Catholic Hospital Offered Bucket, Towels to Woman It Denied an Abortion, California AG Said

KFF Health News Original

In California, where abortion rights are guaranteed, there’s a loophole. The growth of Catholic hospital systems, which restrict reproductive health care, has left patients with no other option for care. That will be the case for pregnant women in Northern California, with a hospital set to close its birth center.

More Restrooms Have Adult-Size Changing Tables To Help People With Disabilities

KFF Health News Original

Adults with disabilities and their caregivers are pressing governments and private businesses across the U.S. to help them avoid undignified public bathroom experiences.

Silence in Sikeston: Trauma Lives in the Body

Podcast

Denzel Taylor, a young Black father, moved from Chicago to Sikeston, Missouri, for a fresh start in life. There, he proposed to his girlfriend, started a family, and then, in April 2020, was fatally shot by police officers. Taylor had two young daughters and another on the way when he was killed. Pediatrician Rhea Boyd talks about how children process such loss.

A Few Rural Towns Are Bucking the Trend and Building New Hospitals

KFF Health News Original

A remote Wyoming community hoped for years to have more access to health care. Now, after receiving federal funding, it is bucking dismal closure trends throughout the rural U.S. and building its own hospital. And it’s not the only one.

Deadly High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Is on the Rise

KFF Health News Original

More pregnant women are being diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure, which risks the life of the parent and child. Montana is one of the states improving screening and treatment as health facilities work to match care with best practices.

Watch: What You Reveal, You Heal — Meeting the Makers of ‘Silence in Sikeston’

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony sat down with WORLD executive producer Chris Hastings to discuss the origins of the “Silence in Sikeston” project, which explores the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police killing in the same rural Missouri community.

She Was Accused of Murder After Losing Her Pregnancy. SC Woman Now Tells Her Story.

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system with the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, serves patients in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Watch: New Documentary Film Explores a Lynching and a Police Killing 78 Years Apart

KFF Health News Original

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.

Silence in Sikeston: Hush, Fix Your Face

Podcast

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.

Decades of National Suicide Prevention Policies Haven’t Slowed the Deaths

KFF Health News Original

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.

KFF Health News Original

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.

At Catholic Hospitals, a Mission of Charity Runs Up Against High Care Costs for Patients

KFF Health News Original

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.

In Montana, 911 Calls Reveal Impact of Heat Waves on Rural Seniors

KFF Health News Original

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.