It needs some serious pruning. Looks like a lot of dead wood in there but photo is not clear enough to get specific.

I assume things like soil pH, water and fertilization have been properly addressed?

I'm afraid to prune it at this time since I don't know which stalks might come back to life. Based on how it looked last year I would have ended up pruning the whole thing - LOL!

Your soil might be different from that in which it was originally, and not acidic enough. You probably should test i the pH, and also make sure that it is the correct composition for blueberries in your climate

I pruned most everything that is definitely dead wood and treated the soil with Muracid (soil tested alkaline). Thanks for all the advice! Fingers crossed for a gentle summer and that the blueberry bush can survive.

Since your soil is alkaline, I don't think that miracid alone can help. Gardengal will have more advice, I expect, but my experience with alkaline soil requires my blueberries to be planted in heavily, I mean heavily amended with peat soil. I don't even try to grow them in ground anymore! I just plant them in pots filled with 80% peat, 20% other organic material like chopped leaves & compost,, and a little sand.

They seem to like wider rather than deeper pots - I use the big black nursery pots meant for large bushes and sapling trees

Sorry but your blueberry plant won't stand a chance if planted in alkaline soil. They require a rather specifically acidic soil (pH of 5-6....not much higher) and the effort to get your soil pH to that level and maintain it there is prohibitive.

If you wish to continue with this plant, your only alternative is to grow it in a container with a customized acidic potting mix. Something like the 5-1-1 mix, omitting any lime for pH buffering.

I just measured the pH a few feet away from the stalks so as to avoid the area watered with Muracid and in two spots it measures 6.0-6.5. So the soil might be OK for pH with a bit of help from Muracid. I plan to set up misters when the weather gets hot so hopefully the bush will have some leaves all year for the plant to recover. Then maybe in the winter I'll start mixing peat into the soil around the roots. Thanks for all the advice!

PS I also have the pots sunk into the ground about halfway, for winter protection of the roots (that might also be beneficial in a hot, dry climate) - helps aesthetically also!

That's a great idea! I'll see if the bush stabilizes this year to get healthy enough for another transplant.