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About 96% of people now live within an hour of life-saving stroke care, but the Mountain West has the worst access in the country. That’s according to new research from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Omicron cases are surging across the Mountain West. In several states, more than 80% of ICU beds are filled. While these COVID-19 infections tend to have milder overall symptoms for individuals, they’re still landing people in the hospital and stressing health care systems and workers.

As Louisville recovers from the disastrous Marshall Fire, they have had to do so without the Avista Adventist Hospital, which was closed due to smoke damage. With the hospital slated to reopen next Tuesday, KUNC's Colorado Edition spoke with Kaiser Health °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ reporter Kate Ruder, who covered the closure and its impact.

With hospitals in the Mountain West overrun with COVID-19 patients, states are increasingly utilizing monoclonal antibody treatment to ease a seemingly endless public health crisis — one that could worsen with the emergence of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Colorado plans to expand hospital capacity and staffing amid an ongoing surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations that could surpass a record high for the state set in 2020, Gov. Jared Polis told a pandemic task force Wednesday.

Today on Colorado Edition, we learn how Colorado hospitals are grappling with the latest surge of COVID-19. We also hear how schools are dealing with staffing shortages, and the drastic measures some are now forced to take.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Colorado is at its highest level since last December. With hospitals filling up, Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order on Oct. 31 that gives the state control over hospital admissions and transfers.

Almost one-third of hospitals in Colorado are predicting shortages of ICU beds in the week ahead. In a press conference Friday, state COVID incident commander Scott Bookman confirmed hospitals are reaching a breaking point.

Today on Colorado Edition, we get an update on the spread COVID-19 cases in Northern Colorado. Then, we learn how schools are acknowledging the role trauma can play in students' lives. And we speak to a rural transgender high school student about documenting his experiences in a photo essay.

An Amtrak train derailment in rural north-central Montana on Sunday killed three people and sent several passengers to far-flung hospitals, further burdening ICUs full of COVID-19 patients.