Health

Pet Connection: Meet Chanel and Gucci

FARGO — If you need a couple of cuties to cuddle up with on this long, cold weekend, you can snuggle in style with the help of Chanel and Gucci. The three-month-old kittens were rescued from a rural location and brought in to Far North Felines for some medical care, socialization and love at the hands of Far North’s Debra…

Frostbite is imminent as temperatures and windchill drops

Essentia Health doctor and Scheels outfitter speak on how to stay warm and safe in this weather

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — “That numbness or loss of sensation or any type of change in appearance to the skin that worries you. If there’s that pale skin that’s not pinkening back up or getting back to its normal color quickly after getting into a warm environment, we’d want to see that and take a look,” said Dr. Chris Anderson,…

Noridian Healthcare announced over 140 layoffs across their company

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — About seven percent of Noridian’s employees are now out of a job. As Noridian Healthcare Solutions says, it is aligning with current federal funding levels. According to a representative at the company, they are letting go 143 employees across the organization, which includes 39 based in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Since 1966, Noridian Healthcare has processed medical…

DHS abruptly delayed all payments to providers of 14 Medicaid services in fraud prevention effort

The Elmer L. Andersen Human Services Building in St. Paul, MN Thursday Jan. 15, 2026. (Photo by Alyssa Chen/Minnesota Reformer)ST. PAUL, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — Melissa Berg is a paid personal care assistant for her friend, a disabled person who needs 24/7 care. In December, Berg received a memo from AM Home Healthcare, the St. Paul-based agency she works under,…

Pet Connection: Meet Delaney

FARGO — A lot of people get stressed out over their wrinkles. But if you’re the kind of person who knows wrinkles, and jowls, and forehead lines all give someone great character, you’re in luck, because Delaney is up for adoption. She’s a pretty girl who came in to Homeward Animal Shelter by way of the pound, and they think…

North Dakota flu season includes first child deaths since 2016

Flu vaccine rate in state has fallen each of past 5 years, data shows

A nurse prepares a needle for a vaccination. (Photo courtesy of Essentia Health)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota health officials are encouraging residents to pay attention to potential flu symptoms after five influenza-associated deaths this flu season — with two deaths in children younger than 10. North Dakota had not reported a childhood flu death since 2016. “It…

Minnesota Department of Human Services appealing decision to withhold federal funds for Medicaid

MINNESOTA (KVRR) — 1.2 million people in Minnesota rely on Medicaid, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. But funding for over one million people is being withheld of up to $515 million quarterly unless the state takes more actions against fraud. “What CMS is saying here is they’re going to basically withhold possibly up to $2 billion annually…

The Annual Homeless Count to be done on January 28 in Minnesota

FARGO — The region’s annual homeless count is coming up at the end of the month, and organizers say the numbers are likely to rise again this year. That goes not just for the most visible, metro-based members of the area homeless population, but for those living in rural areas, as well. The count encompasses communities in our parts of…

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., discusses the $199 million awarded to North Dakota from the federal government as part of the Rural Health Transformation Program. At left is Gov. Kelly Armstrong and at right is Interim Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor. (Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and…