Patients lining hospital hallways on ventilators. Personal protective equipment running low. Doctors and nurses working all hours to keep the COVID-19 pandemic from spinning even further out of ...

Many have become “pain refugees,” seeking doctors who will accept new pain patients. These are not addicts seeking a fix; they are ordinary people who suffered an accident or serious illness.

The offer came from West Cancer Center & Research Institute, a health system that employs about 61 doctors and serves about 19,240 new patients a year across 12 locations in Tennessee, Mississippi ...