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North Carolina Health News
Environmental advocates use events to spread awareness about the potential loss of wetlands and the need to protect surface water
Protecting water systems was on his mind as Rick Savage stepped to the podium at the McKimmon Conference and Training Center on N.C. State’s campus Friday to make a point about wetlands. “One thing to realize […] is that what has been happening has not changed the definition of...
Broadband access, a lifeline in rural N.C., could diminish unless Congress acts
The end of a federal program that provides internet subsidies to low-income families could leave hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians without access to online health services. Nearly 900,000 households across the state participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program, a $14.2 billion federal program created through a sweeping infrastructure package...
What HCA has told feds it’s doing to fix staffing issues at Mission Hospital. Why nurses say it’s not happening.
HCA Healthcare, which owns Mission Hospital in Asheville, had to submit an amended plan of correction to regulators March 13, which the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved in a notice to Mission Hospital CEO Chad Patrick. That plan was made public March 20. HCA’s amended plan of...
Formerly incarcerated at higher risk of suicide — even years after prison release, study finds
CONTENT WARNING: This article references suicide. Please take caution when reading. If you need mental health support, please consult this page for resources. Brian Scott visited Craven Correctional Institution in eastern North Carolina a couple of months ago to speak to a group of men who were all within a year of their release dates from prison.
Suicide prevention efforts focus on historically Black institutions
CONTENT WARNING: This article references suicide. Please take caution when reading. If you need mental health support, please consult this page for resources. Louis Keenan Lowndes was feeling the weight of many pressures last year — that of being a first-generation college student at St. Augustine’s University, of the family expectations that come with that and of being a campus leader at the historically Black school in Raleigh.
Scientists call for using more accurate metrics to gauge extreme heat after farmworker’s death in Nash County
There’s no doubt it was hot outdoors the day José Arturo Gónzalez Mendoza died after falling ill while harvesting sweet potatoes from a Barnes Farming field in Nash County. The heat index, which factors in humidity with the temperature, measured 96 in that part of eastern North...
Navassa Superfund site cleanup begins; community looks to future opportunities
About 30 people gathered at Navassa’s Town Hall last week, and another 18 tuned in virtually, to hear representatives from Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust make a long-awaited announcement: Cleanup of the town’s Superfund site was underway. The focus of the remediation project is a 100-acre area, the former...
In second blow, Feds now cite HCA’s Mission Hospital for violating emergency treatment standards
Asheville’s Mission Hospital has violated the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told the hospital’s CEO on Thursday, again threatening to withdraw the system’s federal funding, according to a letter obtained by Asheville Watchdog. EMTALA ensures public access...
A Catholic doctor wanted to align his faith and his medical practice — and the result is an Atrium Health OB/GYN office in Indian Trail centered on Natural Family Planning
For years, Dr. Stephen Blaha felt conflicted about the two lives he was living. On weekdays, he’d put on his white coat and perform his job as an OB/GYN with Atrium Health, which included prescribing birth control pills, tying fallopian tubes and placing IUDs to prevent pregnancy. But he...
First over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. expands access to contraception
The first over-the-counter birth control pill available in the U.S. — Opill — will soon be online and in stores, boosting convenience and access to oral contraceptives. This means people will be able to access birth control without a prescription just as easily as they can Tylenol or aspirin.
State health leaders hope lawmakers can widen Medicaid access to pricey drugs like Wegovy
North Carolina’s top health official hopes the state can expand Medicaid access to Wegovy — the blockbuster weight-loss drug recently approved as a treatment for cardiovascular disease by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — without breaking the bank. On Tuesday, Kody Kinsley, secretary of the N.C....
Why even public health experts have limited insight into stopping gun violence in America
Gun violence has exploded across the U.S. in recent years — from mass shootings at concerts and supermarkets to school fights settled with a bullet after the last bell. Nearly every day of 2024 so far has brought more violence. On Feb. 14, gunfire broke out at the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, killing one woman and injuring 22 others. Most events draw little attention — while the injuries and toll pile up.
With medical debt burdening millions, a financial regulator steps in to help
When President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2010 to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he said the new agency had one priority: “looking out for people, not big banks, not lenders, not investment houses.”. Since then, the CFPB has done its share of policing mortgage brokers, student loan...
Beyond institutions: Can new plan help NC residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities?
North Carolina public health officials are fine-tuning government strategies to give people with intellectual and developmental disabilities more options for care outside institutional settings. The state Department of Health and Human Services has been collecting comments for the past three weeks on its proposed blueprint for the rest of 2024...
A recent study shows increased PFAS risks to firefighters as their protective gear ages
A concrete plaque with the Fireman’s Prayer etched in black letters sits at the base of a flag pole hoisting the American flag in front of Chapel Hill’s White Cross Fire Station #1. The first paragraph reads:. “When I am called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage,...
FIT Wellness transforms lives with reentry support for formerly incarcerated people with serious mental illness
Ted Zarzar sees firsthand the cycling of people who have a serious mental illness — such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder — between the community, emergency rooms and prison. That’s because he spends half his time as a psychiatrist working in the community at UNC Health and the...
NC child advocates set 2024 agenda to reduce child deaths
Up until this week, Gerard Tate has been the sole employee of the N.C. Office of Violence Prevention. The new office, created last year by an executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper, now also has a deputy director to help coordinate with state and local leaders to reduce violence and increase public safety using a public health approach.
Fentanyl deaths rising among NC children
LEXINGTON — On a recent Saturday, family members gathered in a circle at a church here to share stories of loved ones lost to fentanyl. “Our whole world is turned upside down,” said Michelle, a Forsyth County mother who lost her 19-year-old son to fentanyl poisoning. She didn’t want to use her full name for this story or go into details about his death, as authorities are still investigating.
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Founded in November 2011 as a North Carolina nonprofit, NCHN is an independent news organization devoted to covering health care in the state.
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