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North Carolina Health News
Long-term impact of fertilizer plant fire raises concerns in Winston-Salem
Two weeks after a fire forced her and her Tobacco Street neighbors to leave their homes on the night of Jan. 31, 2022, a defiant Sabrina Webster stood before a crowd at a community meeting and posed a question. “How in the world was Weaver Fertilizer allowed to have six...
Gun access, rural residency are key risk factors in N.C. suicide crisis
CONTENT WARNING: This article references self-harm and suicide. Please take caution when reading. If you need mental health support, please consult our collection of resources. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people ages 18 to 35 in North Carolina. It claims more lives than homicide, and its...
Dentists lobby for higher Medicaid reimbursement rates
The phones at many dental offices across North Carolina have been ringing repeatedly in recent months with requests for oral health care from newly enrolled Medicaid recipients. The state’s expansion of Medicaid benefits to nearly 600,000 low-income residents on Dec. 1 opened a robust array of services such as dental...
Non-medical factors can make a big difference in health for low-income and minority populations
Food access. Housing. Education. Job security. Climate change. These and other nonmedical factors that shape where people are born, live and work have become known as social determinants of health. And though they are not related to the health care system, they arguably have an even bigger impact on people’s health outcomes, well-being and daily life.
Some lawmakers call for review of decades-old law that governs hospital authorities like Atrium Health
Three North Carolina legislators said they are interested in revisiting the state law that gives special privileges to hospital authorities such as Atrium Health, noting that today’s multibillion-dollar hospital systems are nothing like the ones lawmakers had in mind when the law was written. The hospital authorities act was...
Southern lawmakers rethink long-standing opposition to Medicaid expansion
As a part-time customer service representative, Jolene Dybas earns less than $15,000 a year, which is below the federal poverty level and too low for her to be eligible for subsidized health insurance on the Obamacare marketplace. Dybas, 53, also does not qualify for Medicaid in her home state of...
N.C. doctor who broke racial barriers left a lasting legacy
An unassuming brick building in the shadow of Raleigh’s ever-rising skyline was once home to a trailblazing doctor who made North Carolina history several times over. Dr. Manassa Thomas Pope spent most of his remarkable life in the house. He was the state’s first licensed Black physician and the only Black man to run for mayor of Raleigh during the Jim Crow era.
Will problem gambling increase with legalized sports betting in NC? Public health officials say it’s a sure thing.
It might be better if some things that happen in Vegas don’t stay there. Public health researchers say the betting mecca could share valuable lessons about the effects of sports gambling with states that are just now legalizing it. North Carolina will be one of those states next month, when online sports betting becomes legal for people 21 and older.
Chatham Maternity Care Center bucks trend of rural maternity closures
In the past decade, 14 rural hospitals in North Carolina have stopped providing maternity care. Betsy Johnson Hospital in Harnett County shuttered its labor and delivery unit in October — the most recent closure. Maintaining labor and delivery services at rural hospitals across North Carolina and the nation has...
Living under the shadow of PFAS: One family’s battle for clean water
Vickie Mullins recalls a traumatic moment in her 8-year-old grandson’s life. She said the family, who live in Cumberland County’s Cedar Creek Township, near the Bladen County line, were visiting relatives in the mountains last summer when her grandson saw something that caused a visceral reaction. Mullins said that when his older brother grabbed a glass and went to the sink to fill it with water, the younger brother lost it.
N.C. lawmakers look into curbing ‘gas station heroin’ and other tianeptine supplements
State lawmakers are taking aim at a dietary supplement that’s become fashionable for its euphoric effects — similar to those of highly regulated narcotics. Tianeptine, which is more commonly known as “gas station heroin,” “Zaza Red” and “Neptune’s Fix,” is sold at gas stations, convenience stores, bodegas and corner marts.
Rural Americans were less likely to enroll in a federal broadband assistance program. Now it’s too late to sign up.
Rural households were not as likely as their urban counterparts to enroll in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a federal fund that is running out of money to help low-income families connect to the internet. About a third (37 percent) of rural households that are eligible for the monthly discount...
‘The patient was subsequently found unresponsive in a hallway bed’: CMS report on Mission Hospital details deaths of patients, significant delays in care
At least three patients died and others were endangered at Mission Hospital in 2022 and 2023 following significant delays and lapses of care in the emergency department and other areas, according to a scathing U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report obtained Thursday by Asheville Watchdog. The 384-page document...
Kids’ HPV shots far from goal in NC, US
It’s the most common sexually transmitted infection. So common, in fact, that most people will be infected with human papillomavirus, or HPV, at least once in their life. An HPV vaccine, first recommended in the United States in 2006, protects against infections from the virus that can later cause certain types of cancer, such as cervical, penile, anal and cancers of the head and neck.
NC Medicaid rolls grow by 1,000 people a day as smooth expansion rollout continues its third month
When North Carolina launched Medicaid expansion on Dec. 1, state officials said the measure would provide health insurance to an estimated 600,000 low-income adults over a span of two years. It took just two months to reach 58 percent of that goal. More than 346,400 newly eligible beneficiaries have been...
Prostate cancer survivors, advocates urge more early screening, especially in the Black community
Victor Taylor is proud to be known around New Bern as “Mr. Prostate Cancer Man.”. That’s because ever since he was diagnosed with prostate cancer 18 years ago, he’s been a vocal force working to educate others on the disease. He doesn’t want to scare people, he wants to raise awareness — particularly among Black men, who are nearly two times more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men.
Prison system works to combat health care coverage gap by enrolling people in Medicaid before release
Danay Burke, 43, was released from prison on Nov. 1. Among the many tasks on her to-do list for reestablishing her life was to figure out how to manage her health care needs. But she left prison without health insurance, making that a difficult and costly prospect. “It’s slowing down...
Durham resident faces last hurdle in lead paint battle
Midori Brooks has a major hurdle to overcome before bringing the latest chapter in her decades-long battle to eradicate lead-based paint from her life to a close: she needs temporary housing for herself and eight family members. In July 2022, NC Health News reported that Brooks, a Durham resident, was...
The bad news and good news about NC children’s oral health
State health officials issued a bleak observation this month about the oral health of North Carolina children: Nearly one in five kindergartners has untreated tooth decay. That rate is the highest it’s been in five years — partially because many dental offices scaled back their work during the early days of the pandemic. Add in the long-standing barriers to health care access that put children from low-income families and communities of color at a disadvantage, and it’s easy to understand why Susan Kansagra, assistant secretary for public health in the state Department of Health and Human Services, is calling for action.
Providers key in NC’s push to launch delayed Medicaid plans for complex populations
After multiple delays, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says it’s “on track” to implement specialized Medicaid plans this summer that are designed for beneficiaries with complex needs. Now scheduled to launch on July 1, the so-called “tailored plans” are expected to cover about...
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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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