Rural Dispatch: September 2024
How North Carolina Made Its Hospitals Do Something About Medical Debt
Noam N. Levey and Ames Alexander, Charlotte Observer and Oona Zenda
State officials threatened to withhold public money from hospitals, pioneering a strategy that could become a national model.
She Was Accused of Murder After Losing Her Pregnancy. SC Woman Now Tells Her Story.
Lauren Sausser
Amari Marsh, now 23, was a student at South Carolina State University when she lost her pregnancy in 2023. She was charged with murder and faced at least 20 years in prison. A grand jury cleared her in August. Now she’s sharing her story.
Rural NC County Is Set To Reopen Its Shuttered Hospital With Help From a New Federal Program
Taylor Sisk
One rural North Carolina county is on track to be among the first where a hospital reopens owing to a new federal hospital classification meant to help save small, struggling facilities.
Fighting Staff Shortages With Scholarships, California Bill Aims To Boost Mental Health Courts
Molly Castle Work
A new bill would create a scholarship program for students who agree to work with specialized courts in California to get patients into treatment, but some people argue the state shouldn’t restrict scholarship aid to a new, untested program given broader behavioral health workforce shortages.
Tennessee Tries To Rein In Ballad’s Hospital Monopoly After Years of Problems
Brett Kelman
Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system with the nation's largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, serves patients in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
Hush, Fix Your Face
Cara Anthony
In Episode 2 of the “Silence in Sikeston” podcast, host Cara Anthony speaks with Sikeston, Missouri, resident Larry McClellon, who grew up being told not to talk about the 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright. He is determined to break the cycle of silence in his community. Anthony also unearths a secret in her own family and grapples with the possible effects of intergenerational trauma.
Watch: New Documentary Film Explores a Lynching and a Police Killing 78 Years Apart
Cara Anthony
The “Silence in Sikeston” documentary film explores how the nation’s first federally investigated lynching and a police killing 78 years apart haunt the same rural Missouri community. The film from KFF Health News and Retro Report explores the lasting impact of such trauma — and what it means to speak out about it.
Decades of National Suicide Prevention Policies Haven’t Slowed the Deaths
Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
Despite years of national strategies to address the suicide crisis in the U.S., rates continue to rise. A chorus of researchers and experts say the interventions will work — but that they’re simply not being adopted by state and local governments.
No One Wants To Talk About Racial Trauma. Why My Family Broke Our Silence.
Cara Anthony
Every family has secrets. I spent the past few years reporting about racial violence in Sikeston, Missouri. Interviewing Black families there helped me uncover my family's traumatic past, too.
In Montana, 911 Calls Reveal Impact of Heat Waves on Rural Seniors
Aaron Bolton, MTPR
State and local governments are struggling to keep up with the increasing burden of heat-related illness as summers get hotter because of climate change. In Missoula County, Montana, officials are working with researchers to understand trends in heat-related 911 calls.
At Catholic Hospitals, a Mission of Charity Runs Up Against High Care Costs for Patients
Rachana Pradhan
Many Catholic health systems, which are tax-exempt, pay their executives millions and can charge some of the highest prices around — while critics say they scrimp on commitments to their communities.
Racism Can Make You Sick
Cara Anthony
The "Silence in Sikeston" podcast explores what it means to live with racism and violence, then charts the toll on health — from hives and high blood pressure to struggles with mental health. The deaths of two Black men killed nearly 80 years apart in the same Missouri community anchor a conversation about the public health consequences of systemic bias.
Health Secretary Becerra Touts Extreme Heat Protections. Farmworkers Want More.
Vanessa G. Sánchez
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has a plan to protect farmworkers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke, but farmworkers who pick California grapes say they need more, as climate change brings more extreme weather.
As Record Heat Sweeps the US, Some People Must Choose Between Food and Energy Bills
Melba Newsome
An increasing number of Americans struggle with energy poverty, the inability to adequately heat or cool one’s dwelling. Health officials and climate experts are sounding the alarm as record-breaking heat sweeps the nation.
Boom, Now Bust: Budget Cuts and Layoffs Take Hold in Public Health
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
State leaders are cutting public health spending and laying off workers hired during a pandemic-era grant boom. Public health officials say the bust will erode important advancements in the public health safety net, particularly in rural areas.
Patients Suffer When Indian Health Service Doesn’t Pay for Outside Care
Arielle Zionts and Katheryn Houghton
The Indian Health Service has a program that can pay for outside appointments when patients need care not offered at agency-funded sites. Critics say money shortages, complex rules, and administrative fumbles often block access, however.
Tribal Health Officials ‘Blinded’ by Lack of Data
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
UCSF Favors Pricey Doctoral Program for Nurse-Midwives Amid Maternal Care Crisis
Ronnie Cohen
UC-San Francisco is pausing its long-running master’s program in nurse-midwifery and plans to shift to a lengthier, costlier doctoral program. Midwives criticized the move and questioned the university’s motivations at a time of serious shortages of maternal care workers.