Columbus
North Carolina Health News
NC raising Medicaid rates for behavioral health providers for first time since 2012
Medicaid expansion, a decade-in-the-making measure that is expected to provide health insurance to more than 600,000 low-income North Carolinians, will take effect in less than two weeks. But the coverage created by expansion is only useful if eligible residents have access to health care providers that accept Medicaid. That’s particularly...
Lawmakers: Don’t let the political aisle be a barrier to good health care policy
The drumbeat of polarized partisan rancor can be so deafening that messages of people working together in politics can easily get lost. But it’s happening, here in North Carolina — a purple state where Republicans have run the statehouse for more than a decade and voters have elected a Democratic governor for two consecutive four-year terms.
COVID, Flu and RSV are all circulating. Plan your vaccines for healthy holidays.
With Thanksgiving and other winter holidays on the horizon, families and friends are making plans to gather indoors for customary meals and festivities. For many, the rush to get updated COVID vaccines and flu shots before these celebrations has become almost as traditional in recent years as rounding up the fixings for favorite side dishes and desserts.
Tackling air quality issues in North Mecklenburg
Letha Smith has always looked out for her neighbors. Because she lived through childhood asthma, one of Smith’s primary concerns is the air quality in her community. “I have had a lot of friends who’ve had strokes due to congestive heart failure, and I just recently found out that pollution has a strong effect on heart conditions,” she said.
Migrant worker’s death prompts calls for extreme heat labor laws
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, pulling the last streaks of daylight from the sky over North Carolina’s capital city, dozens of migrant workers raised flickering tealights. They gathered with advocates a bit more than a stone’s throw from offices of the state Department of Labor to rally...
New numbers reveal ongoing impact of abortion restrictions, loss of access to care in NC
The number of abortions provided in North Carolina has dropped significantly after the implementation of increased restrictions in the state on July 1, according to data estimates from a national organization that tracks trends in reproductive health. During the first month operating under North Carolina’s new law that limits most...
New youth psychiatric hospital will have specialized units for substance use, disabilities
Later this month, a new 54-bed youth psychiatric hospital in Butner will open its doors to help North Carolina’s children and teens struggling with mental health issues. The UNC Hospitals Youth Behavioral Health facility will include specialized units for patients with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, as well as a unit dedicated to serving children with intellectual and developmental disabilities with mental health needs.
DHHS orders consolidation of state-funded mental health agencies
In an effort to streamline the public mental health care system in North Carolina, the state Department of Health and Human Services is reducing the number of state-funded regional behavioral health management companies from six to four. These groups — known as LME-MCOs — have been responsible for managing mental health services for uninsured patients and people receiving Medicaid for a decade.
Forever chemicals, forever concerns: Cape Fear River’s ongoing PFAS problem
Six years after the discovery of PFAS chemicals in the Cape Fear River, area residents are still trying to figure out what that means for them and their families. “The further I look into the products that these PFAS are going into … it’s not stuff that we had even 50 years ago—or needed,” Ty Jacobus said. “I’m trying to figure out now why the application is so necessary that we can’t cease producing the products.”
Cursed at. Shoved. Punched. Bitten. Violence against doctors and nurses is rising. A new N.C. law aims to help protect them.
Emergency physician Jennifer Casaletto has been cursed at, shoved, punched, spat on and bitten while trying to do her job. One patient threw a container full of urine at one of her medical residents. Another kicked her when she was pregnant. Violent incidents against health care workers have surged, Casaletto...
Start shopping: Enrollment begins Nov. 1 for most Obamacare insurance plans
For millions of Americans who buy their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, the end of the year brings a day of reckoning: It’s time to compare benefits and prices and change to a new plan or enroll for the first time. Open enrollment starts Nov....
Do nurses make good political candidates? Leaders of a specialized campaign school are banking on the notion.
Year after year, nurses top the list of the most trusted professions. At the same time, politicians rank at the bottom when it comes to the public’s trust. That fact didn’t deter nearly three dozen nurses from participating in a program earlier this year to prepare them to run for public office. Thirty-four nurses gathered in Durham to take part in Healing Politics, a campaign school for nurses interested in serving their communities outside the clinics, hospitals and health care offices where many of them work.
State makes slow progress on NC prison air-conditioning upgrades
Some may regret the passing of summer, but for many who are confined in North Carolina’s prisons, it could bring a sense of relief — especially for those incarcerated in buildings without air conditioning. While it might be a natural inclination to write off this summer’s extreme heat...
State health leaders look to close digital divide for farmworkers
Many of the state’s more than 75,000 farmworkers lack high-speed internet, limiting their access to digital services that have been shown to improve health outcomes for people in rural communities. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Rural Health hopes to address the divide with a...
Transgender youth in North Carolina dealing with medical “whiplash” of ban on gender-affirming care
Atlas, a 15-year-old transgender boy living in Moore County, wants to have his body align with who he feels he truly is before leaving for college. However, he’s now forced to come to terms with knowing that won’t be his reality. Atlas’ access to gender-affirming health care in...
Kids in foster care often need mental health care. But options are limited in rural NC
Amanda Price and her husband were finally in the process of adopting their three daughters in 2022. The couple had fostered the girls for four years and had planned to adopt them in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays. The wait was hard on the biological sisters, who are...
Crisis in children’s mental health takes a heavy toll in rural southeastern NC
This is the first in a two-part project about the children’s mental health crisis in Bladen, Columbus, Robeson and Scotland counties. Read the second story, which focuses on the foster care system, story here. A 9-year-old girl who spent four months last year inside the Columbus County hospital’s emergency...
As hospital systems begin to grapple with medical waste, environmentalists call for tighter regulations
Three years ago, Trenton Ford was excited to serve his community as a new parks employee. However, along the way, he started to notice something. “When I signed on to become an Alamance County Parks employee, I swore an oath to protect the environment and the people who live within [the county],” he said at a recent public meeting. “It is clear as day to see that there are billion-dollar corporations that are here, and they are making money hand over fist because of a lack of oversight and communication and involvement with local people.”
It’s time for municipal elections in N.C. What will new laws mean for disabled and older voters?
Many people across North Carolina are heading to the polls to vote early for municipal elections. Others are deciding to wait until the Nov. 7 election day to cast ballots in local elections for mayors, city councillors and school board members. Only 12 counties have no elections this year, according...
Throwing a financial lifeline to rural NC health care providers
In recent years, lawmakers in Raleigh have fretted about how to increase access to health care for North Carolina’s 3.5 million rural residents. They have traveled the state, holding hearings for residents and health care providers outside the urban and suburban regions. Providers from those areas have traveled to Raleigh, too, to testify at legislative hearings about staffing shortages and other critical issues plaguing their practices.
North Carolina Health News
1K+
Posts
5M+
Views
Founded in November 2011 as a North Carolina nonprofit, NCHN is an independent news organization devoted to covering health care in the state.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.