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States, Hospitals Grapple With Medical Rationing

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States, Hospitals Grapple With Medical Rationing

STATELINE ARTICLE

By: Michael Ollove

An elderly patient is wheeled into the emergency entrance to Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York. Hospitals soon may have to make anguishing decisions about who gets lifesaving treatments at a time of medical scarcity.
Kathy Willens/The Associated Press

Over the weekend, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a reminder that people with disabilities have the same worth as everybody else.

That the agency felt compelled to issue such a directive reflects the anguishing choices that American medicine has begun to confront: When medical personnel, equipment and supplies are limited, who gets lifesaving care and who doesn’t?

The HHS bulletin appeared to respond to a complaint filed with the federal agency last week by Washington state groups that serve people with disabilities. The groups argued that a draft of an emergency health plan, proposed by Washington state health officials and hospitals, gave lower priority to those with disabilities.

State and local health departments across the country have developed detailed emergency health plans in recent years, often in response to major natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, or outbreaks of diseases, such as the avian and swine flus. Many of these plans, such as those in Minnesota and New York, included guidelines for rationing care in the event of shortages of medical supplies or personnel.

Federal health agencies have not issued guidelines on how to make such decisions. For example, states say they don’t understand the criteria the federal government has been using in allocating limited medical resources from the U.S. stockpile.

At least some of the state plans include the sort of language that prompted the protest in Washington state. The emergency health plan Alabama drafted in 2010, for example, states that “persons with severe mental retardation, advanced dementia or severe traumatic brain injury may be poor candidates for ventilator support.” It’s unclear if that provision is part of the state’s current emergency plan.

On the front lines, medical providers are desperately trying to avoid choosing among patients. New York-Presbyterian Hospital, at the epicenter of the outbreak, began experimenting with sharing ventilators between two patients rather than one.

According to media reports, some U.S. hospitals already are considering issuing do-not-resuscitate orders for infected patients, regardless of the wishes of the patients. Among the hospitals identified as considering that option is Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

“We have not made any policy changes to patient care,” said Christopher King, a spokesman for the hospital. “What we have been doing, and similar to health systems around the country dealing with COVID-19, is conducting internal discussions and scenario planning on how to care for patients with COVID-19.”

A Change in Decision-Making

To be sure, some medical professionals have long experience making such choices — those who have operated in war zones or provided care in the wake of natural disasters, for example. And doctors and hospitals often have to choose who will get healthy organs for transplants when precious few are available.

In the last decade or so, some states have expanded these conversations.

For example, in 2006 New York health officials created emergency protocols in response to an avian flu outbreak in Asia. Their guidelines addressed an issue rattling health systems now: how to ethically allocate ventilators when the supply doesn’t meet the demand.

“The clinical guidelines propose both withholding and withdrawing ventilators from patients with the highest probability of mortality to benefit patients with the highest likelihood of survival,” the New York guidelines state.

In Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, lawmakers passed measures to indemnify health professionals when they were forced to determine which patients received life-sustaining treatments. The state also convened medical experts to draft plans to determine how those decisions should be made.

Most other states also began creating emergency health plans, especially after the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, many of those conversations occurred without public input, which drew some criticism for a lack of transparency.

Others are just now getting to it. New Jersey, for example, has created a bioethics committee that will meet this week to talk about how to parcel out ventilators and other lifesaving care.

The decisions about who should get care should not be based simply on who shows up first, said Nancy Berlinger, resident scholar of the Hastings Center, a New York-based research institution that studies bioethics. Berlinger directed the center’s production of guidelines for medically ethical considerations in the current outbreak.

“One principle that we articulate in our guidance is that ‘first come, first serve’ is not a satisfactory approach,” Berlinger said. “Just because you are part of the first wave shouldn’t give you a claim on a resource so that nobody who comes in after you has access to it.”

Philip Rosoff, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at Duke University and longtime chairman of the Duke Medical Center ethics board, said decisions should be made on the best and most current clinical evidence and with one question uppermost: Who stands to best benefit from the limited quantity of lifesaving treatment?

Those guidelines, Rosoff said, should explicitly state that “allocations will be based on clinical evidence only and without consideration of social, ethnic, economic and other non-clinical considerations of people. You don’t want to exacerbate pre-existing social disparities that already prevail in this country.”

Bioethicists say providers should focus first on a patient’s underlying health condition and whether that condition lowers the chance of recovery.

“If I have limited amounts of lifesaving treatment, and the chances of you responding well to it are 5% because of an underlying condition, and someone else who doesn’t have that condition has a 50% chance of doing well with it, what should you do? You have one treatment. Who should get it?” Rosoff said.

“That’s not discrimination; it’s just the way it is.”

Rosoff agreed that such strategies would tend to favor young and healthy people over older ones, who are far more likely to have chronic and serious medical conditions.

“That being said, if two people come in and their clinical characteristics are such that they have an equal chance of survival, they should have an equal shot of getting on advanced lifesaving treatment,” Rosoff said, whatever their respective ages.

For years medical ethicists have debated whether age alone should be the deciding factor in determining who gets lifesaving care first. The idea that youth should be given preference even has a name, one derived from the sport of cricket: the fair innings argument. It posits that an older person has already had a chance to live a long life.

Younger people, in competition for the same medical treatment, should be given preference so they will have the same opportunity.

“This is the argument that under crisis conditions, it is ethically acceptable to give preference to the younger patient so that this person has a chance to experience the life cycles that the older patient has already experienced,” Berlinger said.

Sometimes the question is not whether to provide care for a certain patient, but when to stop it so resources can be transferred to somebody else.

The Hastings guidelines raise one increasingly likely hypothetical: “A critically ill patient waiting for an ICU bed might be better able to benefit from this resource than a patient already in the ICU whose condition is not improving,” it says.

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made that same point at a news conference last week. He said that older and weaker patients were sometimes staying on ventilators for weeks at a time without improving. The implication was that the ventilators could have saved someone with a better chance of survival.

“The longer they’re on, the more likely they’re not going to come off,” Cuomo said. “That is what has happened. We do have people who have been on for quite a period of time, and those are the people we’re losing.”

Who Decides?

Rosoff noted that medical professionals, who in normal circumstances are inclined to devote all necessary resources to save every patient, will be called upon to make the kinds of decisions unimaginable even a few weeks ago.

“Something not getting much discussion is the tremendous moral and psychological burden this will place on frontline medical professionals with these very difficult medical decisions,” he said.

But, ideally, hospitals have protocols in place to ensure that such decisions are not left to the bedside doctors and nurses, said Dr. Susan Goold, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan who is on the faculty of its Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine.

“If I’m taking care of that patient, I’m not the one to decide if they get scarce resources,” she said.

The priority of care decisions “should be made by persons removed from the clinical context,” according to guidelines issued by the Michigan Department of Community Health. If they don’t already have them, Goold said, hospitals need to create small, nimble committees of doctors, nurses, and bioethicists to make the decisions.

“So, it’s not me, the doctor taking care of the patient, saying, ‘No, you’re too old or sick,’” she said. “It’s somebody else. You don’t want doctors and nurses to be seen as making those decisions by their patients or their families.”

FOOTNOTE: Michael OlloveStaff Writer for Stateline

IRS Releases More Info On How To Get Coronavirus Stimulus Checks ASAP

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IRS Releases More Info On How To Get Coronavirus Stimulus Checks ASAP

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said payments will go out “within three weeks” for people who have their direct deposit information on file with the IRS.

By Sahil Kapur
WASHINGTON — New information from the IRS on Monday shines more light on what people can do to get the checks from the government as quickly as possible while many families worry about paying the bills and buying food during the coronavirus crisis that has cost millions of people their jobs.
For Americans eligible for stimulus cash under the new relief law, the fastest way to receive it is to make sure they’ve filed a tax return for 2019 or 2018 with bank information so the government can directly deposit the money.

The IRS says it will use a person’s 2019 return to calculate eligibility and automatically send the money to those who qualify. If they haven’t filed a 2019 return, it’ll be based on the 2018 return.

The agency said it would publish additional information about the new forms soon on irs.gov/coronavirus.

Payments up to $1,200 per person, with an additional $500 per child under 17, will be made to U.S. residents with a Social Security number who earn under $75,000. The amount decreases by $5 per every $100 earned after that, zeroing out at $99,000. For married couples, the phase-out range is $150,000 to $198,000.

The IRS said Americans who weren’t required to file taxes in the last two years will have to file a “simple tax return” with basic information like filing status, number of dependents and bank information so the government can send the money.

“Low-income taxpayers, senior citizens, Social Security recipients, some veterans and individuals with disabilities who are otherwise not required to file a tax return will not owe tax,” the IRS said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said payments will go out “within three weeks” for people who have their direct deposit information on file with the IRS.

“We will create a web-based system for people where we don’t have the direct deposit they can upload it so that they can get the money immediately as opposed to checks in the mail,” Mnuchin said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Number Of Long-Term Care Facilities With COVID-19 Cases Tops 400 Nationwide

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Number Of Long-Term Care Facilities With COVID-19 Cases Tops 400 Nationwide

Signs from multiple states point to a rapid increase in cases in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

By Laura Strickler
WASHINGTON — More than 400 long-term care facilities nationwide now have residents who are infected with the coronavirus, an increase of 172 percent from 146 on March 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Signs from multiple states point to a rapid increase in cases in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

On Friday, a Washington state official told NBC News that 53 facilities had reported cases. New Jersey health officials announced Monday that 70 homes had cases. In New York, it’s 155, according to the state Health Department. Los Angeles County’s public health director announced Monday that the county had cases in 11 nursing homes

In other words, just those four jurisdictions, which make up one-seventh of the national population, account for nearly reported 300 cases, even though the CDC’s official total of 400-plus is for all 50 states.

And the number of cases in each home keeps rising. In Maryland, state officials say, one nursing home has more than 60 cases.

While some state and local facilities have provided the numbers of cases in nursing homes, federal and state officials are tight-lipped about naming the facilities.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

A CDC spokesperson declined to name the facilities, saying the agency does not collect the names. The CDC also did not provide a total number of infected residents in the 400-plus homes.

A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health cited patient confidentiality in saying the agency would not name the 155 facilities statewide.

Reporters in Colorado and Rhode Island have had to submit open records requests to get lists of facilities with ongoing cases.

Nursing homes are required by the federal government to notify a sick resident’s family of an illness. They are not required to provide notification to relatives of other residents, according to the New York Health Department.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not respond to a request for comment about notification guidance to facilities.

Some families with loved ones in nursing homes say they have not received timely updates from the facilities themselves.

“I wish I could count on their communication, but now I’m going to the news for information rather than the facility,” said Niki Smith, a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, whose father is in Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing, a nursing home where more than 100 cases have been reported.

Smith said she learned of the cases when her brother called to say he had read about them on Facebook, as first reported by NBC affiliate WSMV.

CareRite, the New Jersey-based company that owns Gallatin, did not respond to a request for comment.

“We’ve encouraged facilities and family members to make sure they have the most updated emergency contact information, and we encourage facilities to continue to keep loved ones updated about residents and the entire facility,” said a spokesperson for the American Health Care Association, a long-term care industry trade group. “Each facility may have different ways they do that, so we have not given exact direction on how they implement that process.”

FOOTNOTE: Laura Strickler is an investigative producer in the NBC News Investigative Unit based in Washington.

Experts Warn A Housing Crisis Shadows The Health Crisis

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Rent’s Due. Now What? Experts Warn A Housing Crisis Shadows The Health Crisis

The efforts to help many Americans keep their homes are temporary and don’t come close to addressing the scope of the problem.
March 31, 2020, 11:50 AM CDT / Updated March 31, 2020, 4:44 PM CDT
By Allan Smith

 

Wednesday marks the first of a new month, a day when rent comes due for millions of Americans for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak shuttered much of the country and caused widespread job losses.

Federal, state and local governments have scrambled to enact policies to keep renters whose sources of income have disappeared from getting evicted in the immediate future while treading carefully around measures that could adversely affect landlords and the real estate market at large.

But experts say the initial steps are nowhere near enough to protect low- and middle-income renters and handle what they say is the next biggest issue on legislators’ plates after ensuring the stability of the health care system.

“In terms of the across-the-board, really big, social policy, human need issue, this is it,” Andrew Scherer, a law professor at New York Law School, told NBC News of what he sees as an impending crisis. “This is what’s looming.”

More than 43 million American households are rental properties, although the Census Bureau says renters are historically undercounted given that “many of them are young and mobile, multicultural, or low-income.” Just last week, a record number of Americans, more than 3 million, filed for unemployment benefits, a number that is nearly certain to continue rising in the weeks ahead.

“This is a tipping point moment, where so many find themselves joining the ranks of the housing insecure,” said Paula Franzese, a law professor at Seton Hall University.

“More must be done … to protect low- and moderate-income renters,” she said. “Eviction pauses, while providing welcome temporary relief, are a mere stopgap measure that, without a forgiveness program for rent arrearages, only provide a brief respite from inevitable eviction.”

In the massive $2 trillion relief package, Congress provided a 60-day delay in foreclosures for borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans while allowing six months of forbearance for those experiencing economic hardship because of the outbreak. For those who’ve taken out federally backed mortgage loans for multifamily properties, the period will be 90 days, while those landlords won’t be able to evict or charge late fees to tenants who don’t pay rent over that time. Nor will they be able to initiate legal action against tenants.

The federal government also said it would provide many Americans with $1,200 checks, in addition to expanded unemployment benefits for those who’ve lost their jobs.

At the state and local levels, eviction moratoriums of varying lengths have been put in place. In New York, where the outbreak has hit hardest, the moratorium is among the longest, at 90 days.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order barring evictions through the end of May for those hit by the outbreak. Tenants must notify landlords within seven days of failing to pay and provide documentation proving their circumstances.

In Michigan, another hard-hit state, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order suspending evictions through April 17, while Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced $5 million in funding to assist those struggling with paying rent because of the outbreak.

For a variety of reasons, experts said, the moratoriums, while necessary in the short term, aren’t enough to deal with the housing crisis. For starters, the vast majority of renters don’t live in properties that are supported by federally backed mortgages. And unless further legal action is taken, there is nothing to stop a landlord from evicting a tenant as soon as the moratorium passes, seeking to collect rent immediately.

“I think that is a huge risk, and I don’t know if anyone has quite figured out the solution to that one,” Solomon Greene, a senior expert at the Urban Institute, a social and economic policy think tank, said of landlords’ being able to evict tenants once the moratoriums pass. “I don’t think that is hypothetical. I think that is likely to happen because we are seeing so many people losing their jobs.”

Asked Sunday for his message to renters, President Donald Trump said he believes landlords “are going to take it easy.”

“They don’t, sort of, have a choice,” the president said. “But a lot of concessions are made, just like the insurance companies. A lot of concessions are being made that wouldn’t have even been thought of three weeks ago. Not even thought of. So a lot of really positive things are happening.”

Trump’s presidential rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have backed calls for rent forgiveness over the near future. Biden called Tuesday for “a temporary ban on evictions nationwide.”

“No one should be forced out of their home in the middle of a pandemic,” he tweeted.

The movement to cancel rent is gaining the most ground in New York, where activists and lawmakers have called for it.

Democratic New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris recently unveiled legislation that would allow commercial and residential renters directly affected by the outbreak to skip paying rent over a 90-day period, while landlords could subtract the amount they lose from mortgages owed.

The apartment industry has cautioned about such measures, saying that while more needs to be done to protect renters, many landlords operate on small margins and wouldn’t be able to sustain substantial losses of income.

“Lack of rental income puts entire properties in jeopardy and will harm the nation’s limited rental housing supply,” said Greg Brown, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Apartment Association, one of the industry’s main trade groups.

“Even without money coming in, rental property owners still have basic financial obligations, including mortgages, property taxes, payroll, insurance and utilities — all expenses that bolster other sectors of the economy — and any relief measures must ensure owners’ financial obligations can still be met or delayed without penalty,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Multifamily Housing Council, another apartment trade group, called on the industry to hold off on evictions for three months while developing payment plans for residents as part of a broader proposal it is promoting.

For rent forgiveness to work, Franzese said, the financial burdens “must be shared by federal and state government and the private sectors.” Otherwise, those “much-needed rent forgiveness policies unduly burden landlords who remain obliged to pay property taxes and remit mortgage payments.”

Robert Silverman, a professor of urban and regional planning at the State University of New York at Buffalo, said the amount needed to counterbalance the relief to renters would quickly make rent forgiveness “less and less popular” an option.

“You’d almost have to have, on the other side, some type of mortgage or tax forgiveness for landlords on their properties, and that part of the equation hasn’t really been talked about as much,” he said in an interview, adding that additional income subsidies to those renters would “help more because they, from the bottom up, try to address the whole problem in a systematic way.”

Ultimately, Scherer said, the federal government is in the best position to tackle the wider problem.

“It seems to me that if you can bail out the airline industry and the hospitality industry,” he said, “you certainly should be able to bail out people who’ve lost their jobs as a consequence of the crisis that we’re in.”

FOOTNOTES: Allan Smith is a political reporter for NBC News.

NAIA APPROVES OAKLAND CITY UNIVERSITY FOR FULL MEMBERSHIP

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NAIA APPROVES OAKLAND CITY UNIVERSITY FOR FULL MEMBERSHIP; OCU WILL COMPETE IN THE RIVER STATES CONFERENCE

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is pleased to announce the approval of five (5) institutions for membership, which will be effective July 1, 2020. Formal approval was voted upon by the NAIA Council of Presidents (COP) on March 31 at the annual NAIA COP Business Meeting.

New members include Oakland City University (Oakland City, Ind.), Park University Gilbert (Gilbert, Ariz.), Texas A&M University-San Antonio, University of North Texas at Dallas and Westcliff University (Irvine, Calif.).

“The NAIA is excited to welcome these five schools into our association,” said Jim Carr, NAIA President, and CEO. “Each of these institutions exemplifies the NAIA’s core values and will undoubtedly make great additions to their respective conferences, as well as the organization overall.”

Oakland City will be returning to the NAIA from NCAA Division II, becoming the sixth school to move from the NCAA in the past five years. It will be immediately eligible for postseason competition, which is a benefit afforded to former members that return to the NAIA. With 14 sports, Oakland City boasts the largest athletics department among the newcomers.

The Mighty Oaks have been approved for membership in the River States Conference joining the other conference member institutions Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College, Asbury (Ky.) University, Brescia (Ky.) University, Carlow (Pa.) University, Indiana University East, Indiana University Kokomo, Indiana University Southeast, Midway (Ky.) University, Ohio Christian University, Point Park (Pa.) University, University of Rio Grande (Ohio) and West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

Oakland City University participated in the precursor of the River States Conference, known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1968-75. Founded in 1916, the KIAC rebranded in the summer of 2016 and changed its name to the River States Conference.

“The River States Conference is delighted to see Oakland City University return to the NAIA and the conference,” said Michael Schell, RSC Commissioner. “They have been

great to work with through the application process, and I look forward to seeing them compete this fall.”

“Oakland City University is excited to return to the NAIA and especially the River States Conference,” said Dr. Ron Dempsey, President of OCU. “The institutions in the RSC will provide our intercollegiate Mighty Oaks tremendous competition, and we are looking forward to developing some intra-conference rivalries. As president, I am proud that OCU is able to associate with the NAIA and compete with such a stellar group of colleges and universities in the River State Conference.”

The Mighty Oaks sponsors 14 sports teams –six men’s, seven women’s and one co-ed. Oakland City will participate in 13 of the 17 RSC Championship sports with the only exceptions being men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field which OCU hopes to add by 2021.

About Oakland City University

OCU is a Christian university that offers high quality, career-focused degree programs in a Christ-centered, campus secure environment. The University is committed to the pursuit of knowledge and academic excellence but equally committed to providing students with a conducive environment for personal spiritual growth. Our Christ-centered values and relationships create a supportive environment that encourages students to live a life of Christian service in their chosen careers. Our talented faculty equip our students with the knowledge and expertise they need to lead healthy, productive lives and successful, fulfilling careers. Founded by the General Association of General Baptists in 1885, U.S. News and World Report has recognized Oakland City University as one of the top universities in the Midwest. In addition, OCU has been voted as one of the safest colleges and universities in the state of Indiana. The school holds the distinction of being accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA).

ABOUT NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS (NAIA)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics. NAIA members provide more than 77,000 student-athletes with opportunities to play college sports, earn $800 million in scholarships and compete in 27 national championships. www.naia.org | @NAIA

VANDERBURGH COUNTY PROPERTY TAX BILLS HAVE BEEN MAILED

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VANDERBURGH COUNTY TREASURER

PROPERTY TAX BILLS HAVE BEEN MAILED

EVANSVILLE, IN – 3/31/2020

Approximately 97,000 property and personal property tax bills for Vanderburgh County have been mailed this week with Spring payment being due on or before May 11th, 2020. Fall payment due on or before November 10th, 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Per Executive Order 20-05, the Governor has excused property tax penalties for 60 days. 

FOUR WAYS TO PAY YOUR BILL AT THIS TIME

  • Pay at the Treasurer’s drop box in front of the Civic Center @ 1 NW MLK Jr Blvd. Evansville, IN 47708
  • Mail to – Vanderburgh County Treasurer    PO Box 77     Evansville, IN 47701
  • Drive-thru at any Old National Bank location
  • Website – www.evansvillegov/county.com (under government tab, choose Treasurer)
  • Call 1-800-272-9829. Enter jurisdiction code 2405, option 1 for real estate or option 2 for personal property/mobile home

For More INFORMATION Call At DOTTIE THOMAS – CHIEF DEPUTY TREASURER     812-435-5257   dthomas@vanderburghgov.org

HAPPENINGS AT THE VANDERBURGH COUNTY GOP

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GOP ELEPHANT
Central Committee:
     Wayne Parke, Chairman
     Mary Jo Kaiser, Political Director
     Dottie Thomas, Vice Chairman
     Lon Walters, Secretary
     Farley Smith, Treasurer
     Kevin Harrison, Editor  
News and Upcoming Events for March 31, 2020

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President Extends Social Distancing Guidelines Through End of April
 
The federal government is extending Coronavirus social distancing guidelines through April 30, 2020 as modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. 
Get the Latest Coronavirus (COVID-19) information at:

 2020 Primary Election Update:   
 Indiana Election Commission acts on executive order moving Primary to June 2, 2020

Last week the Indiana Election Commission moved forward with Governor Eric Holcomb’s request to postpone the Primary Election to June 2, 2020.  Actions taken by the Indiana Election Commission in support of the approval of the June 2 Primary move are:

  • Moves all election dates by 28 days.
  • Avoids reprinting ballots and other forms that have the May 5th, 2020 date.
  • It allows everyone to cast an absentee ballot by mail without having a specific reason to do so.
  • Grandfathers applications already received for an absentee ballot, which did not state an excuse permitting the person to vote by mail.
  • Permits county election boards to conduct meetings electronically rather than in person.
  • Encourages counties to appoint medical professionals to act as traveling absentee boards to help voters confined in medical facilities to cast a ballot.
  • Permits family members and caregivers of a confined voter to personally deliver and return a ballot.
  • Allows county election boards to consolidate voting locations and vote center sites and to take spacing measures to ensure the safety of voters.
  • Loosens restrictions on students who wish to serve as poll workers or absentee board members.
  • Allows county election boards to begin expeditiously counting ballots at 6 a.m. on Election Day.
  • Advises county election boards that election results must be determined by 3 p.m. on June 12th.
The Election Commission’s full actions can be found here, along with an updated election calendar in the appendix. Some of the dates of importance from the updated Election Calendar are:
  • Monday, May 4: Voter Registration Deadline
  • Tuesday, May 5: Early Voting Begins In Person
  • Friday, May 8: End of Pre-Primary Election Campaign Finance Reporting Period
  • Thursday, May 14: Traveling Boards Begin
  • Thursday, May 21: Deadline for a Request for an Absentee By-Mail Ballot to Be Received by the Clerk or Board of Elections and Registration
  • Sunday, May 31: End of Pre-Primary Supplemental Campaign Finance Large Contribution Reporting Period
  • Monday, June 1: Deadline for Traveling Boards & Noon Deadline for Early Voting
  • Tuesday, June 2: Primary Day (noon is the deadline to return absentee ballots)

 2020 Primary Election Update: 
 
Voter Registration Period for the 2020 Primary has been  extended to
Monday, May 4, 2020.

Registration can be done online or by mail as follows:

Register to Vote Online: Register to vote online by visiting indianavoters.com. Indiana residents with a valid Indiana driver’s license or Indiana state-issued identification card will be able to use this tool to submit a new voter registration application or to update an existing voter registration record.

Register to Vote by Mail : To register to vote or update your current registration by mail, you will need to complete and return the Voter Registration Form (VRG-7) on or before May 4, 2020. ONLY the version of the state voter registration form (VRG-7) published on the Indiana Secretary of State Election Division website will be accepted by the Vanderburgh County Voter Registration office. Return the completed form to the Vanderburgh County Voter Registration office or the Indiana Election Division by midnight, May 4, 2020.

Get a copy of form VRG-7: Voter Registration Application by visiting the Indiana Voter Portal HERE
Mail your completed VRG-7 form to : Vanderburgh County Voter Registration
Civic Center Complex, Room 214
1 NW M.L. King, Jr. Blvd

Evansville, IN. 47708

For more information visit the Vanderburgh County Voters Registration webpage, or call 812-435-5222.


2020 Primary Election Update:
 
Absentee Voting to begin Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The first day that a voter may vote an absentee ballot for the 2020 Primary Election has been changed to Tuesday, May 5, 2020.  Early voting at the Election Office will be 8:00 am – 4:00 pm weekdays starting Tuesday, May 5, 2020, and conclude at Noon on Monday, June 1, 2020.

To vote absentee by mail:
 Request an APPLICATION FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT by contacting the Vanderburgh County Election Office at 812-435-5122, or by downloading the APPLICATION FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT found on the Vanderburgh County Clerk Elections web page.
Mail the completed  APPLICATION FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT  to:
Vanderburgh County Election
P.O. Box 3343

Evansville, IN 47732-3343

 The revised deadline for absentee-by-mail applications to be received by the Election Office for the 2020 Primary Election is 11:59 p.m., Thursday, May 21, 2020. 
 If you have any questions, please call the Election Office at 812-435-5122.
 The Vanderburgh County Election Office is located at : Civic Center Complex, Room 216
1 NW ML King Jr. BLVD , Evansville, IN

 

The VCRP is in need of poll workers for the June 2, 2020, Primary Election. To be poll workers you must be a registered voter residing in Vanderburgh County. Additionally, poll workers cannot be a close relative to a candidate whose name appears on the ballot, and cannot be the chairman or treasurer of the committee of the candidate whose name appears on the ballot.
Vote Center Poll Worker compensation is $275 for Inspectors, $195 for Republican Judges and$195 for Republican Clerks. Training is a requirement.   For more information or to volunteer to be a Republican poll worker contact the Vanderburgh County GOP at 812-425-8207 or Email VCRP Political Director Mary Jo Kaiser at beamerjo59@gmail.com

EVSC Board of School Trustees Meeting-
 For more information visit the Board of School Trustees web page.

 VCRP Central Committee Meeting – CANCELLED
Contact Mary Jo Kaiser at 812-425-8207 if you have any questions.

 The Evansville Civic Center is CLOSED to the public until further notice.
 Visit www.evansvillegov.org for the City of Evansville information.

 City Council Meeting-
For more information visit the

City Council webpage

 County Council Meeting-
 For more information visit

County Council webpage

 County Commission Meeting-
 For more information visit

County Commissioners webpage

VCRP Monthly April Breakfast

Canceled

 Contact Mary Jo Kaiser at 812-425-8207 if you have any questions.

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A State That Works Together:
As news and information on the coronavirus continue to rapidly change — we want to make sure you have the resources you need to stay up to date!
  • Indiana State Department of Health – The Indiana State Department of Health is posting important information, and frequent updates to their website — as well as offering an Indiana coronavirus map, and other resources for Hoosiers! Check out their website here!
  • Indiana Coronavirus Hotline – Get help with any questions you have regarding COVID-19 via Indiana’s toll-free, 24/7 hotline! Call 877-826-0011!
  • FAQ’s on Indiana’s Stay-at-Home Order — This is definitely a new challenge for all of us. Click here to help answer some of your questions!
  • File for Unemployment – Many Hoosiers are temporarily unemployed due to COVID-19. Click here for information and to file for unemployment!
We’re going to get through this together! Help one another, and share these resources with friends and family who need them!
(from 03/27/20 Party Line Newsletter)

Let Us Work Together to Support Local Communities
 The coronavirus pandemic has affected so many aspects of our daily lives, and now we all must do our part to protect ourselves and each other. To fight the spread of the virus, the governor’s “stay-at-home” order is in place through April 6. This unprecedented effort is to help save lives and alleviate the strain on our health care system. Hoosier families and businesses are resilient and patient, but Indiana’s leaders understand the need for Hoosiers to get back to work as soon as possible. In the meantime, please consider opportunities to support your local community and neighbors.
Here are five ways Hoosiers can help:
  • Contribute To Your Local Food Bank
  • Check-In With Neighbors
  • Donate Blood
  • Support Local Businesses
  • Sew And Donate Face Masks
 Learn more HERE

Six tips for working from home
(from 03/27/20 News Update)
To curb the spread of COVID-19, many Hoosiers are adjusting to working from home. If you’re setting up your “home office” for the first time, it can be difficult to stay on task and be productive.

Try these tips to help manage your day at home:

  • Keep a designated workspace;
  • Maintain a routine;
  • Over-communicate with colleagues;
  • Make to-do lists of work tasks;
  • Set ground rules with others in the home about working conditions; and
  • Schedule breaks throughout the day.
By working remotely and social distancing, we can do our part to help slow down the spread of the coronavirus. Indiana is working hard to protect Hoosiers and helpful resources are available by clicking here.

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The Coronavirus Relief (CARES) Act Passed:
President Trump worked with Congress to secure bipartisan legislation that will provide emergency relief to families and small businesses that have been impacted by the coronavirus.  H.R. 748, the CARES Act, is an unprecedented relief package totaling more than $2 trillion. The Coronavirus Relief Bill provides much needed economic relief for American families and businesses who are hurting through no fault of their own.  READ MORE
Learn more about  H.R. 748: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act HERE

 

Stay in touch with GOP members of Congress representing our area (click links below):

Visit the Vanderburgh GOP 

page for daily updates.

  Mark Your calendar                CLICK on event for more information
May 4
 Voter Registration Ends
May 5
Early Voting at the Election Office Begins
May 18 Early Voting at Libraries Begins
May 21 Deadline to Request Absentee-by-Mail Ballot
May 23 Early Voting on Saturdays Begins
May 29 Last Day for Early Voting at Libraries
May 30 Last Day for Saturday Early Voting
June 1 (Noon) Early Voting at the Election Office End
June 2 Primary Election Day

  Make sure you add vandygop@gmail.com to your address book so we’ll be sure to land in your inbox!

If you have any questions, contact Mary Jo Kaiser, VCRP Political Director, at

or (812) 425-8207.
for more info. Thank you.
Paid for by the Vanderburgh County Republican Party, Farley Smith, TreasurerHAPPENING AT THE VANDERBBURGH 

Indiana Hospitals Asked To Double Ventilators, ICU Beds In Preparation For COVID-19 Surge

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By Erica Irish 
TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana state officials said Monday the expected surge in COVID-19 cases later this month will require new, aggressive actions from healthcare providers, including an effort to double the number of ventilators and critical care beds currently available and to hire more personnel.

Speaking alongside Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box, representatives from the Indiana State Department of Health and other state leaders, Gov. Eric Holcomb said he is enacting two additional executive orders to ensure healthcare providers can react to the growing number of COVID-19 cases. The disease has sickened 1,786 and killed 35, according to ISDH data, and is not expected to peak until mid-to-late April at the earlier and could extend into May.

Dr. Kris Box, commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health. Photo by Janet Williams, TheStatehouseFile.com

“There will be a beginning and a middle and an end to this pandemic,” Holcomb said “Right now, as our numbers are growing, I think it’s only appropriate to underscore the fact that as we see the surge coming, we see a true surge of Hoosier kindness and love and generosity.”

The daily briefing, which had been held in-person at the Statehouse, was conducted via an online link that allowed journalists from across the state to participate.

The first executive order Holcomb discussed Monday directs healthcare centers, including dentists, abortion clinics and others, to cancel or postpone all non-emergency medical procedures so that more resources can be devoted to COVID-19.  The order also removes certain regulations to allow retired medical professionals, medical students and others who are eligible to help hospitals in their fight against the virus, among other provisions.

A second executive order will go into effect Tuesday and directs bars and restaurants around the state take to-go orders only, reiterating Holcomb’s initial directive that restaurants suspend in-person dining service on March 16.

The goal of Monday’s executive order, Holcomb said, is to ensure hospitals have the staff and supplies they need to ensure patients diagnosed with COVID-19 can live and recover.

Gov. Eric Holcomb last week at his daily briefing on the impact of the coronavirus on Indiana. Photo by Janet Williams, TheStatehouseFile.com

The response to adding needed personnel, so far, has been positive: Around 5,300 medical professionals volunteered to serve as of Monday morning, according to state health officials.

In other areas, particularly in expanding critical care capacity and personal protective equipment availability, work remains to be done.

Dr. Jennifer Sullivan, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said state leaders determined there were an estimated 1,177 ventilators available on March 1. Hospitals have been asked to reallocate ventilators used in elective surgeries to COVID-19 treatment, and other sources like the EMS and National Guard will contribute more as needed.

Sullivan added hospitals have managed to increase the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds available around the state by about 35%, from a baseline 1,432 beds to around 1,940.

The state continues to lead efforts to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) like N95 masks and gowns to healthcare providers, having made around 285 deliveries so far. But more is needed, and those who can donate supplies are asked to contact state leaders directly at COVIDResponse@iedc.IN.gov.

“In partnership with the State of Indiana, each hospital is identifying strategies to expand vital resources for the most affected by COVID-19 while shifting patients who need less intensive treatment to other settings,” representatives for the Indiana Hospital Association said in a statement.

Local officials are taking steps to respond to the consequences of the virus, too. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett led a video conference Monday morning with Michael Huber, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, to announce new loans available to small businesses through a multimillion-dollar fund.

“To my knowledge, this is the largest investment the city has ever made in direct support for small businesses and entrepreneurs,” Huber said.

The fund, called the Rapid Response Loan Fund, currently has $3.7 million available to invest in eligible local businesses, who could receive anywhere between $1,000 and $25,000 in loans. But local officials said they hope to raise $10 million for the fund.

This weekend, U.S. Surgeon General and former Indiana State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams listed Indianapolis among several emerging hotspots for the virus around the country. Other cities included New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit and Miami.

Other groups continue to mobilize in response to the virus. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, for example, submitted an emergency petition Monday to ask the Indiana Supreme Court to take new action to prevent disease spread in the Indiana Department of Correction and in county jails.

“People in jails and prisons have little ability to inform themselves about preventative measures, or to take such measures if they do learn of them,” said Jane Henegar, executive director of the ACLU of Indiana. “We must drastically reduce the number of people who are arrested and detained pretrial. Locking people up unnecessarily amid this pandemic, especially those who are medically vulnerable, threatens their health and, potentially, their lives.”

In the press conference, Box said strike teams being led by the state department of health to assess high-risk areas like nursing homes are also surveying jails for the disease. Box added that if someone incarcerated were to test positive for COVID-19, they would be removed from their facility and sent to the hospital for isolation and treatment.

FOOTNOTE: Erica Irish is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Death List Report For Vanderburgh County

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Death List 03-23-2020 TO 03-27-2020

IU’S Ryley Ober Finding More Time For Artistic Passion During Pandemic

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By James Sutherland

SwimSwam.com

Like every swimmer in the NCAA, Indiana’s Ryley Ober had her world turned upside down when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US and cancellations, university shutdowns and travel restrictions started coming fast and furious.

Ober, who has now wrapped up her freshman season with the Hoosiers, was getting set to attend her first NCAA Championship meet before it was cancelled on March 12.

“On Thursday we were training for NCs, I was supposed to go there on the 800 free relay, and then Friday I was booking a flight home,” said the Bradenton, Fla., native. “Everyone’s back at their house, thankfully everyone that I know is safe, healthy, so that’s been a big blessing. But it’s really thrown everything out of cycle.”

In this time of uncertainty for everyone, Ober has been able to spend more time on a lifelong passion.

“I’ve been doing art my entire life,” said the 19-year-old. “I was definitely one of those kids in elementary school whose favorite hour of the day would be art class. So I’ve always loved it. But then I got more serious about it in high school, I did some local art competitions and got some small scholarships for it.”

Initially planning on pursuing illustration or something similar as her major in college, the six-time Florida 2A State Champion recognized that art was more of a way for her to disconnect.

“I realized, art for me is more of a release,” she said. “And once it turned into a job or something that was like work, it kind of took away that excitement or happiness that it brought.”

Now a journalism major, Ober admits it’s difficult to keep up with her artistic exploits amid the busy life of a student-athlete, but she always manages to find a bit of time to do it for herself.

“I try to make sure, at least on the weekends, to take, even if it’s just 10-15 minutes, just sit down and do some sketching or something,” she said. “I know it brings me joy and I think it’s really important for everyone to take the time to do something that’s just for them that brings them joy, and it can help with the rest of the stressful situations. Whether it be in the middle of a pandemic, or just normal student-athlete life.”

Ober, who has also developed a love of photography over the last few years, has been painting a lot since the pandemic came into effect. She points to one specific piece of art, one of a sea turtle, that stands out as a recent favorite.

“It kind of means a lot to me because through all of this one of the silver linings was that I was able to come home and see my family again,” she said. “I live in Florida, so we have a lot of sea turtles, and it just kind of represents coming home for me.”

Ober admits that her freshman year was full of challenges, both for the Hoosiers and her personally. But, she knows that enduring all of these difficulties ultimately will make everything sweeter in the end.

“This was a tough season, I mean, freshman year I think for most people is really tough,” she said. “Given everything that’s gone on, we’ve been through a lot. And I think one of the things that we as a team like to focus on, is the more you go through, the stronger you will rise. We’ve been through a lot, but it’s bonded us together in a way that I know next season we’re going to rise stronger than ever, and we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“Personally, I had a couple of injuries this season, so it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. But, as I said, the more you go through, the better the success will be at the end of it.”

Individually, Ober placed 16th at Big Tens in the 200 free, coming less than half a second off her personal best time in the prelims in 1:47.16, and also split 1:46.48 on the fifth-place finishing 800 free relay.

Already with a qualifying spot locked up for the Olympic Trials in the 200 free, the former member of the Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team was planning on staying in Bloomington for the long course season. But now, with the Olympics and therefore the Trials moved to 2021, everyone remains up in the air — though she still plans to return to Indiana for training when practices open up.

“Definitely looking forward to getting back to the team as soon as possible and training,” she said. “I was planning on training up there for long course season through Trials. But now it’s kind of like, we don’t really know because everything is very iffy right now for everyone.”

@IndianaSwimDive

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