Blake Farmer

The iconic rock 'n' roll pioneer and last living member of the "Million-Dollar Quartet" — whose meteoric rise collapsed almost as quickly as he ascended, thanks to scandal — has died at age 87.

In areas overwhelmed by COVID cases, hospitals must rely on traveling nurses to operate ICUs. Hospitals pay a premium for that temporary help, while also struggling to keep their staff nurses happy.

ECMO, the highest level of mechanical life support, functions as a temporary heart and lungs for some of COVID-19's sickest patients. But the waitlist is too long for many patients who need it.

A majority of white, rural conservatives in Tennessee are open to getting the vaccine at some point, but at least 45% won't consider it. Rates in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi are also lagging.

Black Americans are getting vaccinated at lower rates than whites. A new push to send vaccines to community health centers is intended to help quickly bridge that gap.

Technically, the only Tennesseans currently eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine are health care workers, long-term care residents, and people 75 and older. But don't expect strict enforcement.

Health officials are changing how they assess the regional nonprofits that find organs to transplant. The goal is to understand, and eventually fix, the geographic disparities in organ availability.

Many U.S. hospitals are struggling to find enough space and staff to treat COVID-19 patients. The surge in new cases has forced them to rethink how they use space, manage staff, and handle treatment.

A snafu with Operation Warp Speed leaves at least 14 states short of the vaccine doses they were promised. Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with WPLN's Blake Farmer about what that means in Tennessee.

Last spring, nurses and doctors traveled to New York and other COVID-19 hot spots to help overwhelmed hospitals. But with the virus spreading everywhere, hospitals now have nowhere to turn for help.