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4-13-22 *Tony Johnson in his new 1 room home, in a care facility in Burlington, WA. The facility consists of a large old house and multiple trailers behind that house. In 2020, Tony was transferred from the nearby Careage facility to Whidbey Medical for pneumonia. Soon after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 and began a harrowing time, which included 9 days on a ventilator. Karen, his wife was told he had passed and spent the next 6 days grieving and trying to plan for his burial. In fact he survived but due to blood clots, infections and lack of wound care, Tony lost his left leg. During his time on the vent, nurses played his favorite rock & roll music and facilitated daily calls with Karen, his wife. Tony has no memory of either music or voice but at the time, his survival was considered a miracle in the small hospital. Critical access hospitals are designed as facilities for stabilization with a requirement that patients are sent to other healthcare facilities after 96 hours. Treating critical long-term patients was completely new for the Whidbey staff. In many ways they had to find creative solutions and immediate training for situations and patients they were rarely required to treat. The radical PPE is gone but the impact of over 2 years of battling Covid-19, have left Whidbey Medical Center a husk. There are fewer services, clinics, staff, and because of those losses, fewer patients who are able to depend on the only hospital on this island. Whidbey Medical, a critical access hospital, is in a downward spiral. They are currently $75 million in the red with 15 days cash on hand (confirm!). Making payroll is a cliffhanger. The old corporate players have been replaced by yet another group of men, outsiders, who will either save or close this institution. Its fate is unclear. The network of clinics that once dotted the spine of the island have been closed or consolidated into 2 locations. The wound care service has been closed. The home health service was s

For two years, this Washington island has grappled with the long reach of COVID

The virus hit Whidbey Island early in 2020, and photojournalist Lynn Johnson was there. A million deaths later, we return to see how the pandemic has subtly but indelibly altered life there forever.

A lawmaker returned home to Ukraine's south and formed his own reconnaissance team

Col. Roman Kostenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, has built a reconnaissance and sabotage team to target Russian forces. His ultimate goal: free his family village from Russian control.

FILE- Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at the perimeter of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Afghanistan is the unhappiest country in the world — even before the Taliban swept to power last August. TThat's according to a so-called World Happiness report released, Saturday, March 19, 2022 ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day of Happiness on Sunday. (AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani, File)

The U.S. deal with the Taliban destroyed Afghans' military morale, a new report says

Morale across Afghanistan's military was "destroyed" when then-President Trump made a deal with the Taliban in 2020 and President Biden affirmed the U.S. exit in 2021, a new watchdog report says.

Urvashi Vaid, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, raises a sign over her head, as she interrupted a speech by President Bush on Thursday, March 29, 1990 in Arlington, Virginia, to the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS. Vaid was escorted from the hall by Arlington police shouting You dont understand. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

Remembering Urvashi Vaid, an LGBTQ activist who spent decades fighting for equality

Colleagues, friends and admirers are paying tribute to Vaid, the pioneering attorney and organizer who died at age 63 on Friday. She worked for the ACLU and National LGBTQ Task Force, among others.

With a key race too close to call, here are 4 takeaways from Tuesday's primaries

The five statewide primaries once again tested former President Donald Trump's influence on the Republican side — with mixed results. Here's what we learned on Tuesday.

24 June 2019, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Stuttgart: Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner from 2018, stands in the State Ministry in the Villa Reitzenstein. The gynecologist Mukwege received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his commitment to women's rights in the Congo. Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa (Photo by Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Fighting the horror of wartime rape, Nobel Peace Prize winner won't give up hope

Dr. Denis Mukwege has spent decades treating women who have been raped in his homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He's calling on the world to take action for women in Ukraine.

Grubhub offered free lunches in New York City. That's when the chaos began

Yesterday was a bad day for Grubhub. The food delivery service launched a free lunch promotion for people in New York City. And spoiler alert: it backfired.

Nadma 09.05.2022 Poland Rented house in a small village Nadma (15km from Warsaw) where the Nigerians Diaspora Organization is providing shelter to about 25 African students who fled Ukraine. In the picture: Ima is hugging Shakira Photo: Adam Lach for NPR

They escaped the war in Ukraine. Then they faced fresh trouble in Poland

Millions of people have fled Ukraine since the war started, but not all are Ukrainian. And some citizens of African countries have found that the doors of Europe are much less open to them.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 24: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak next to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before G7 leaders' family photo during a NATO summit on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, on March 24, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium. Heads of State and Government take part in the North Atlantic Council (NAC) Summit. They will discuss the consequences of President Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the role of China in the crisis. Then decide on the next steps to strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence. (Photo by Henry Nicholls - Pool/Getty Images)

How the war in Ukraine is challenging the long-sought pivot to Asia

President Biden is traveling to Japan and South Korea this week — his first trip to Asia since taking office. Like presidents before him, he's seeking to reorient U.S. foreign policy toward Asia.

FILE - Boat captain Emosi Dawai looks at the superyacht Amadea where it is docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 13, 2022. The superyacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday, May 5. (Leon Lord/Fiji Sun via AP, File)

Before a Fiji court: Can the U.S. seize a Russian yacht in the South Pacific?

The case of a yacht detained in the South Pacific island nation is raising questions about how far U.S. jurisdiction extends.

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