NC Health News won 11 awards in the annual North Carolina Press Association contest for 2025, including two first-place awards.

The press association honored work published from April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. NC Health News was judged among its peers in the online-only category, which includes about 20 publications.

Staff also won five second-place and four third-place awards. 

NC Health News founder and editor Rose Hoban won first place in business reporting for writing about an audit that found millions in payments to executives and a law firm made at the last minute after the state-supported mental health agency Eastpointe Health Services was ordered to merge with Trillium Health Services.

Jennifer Fernandez won first place in general news reporting for an article about parents and families of overdose victims calling for a change in state laws that they said would encourage people to call for help, even if they had used drugs themselves or had supplied the potentially fatal dose.

“I’m so fortunate to work with such a talented and dedicated team of reporters,” Hoban said. “They never fail to impress me with their skill, drive and knowledge.

“I’m proud to work with them every day and pleased that their strong work has gained the recognition it deserves.” 

NC Health News reporters were also recognized in national contests recently. 

Michelle Crouch took first place for stories on Atrium Health in the health policy, small news organization category in the annual Association of Health Care Journalists contest. Taylor Knopf took third place in that contest’s investigative reporting category for small news organizations for her continuing coverage of Brynn Marr Hospital. She was also named a finalist for a local reporting award from The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation and received an honorable mention from the National Press Foundation’s Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting. 

Below are links to the work recognized by the North Carolina Press Association.

First place

Rose Hoban, business reporting: DHHS audit of mental health agency finds millions in payments to executives, law firm ahead of merger

Jennifer Fernandez, general news reporting: Good Samaritan law changes sought. “Terrific lede,” the judges wrote. “The writer grabs your attention and your heart right out of the gate, and backs it up with key comments and information. It tells the whole story, leaving nothing to be guessed at, and it keeps you reading to the end.”

Second place

Jaymie Baxley, profile feature on Roy Cooper’s health care legacy “Very good writing about this ongoing controversy now in progress in many states,” the judges wrote.

Rachel Crumpler, beat news reporting, for her continuing coverage on the effects of abortion restrictions in North Carolina. Judges praised Crumpler’s work “taking a delicate topic and making it relatable.”

“This reporter took a complex topic and examined it under a microscope beyond the initial passage of the law, exposing the logistical details of the law’s effects.”

Read the stories:

• NC abortion providers brace for influx of patients from the South
• One year into new abortion limits, N.C. patients and providers struggle to shoulder the load restrictions bring
• Increased abortion restrictions complicate training, stoke worries about next generation of OB-GYNs
• Storm damage increases barriers to abortion access in WNC

Grace Vitaglione, beat feature: ‘A slap on the wrist’: families and advocates call for increased accountability from assisted living facilities

Will Atwater, arts and entertainment story on a new documentary on how Warren County gave birth to the environmental justice movement. Judges said Atwater’s story “shows why journalism matters, not just to inform, but to reflect and uplift.”

“It ties history, activism and art into something powerful without overreaching,” according to the judges. “These voices deserve to be heard and this story does right by them.”

Rose Hoban, serious columns on federal funding cuts to research, the loss of national health data due to purges of select information by the Trump administration and the effect of cuts to U.S. aid abroad.

“Exceptional writing, exceptional stories made personal TO readers,” the judges wrote. “Even the personal stories of the author. These examples easily show how information from the writer’s experiences affect readers effectively. They are engaging!”

Third place

Taylor Knopf, investigative reporting, for her continuing coverage of Brynn Marr Hospital:

• Former NC psych hospital staff allege they were told to falsify patient records
• Former employees say short-staffed NC psych hospital rife with violence, abuse
• ‘Something from a horror novel’: U.S. Senate slams owner of N.C. psych hospitals

Rose Hoban, business writing: Why Kaiser bet on Cone Health for its N.C. expansion, covering why Kaiser’s nonprofit spinoff company, Risant, chose to acquire Greensboro-based Cone Health. 

Jennifer Fernandez, general news photo of a little girl taking center stage at a child care rally in Raleigh

Jennifer Fernandez, ledes (the story introductions that draw a reader in and keep them engaged). Read them:

• Parents of overdose victims press lawmakers for better Good Samaritan laws
• At 8 years old, Miles Campbell saved four lives
• ‘Care can’t wait’: Child care advocates rally for funding, support

Hoban, a registered nurse and journalist in North Carolina for nearly two decades, founded NC Health News in 2011 to fill in the critical reporting gap on health care as newsrooms across the state reduced or eliminated coverage. Today, NC Health News remains the only outlet in the state exclusively focused on health care, health policy and subtopics such as aging, environmental health, Medicaid and rural health.

The staff of full-time reporters, freelancers, interns and support team are scattered across the state. Add in the board, which is also geographically dispersed, and NC Health News’ footprint extends from Waynesville to Ahoskie.

NC Health News is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering health care in the state, employing the highest journalistic standards of fairness, accuracy and extensive research.

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