vaping among West Virginia’s teenagers.

A free health fair on Tuesday gave the community of Oak Hill the opportunity to be tested for black lung disease.

Black lung screenings will be available and free to the public Tuesday in Oak Hill.

The court found that the plaintiffs “demonstrated that DHHR maintains an inadequate array of placements to meet the needs of these foster children.”

Ahead of this year’s viral respiratory season, health officials advise checking with your physician for vaccination recommendations.

During the interim legislative session, Commissioner of the Bureau for Social Services Jeffrey Pack provided updates on hiring and retention initiatives in the department.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aims to improve health care in rural areas with the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program in Lewisburg, West Virginia by establishing new Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) access points.

Medical experts at West Virginia University are excited about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Beyfortus as a major advancement to prevent RSV.

A new federal grant is expected to support a three-year, rural internal medicine residency program aimed at improving the needs of rural communities in Appalachia.

Mission West Virginia and the West Virginia Department and Health and Human Resources (DHHR) have partnered to electronically publish a quarterly newsletter for families called West Virginia Kids Thrive.

The new three-digit national crisis line took five million calls in its first year of operation. Federal officials say that is up 35 percent compared to the old 10-digit line. 

Annually, West Virginia hospitals treat 6.8 million people with 5.6 million of those patients being treated in outpatient care.

The CEG is a non-profit organization with its base of operations in Lost River, West Virginia. The organization focuses on the “syndemic” or synergistic epidemic in Appalachia. 

Morrisey informed elected officials and the public about the next steps following the creation of the foundation, as well as information about the settlement funds.

When it comes to decoding the language of the drug epidemic, advocates say compassionate language plays a crucial part in discussing the drug epidemic.

In a weekly update, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reported six additional deaths attributed to the virus in the past week bringing the total number to 8,155.

West Virginia’s hospitals continue to navigate an altered landscape since the onset of COVID-19. While there has been progress over the past year, hospitals in West Virginia still face a broad ranging shortage of healthcare workers. Health care providers struggle with a backlog of care for patients, problems with supply chains, mounting financial pressures and legislative changes to insurance.

Alongside health officials from West Virginia University, Gov. Jim Justice announced Thursday that $50 million of the state’s surplus funding will support investment to attain National Cancer Institute designation for the WVU Cancer Institute.

In Mercer County, nearly 175 food-insecure families get free, nutritious meal deliveries via DoorDash to combat rural child hunger in the Mountain State.

Researchers at Marshall University are seeking participants 55 and older to examine the effect of visual art activities on the well-being of aging adults.

According to the Air Now Fire and Smoke Map, West Virginia’s panhandles are experiencing the majority of particle pollution in the state, especially in the Eastern Panhandle, where Shepherdstown has been issued a code red warning for “unhealthy” air quality.

The drug epidemic is an ever-evolving hot-button topic with tons of buzzwords. But what does it all mean?

According to provisional data, the state’s overdose rate fell from February 2022 to February 2023. The data shows that opioid overdose rates have dropped by approximately 8 percent, marking the most substantial decrease since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

West Virginia will receive close to $1.5 million from a nationwide settlement.

A team of cardiologists at Marshall Health and St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute successfully used new technology to achieve better visualization and access to the heart, improving the success rate of cardiac ablation procedures.

WVU’s Center for Excellence in Disabilities has been in operation for 43 years. It does not focus on one disability in particular but instead cares for those with disabilities at every age.

Black lung clinics across West Virginia will receive more than $2 million in federal funding.

The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory Tuesday stating that up to 95 percent of youth ages 13 to 17 report using a social media platform.

In West Virginia, the investments announced on Monday total $16.9 million to address immediate needs and foster long-term economic growth.

Boone Memorial Health will receive a $14.4 million loan to renovate a facility into a health and wellness clinic along with a direct grant.

Since the end of the Public Health Emergency and the unrolling of Medicaid, health insurance workers are already seeing an uptick in inquiries.

Doctors across eight specialties within Mon Health System were named Top Doctors by Castle Connolly and published in local publications.

The mobile simulation lab will provide access to nursing education for both currently practicing nurses and future nurses currently in nursing school.

During his weekly briefing, Gov. Jim Justice proclaimed this week is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week.

The team aims to understand how certain mental stressors change the development of the brain and how it is wired.

The safest way to consume any food is to wash it with a specialty cleaner made for produce, or a mixture of water and vinegar upon arrival at the home, and again before preparing or eating it.

Gov. Jim Justice declared that May is Foster Care Month, an initiative to strengthen and uplift the children in the system and their case workers.

During a briefing, Dr. Jeff Coben, interim secretary of the DHHR, was asked multiple questions about the progress of the restructuring process of the agency.

The MATCH survey allows West Virginia community needs to be matched with health resources and provides information to support decision making on state and local levels.

Less than three percent of people raised in state care nationwide obtain a college degree. One West Virginia University (WVU) Newman Civic Fellow aims to change that statistic.

Pandemic-era technology will help survivors of domestic and sexual abuse face their alleged abuser in court – virtually. 

West Virginia lays claim to Lily’s Place, the nation’s first medical center specifically created for infants born from addicted parents. The Huntington facility is now expanding their services to support these growing infants’ siblings and families.

Legislators heard from board members of the private donation-funded opioid treatment center Lauren’s Wish during the first interim session this week.

According to the Child Welfare Dashboard, West Virginia has 6,262 children in its foster care system. 

This week, the FDA is expected to authorize a recommendation of an additional shot for those who are immunocompromised as well as those over the age of 65.

West Virginia has received $340 million of its current total settlement amount of $867 million from lawsuits against opioid makers and distributors. 

West Virginia abortion providers and advocates dropped a federal lawsuit challenging multiple provisions of the state’s near-total abortion ban.

The Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability (LOCHHRA) met Tuesday for an update on the DHHR’s years-long overhaul of critical computer systems.

Legislators learned the path to reorganize the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) remains uncertain during the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability meeting Monday. 

With the federal COVID-19 public health emergency ending, West Virginia will issue Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) to qualifying K-12 students over the summer. This will be the final payment with CARES funds.

The COVID-19 pandemic may seem to be a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean the fight against it is over. Since last week, 16 West Virginians died from COVID-19. The nationwide average is 225 deaths a week. The West Virginia death total since the beginning of the pandemic is 8,083.

On average, 11,000 people die each day who are considered medically suitable to donate and don’t. About every 10 minutes, someone new is added to the national transplant waiting list.

Marshall University’s Speech and Hearing Center is receiving funding for a statewide speech therapy program for those with Parkinson’s Disease.

A local nonprofit healthcare quality improvement company, Quality Insights, is marking its 50th anniversary by offering $100,000 in grants to nonprofits and community organizations seeking to improve health and health care in West Virginia.

While Friday’s rulings are not directly related to West Virginia’s lawsuit, GenBioPro, the maker of Mifepristone, reacted to the legal wrangling and announced it is reviewing both federal court orders.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office has settled a lawsuit with Juul for a total of $7.9 million.

On Wednesday, the DHHR reported a weekly total of 8,067 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in West Virginia.

Until recently, Narcan was only available with a prescription, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a specific naloxone product for use without a prescription: a four-milligram naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray.

Xylazine is a non-opioid agent linked to a growing number of overdose deaths across the country. As a non-opioid, the drug poses a threat to humans, in part because it does not respond to typical revival methods like Narcan.

The Women’s Health Center of Maryland in Cumberland will open its doors in June to provide abortion services to patients across central Appalachia.