In small towns, such as Walla Walla, Washington, behavioral health care providers can be hard to come by. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) watch Listen (Runtime 3:49) Read By Rachel […]Read More
Listen (Runtime 0:56) Read Idaho currently has about 9,000 unfilled health care positions, according to a report by the Idaho Business for Education. In that report, the group published recommendations […]Read More
Rural America has been the site COVID hotspots this year: prisons, nursing homes and meat packers. But there are few doctors, ICU beds and little backup when health care workers also get sick. Ken Roberts died Nov. 29, just one person among many who died in an outbreak of COVID-19 at North Valley Extended Care in the Okanogan County town of Tonasket — population about Read More
The agency serves areas where private carriers won't go. And in those remote communities, which helped elect the president, the Postal Service can be seen as a lifeline as well as a human connection.Read More
Rural "critical access" hospitals, often some of the largest employers in small towns, have been operating on razor-thin margins throughout the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
Hospitals in Washington are starting to act on the permission given them by Gov. Jay Inslee to resume non-essential medical procedures. Some may begin work by or before next week.Read More
Nine rural hospitals in Washington from Forks to Omak to Republic have new shipments of hospital masks, thanks to the organization that advocates for them in Olympia. And that organization’s CEO is getting a big kick out of the whole thing.Read More
Fewer than a third of the 220 counties deemed by the federal government as vulnerable to similar outbreaks have active syringe exchange programs which can stop the spread of the infection.Read More
State regulators and even one medevac company have raised doubts about prepaid subscriptions and promised benefits offered by air ambulance companies. Gaps in coverage can be a problem. Read More
Advances in online tech are revolutionizing health care, with patients now emailing doctors, filling prescriptions or even getting therapy via a video session. But what if you can't afford broadband?Read More
Homelessness is often considered an urban phenomenon. But those who work on homeless issues say rural homelessness is a growing problem, too. That's true across the state and across the country. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported in May that one in three rural Americans say homelessness is a problem in their Read More
