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By Rachel Crumpler Key Takeaways: Inside North Carolina prisons, incarcerated people have long turned to fellow prisoners for guidance about faith, conflict, grief, addiction and simply how to navigate life behind bars. An increasing number of those people are “field ministers” — incarcerated men who have earned a four-year bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry while […] The post Faith and…
By Ted Clifford Asheville Watchdog The Aug. 19 hearing at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College was a routine part of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services certificate of need process. It was an opportunity for state regulators to hear public comments and presentations on the competing proposals before them. But today, even routine […] The post 92 new hospital beds up…
By Michelle Crouch Key Takeaways: As Atrium Health continues its push to join forces with Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals, its leaders have repeatedly pointed to another North Carolina deal as evidence of what to expect: its 2020 combination with Winston-Salem-based Wake Forest Baptist. “Don’t judge us by what we say; judge us by what […] The post As Atrium pursues WakeMed, a look inside…
By Rachel Crumpler Key Takeaways: For weeks, dozens of men at Neuse Correctional Institution, a medium-custody prison in Goldsboro, have experienced intense itching and pimple-like bumps appearing all over their bodies. Many of the men believe they have scabies, a skin condition caused by microscopic mites that burrow into the skin and lay eggs. “You […] The post ‘You can’t resist scratching’:…
By Andrew Jones KFF Health News Hospitals across the U.S. are trying to reduce maternal deaths and complications after pregnancies using one small tool: a silicone wristband stamped with the declaration “I Gave Birth.” The wristbands are part of a growing initiative first launched by North Carolina-based ECU Health as Congress sought to address the […] The post Hospitals say they found a tool to…
By Jennifer Fernandez Key Takeaways: About a week after finishing the Early Childhood Workforce Ready Academy in Wayne County, Dominque McBride walked into Little Bulldogs Academy in Goldsboro. She carried a packet filled with certifications — such as CPR, first aid, playground safety — that she earned while undergoing intensive training during the two-week academy […] The post North Carolina…
By Will Atwater Key Takeaways: On July 24, nurses and environmental advocates gathered outside the General Assembly in Raleigh to protest the North Carolina AI Leadership Council’s new strategic road map for the state’s adoption and use of artificial intelligence. Protesters raised concerns, among other topics, about electricity costs and new energy infrastructure required to […] The post The race…
By Taylor Knopf Key Takeaways: North Carolina’s supply of illicit street drugs is in a constant state of change. People are no longer buying just heroin, fentanyl or opioid pills anymore, as most samples of these illegal drugs have more than one substance in them. People often don’t know what is in their drugs because […] The post What is Medetomidine? The latest threat in the street drug supply…
By Diana Lopez Key Takeaways: Mental health is a sensitive and often stigmatized subject in many North Carolina communities that can create challenges for people who might need help but are reluctant to seek it out. Frank Sossamon knows this firsthand from his work as a pastor of Hermon Community Church in Henderson and a […] The post New program trains churches, congregants to assist with mental…
Key Takeaways: By Rachel Crumpler It would have been an ordinary Saturday for many families: playing board games, making crafts, taking silly pictures and eating lunch together. But for these families, it was a rare opportunity. Eight fathers and one grandfather at Sampson Correctional Institution, a medium- and minimum-custody prison in Clinton, spent four hours […] The post For families…
By Skye Crawford The notation of a city incinerator on a 1937 map of Durham that hung in Daniel Richter’s lab was originally just a hint. Richter, a soils and forest ecology professor at Duke University, noticed that the waste-burning site had been at an intersection near what is now a city park, sparking concerns […] The post Remediation of former landfill sites still in limbo despite yearslong…
By Peter Whoriskey KFF Health News More than a million times a year, a U.S. surgeon slices open a knee, strips out worn cartilage, caps the leg bones with metal, and drops in a plastic spacer to allow the new joint to glide. While knee replacement procedures have become standard, however, the prices charged have […] The post Same knee surgery, twice the price: Hospital monopolies push up…
By Ashley Fredde Key Takeways: The Trump administration is ending a temporary federal program — created to soften the effects of Medicare’s biggest prescription drug overhaul in nearly two decades — a year earlier than planned. The move, experts say, could mean higher monthly premiums for some North Carolinians and create new hurdles for beneficiaries […] The post Temporary Medicare program that…
By Clayton Henkel NC Newsline One of the most vexing problems caused by the pandemic was the toll it took on the mental health of young people. Students struggled with school closures, isolation from their friends, and the difficulties of remote learning. But after years of focus on behavioral health, it appears that North Carolina […] The post North Carolina high schoolers show improvements in…
