Journalists Discuss Cracks in the Health Care System and Roadblocks to Covid Booster Shots
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Bonus Episodes: More From Fort Scott, Kansas
Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning “Where It Hurts” podcast.
鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 7: After a Rural Town Loses Hospital, Is a Health Clinic Enough?
In Fort Scott, Kansas, the Community Health Center鈥檚 big green-and-white sign replaced Mercy Hospital鈥檚 name on the front of the town鈥檚 massive medical building. In the final chapter of Season One: 鈥淣o Mercy,鈥 we have an appointment to see what鈥檚 inside.
Meet Josh. He鈥檚 a teenager in Fort Scott, Kansas, who dropped out of high school around the same time the town鈥檚 hospital closed. He says those two things are related.
鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 5: With Rural Hospital Gone, Cancer Care Means a Daylong Trek
The hunt for good cancer treatment often means miles on the road, time spent waiting and exhaustion from treatment and transit. 鈥淭he further you have to travel to get care, the less likely that you are going to take that effort to do that,鈥 said Boban Mathew, an oncologist in southeastern Kansas.
鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 4: So, 2 Nuns Step Off a Train in Kansas 鈥 A Hospital’s Origin Story
Mercy Hospital and the people of Fort Scott, Kansas, have a long, tangled history. To understand what the town lost when the hospital shut its doors, we rewind the story to 1886.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 3: Patchwork of Urgent Care Frays After a Rural Hospital Closes
Fort Scott, Kansas, went without an ER for 18 days, after the local hospital shut down. Documenting local trauma during that 鈥渄ark period鈥 helped investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble unravel some of the complications that come after a rural hospital closes.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 2: Unimaginable, After a Century, That Their Hospital Would Close
After Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble traveled to Kansas and spent time with former hospital president Reta Baker and City Manager Dave Martin 鈥 to understand what their town lost.
鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Explores the Fallout After a Small Town Loses Its Hospital
Listen to 鈥淲here It Hurts,鈥 each episode debuting on Tuesdays, from Sept. 29 through Nov. 10. When Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, locals lost care. Health workers lost jobs. The hole left behind is bigger than a hospital. Season One is 鈥淣o Mercy.鈥
