2024-25
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 March 31, 2024, through April 1, 2025. NC Health News was judged among its peers in the online-only category, which includes 20 publications.
Staff also won five second-place and four third-place awards.
Below are links to the work recognized by the 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
Second place
Jaymie Baxley, profile feature on Roy Cooper’s health care legacy
Rachel Crumpler, beat news reporting, for her continuing coverage on the effects of abortion restrictions in North Carolina. Read the stories:
NC abortion providers brace for influx of patients from the South
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
Rose Hoban, serious columns on colorectal cancer and federal funding cuts to research, the loss of national health data due to purge of select information by Trump administration and the effect of cuts to U.S. aid abroad.
Third place
Taylor Knopf, investigative reporting:
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
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
2025
Veteran mental health reporter Taylor Knopf was a finalist for a local reporting award from The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. Read the stories:
- Former employees say short-staffed NC psych hospital rife with violence, abuse
- Former NC psych hospital staff allege they were told to falsify patient records
2024
NC Health News reporters Michelle Crouch and Taylor Knopf were recognized for their work by the Association of Health Care Journalists. Awards were announced April 25, 2025.
Crouch won first place for stories on Atrium Health in the health policy, small news organization category. Read the winning stories:
- Atrium Health: A unit of ‘local government’ like no other
- Some lawmakers call for review of decades-old law that governs hospital authorities like Atrium Health
- Three county commissioners sit in on Atrium Health board meeting; ‘the public meeting didn’t seem very public’
Knopf took third place in investigative reporting for small news organizations. Read the winning story:
Knopf’s coverage of mental health issues has also earned her an honorable mention from the National Press Foundation’s Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting. Typically, just one award is given each year but the judges chose to also recognize Knopf’s work for her “coverage on the understaffing at a North Carolina psychiatric hospital and how it has become a ‘dangerous’ place for patients and employees – which hospital officials deny. The series followed questionable practices the hospital employed and was cited in a Senate committee’s investigation.”
2023-24
NC Health News nabs 21 NCPA awards
NC Health News won an organization-record 21 awards in the annual North Carolina Press Association contest for 2024, including first place for overall general excellence among online publications and five other first-place wins.
The press association honored work published from March 2023 to March 2024. NC Health News was judged among its peers in the online-only category.
Staff also won nine second-place and six third-place awards. The wins included a sweep of the graphic/illustration category.
First place
Rachel Crumpler, news enterprise, for her coverage of abortion. Read the stories:
- After the fall of Roe, physicians confronted their toughest year working in reproductive health care
- With increasing limits on abortion access, NC nurses step into reproductive rights advocacy
- A clearer picture is emerging of the impact of North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions
- Access to abortion fraught with more logistical challenges as patients confront increased restrictions
- U.S. Supreme Court justices heard a case on abortion pills Tuesday. How could their ruling affect North Carolina?
Rachel Crumpler and Rose Hoban, breaking news, on the late-night vote to change North Carolina’s abortion regulations.
Rachel Crumpler, beat feature reporting, on the Benevolence Farm program for formerly incarcerated women.
Jaymie Baxley, video, Medicaid unwinding explainer.
Jaymie Baxley, illustration/photo illustration/print or interactive graphics, for an interactive bar graph on rural health spending in the budget.
Second place
Rose Hoban, video, Cooper puts veto stamp on abortion restrictions bill.
Anne Blythe, sports enterprise reporting, on heat guidelines for student athletes.
Anne Blythe, ledes. Read them:
- Take heed, oral health providers say: No weed or gummies before your trip to the dentist.
- Savoring the crunch of an apple, carrot, other autumn fruits and vegetables amid the crush of everyday living
- Migrant worker’s death prompts calls for extreme heat labor laws
Jennifer Fernandez, graphic/illustration, HPV vaccinations declining.
Taylor Knopf, general news reporting, ‘Death by distribution’ law.
Jennifer Fernandez, education reporting, Care to Care program for hospitalized children.
Jaymie Baxley, beat news reporting, series of stories on Medicaid unwinding. Read the stories:
- ‘Unwinding’ could undermine Medicaid expansion in North Carolina
- What to know about Medicaid unwinding in N.C.
- As NC begins Medicaid ‘unwinding,’ federal official warns of worrying trends
- New DHHS numbers show thousands of people lost Medicaid in June
- North Carolinians are losing Medicaid in droves. Can the purge be stopped?
Rachel Crumpler, arts and entertainment reporting, Prison to Promise podcast.
Staff, headline writing:
- Cursed at. Shoved. Punched. Bitten. Violence against doctors and nurses is rising. A new N.C. law aims to help protect them.
- Crooning for a Cure: The star-studded song that changed NC’s health care landscape
- From creeks to clouds: The invisible invasion of microplastics
Third place
Summer intern Lucas Thomae, news enterprise reporting, Will medical marijuana make roads less safe?
Jennifer Fernandez, graphic/illustration, interactive map on abortions by N.C. county in 2021.
Rose Hoban and Anne Blythe, breaking news, State budget heavy on health care.
Jennifer Fernandez, beat news reporting, “I tried to get one of your guns today.”
Jennifer Fernandez, beat feature reporting, TambraPlace provides housing for unsheltered youth.
Jaymie Baxley, arts and entertainment, Crooning for a Cure: The star-studded song that changed NC’s health care landscape.
2023
Thomas Goldsmith was awarded the N.C. Coalition on Aging’s Champion Award in September 2023 for his extensive coverage of aging issues. “His reporting has been key in keeping aging issues front and center among decision makers,” the group wrote about why Goldsmith was honored.
His sister, accompanied by NC Health News founder and editor Rose Hoban, accepted the award for him:
2022-23
NC Health News wins 17 state press awards
NC Health News won 17 awards in the annual N.C. Press Association contest for 2022-23. The tally includes five first place awards along with two second place General Excellence wins — for website and overall publication in the online division.
First place
Anne Blythe, ledes. Read them here, here and here.
Staff, headline writing:
- Congestion, fever and vomit… oh my! Other viruses are back
- Not socially distant: NC rates of sexually transmitted disease climb during the pandemic and beyond
- Reading through the lines: The correlation between literacy and incarceration
Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, feature writing, Airport therapy dogs
Will Atwater, business writing, Hog farming family charts new path
Taylor Knopf, arts and entertainment reporting, ‘Suicide Noted’ podcast
Second place
Anne Blythe, Rose Hoban and Sarah Sloan, special section, Youth climate stories: Outer Banks edition
Rachel Crumpler, profile feature, Carrying precious cargo
Rachel Crumpler and Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, news feature writing, Communities struggle with maternity care. Read the stories here and here.
Taylor Knopf and Aneri Pattani, news enterprise reporting, Tension builds around funding for opioid treatment. Read the stories here, here and here.
Taylor Knopf, investigative reporting, Seeking help and getting handcuffed
Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, education reporting, Schools struggle to retain special ed teachers
Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, beat feature reporting, Comparing care for those with complex behavioral needs. Read the stories here and here.
Third place
Jennifer Fernandez, illustration/photo illustration/print or interactive graphics, Period Poverty
Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, education reporting, Edgecombe County HOPE program
Rose Hoban, beat news reporting, Post-pandemic, nurses navigate a rocky health care system. Read the stories here, here and here.
2022
Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, 2023 Occupational and Environmental Medicine Media Excellence (OEMME) Award for the story: Study finds Latino workers die of occupational injuries at higher rates than other groups
2021-22
NC Health News brings home 17 awards in state press contest
North Carolina Health News won 17 awards in the annual N.C. Press Association contest for 2021 (and part of 2022), including four first place awards and third place for general excellence among online-only new sites.
First place
- Anne Blythe, beat feature reporting for a series of stories, “How has COVID affected our teeth?”
- Staff, education reporting, “COVID-19 creates learning gaps, challenges for teachers, parents and students.”
- Greg Barnes, ledes.
- Greg Barnes, enterprise reporting, environmental justice stories.
Second place
- Taylor Knopf, arts and entertainment reporting, “The therapeutic power of art in mental health recovery.”
- Rose Hoban and Hannah Critchfield, beat feature reporting, “Dissecting the abortion debate in North Carolina.”
- Hannah Critchfield, election/political reporting, “Getting out the vote in jail.”
- Anne Blythe, Rose Hoban and Shelbi Polk, general news reporting, Coronavirus Today.
- Taylor Knopf, investigative reporting, “Seeking help and finding handcuffs.”
- Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, ledes.
- Melba Newsome, feature writing, “Industrial animal farming in eastern North Carolina spurs long environmental fight.”
- Mariama Jallow, profile writing, “Their father survived 9/11, but could not beat COVID.”
Third place
- Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, beat feature reporting, “Drug overdoses climb precipitously in North Carolina, the US during pandemic.”
- Taylor Knopf, beat news reporting, “Tracking the increasing role of fentanyl in overdose deaths.”
- Rose Hoban, ledes.
- Staff, multimedia project, “NC Health News: Health Care Half Hour.”
* * *
2020
NC Health News receives 14 awards from NC Press Association
North Carolina Health News won 14 awards for the 2020 N.C. Press Association’s annual awards, five of which were first place honors for online publications.
First place
- Greg Barnes, ledes.
- Greg Barnes, news enterprise reporting.
- Thomas Goldsmith, beat feature reporting.
- Melba Newsome, news feature writing.
- Anne Blythe, NC Health News board member Brett Chambers (a journalism instructor at N.C. Central University) and Rose Hoban, special section.
Second place
- Greg Barnes, public service award.
Third place
- Greg Barnes, investigative reporting.
- Rose Hoban, beat feature writing.
- Rose Hoban, news enterprise writing.
- Rose Hoban, religion and faith reporting.
- Anne Blythe, ledes.
- Staff, headlines.
- Hannah Critchfield, beat news reporting.
- Taylor Knopf, news feature writing.
* * *
2019
NC Health News receives 15 awards from NC Press Association
North Carolina Health News won 15 awards in the 2019 N.C. Press Association contest.
First place
- Greg Barnes, beat news reporting.
- Yen Duong, ledes.
Second place
- Rose Hoban, Yen Duong and Taylor Knopf, breaking news coverage.
- Taylor Knopf, headline writing.
- Greg Barnes, investigative reporting.
- Anne Blythe, ledes.
- Thomas Goldsmith, news enterprise reporting.
- Taylor Knopf, beat feature reporting.
Third place
- Yen Duong, arts and entertainment reporting.
- Yen Duong, beat feature reporting.
- Rose Hoban, breaking news coverage.
- Greg Barnes, ledes.
- Thomas Goldsmith, news enterprise reporting.
- Taylor Knopf, photography feature.
- Taylor Knopf, video.
* * *
2018
NC Health News receives seven awards from NC Press Association
North Carolina Health News won seven awards in the N.C. Press Association’s annual contest in 2018, including four first place awards.
First place
- Taylor Knopf, beat news, coverage of North Carolina’s opioid epidemic.
- Taylor Knopf, general news reporting, “For 11-year-old in ER Wait for a Psych Bed is 10 Days.”
- Taylor Knopf, investigative reporting, “NC Prison Breaks Its Own Rules for Suicide Prevention.”
- Rose Hoban, Thomas Goldsmith and Jared Weber, education reporting, coverage of North Carolina’s school nurse shortage.
Second place
- Catherine Clabby, beat news reporting, “Challenging Swine Farming in Hog Country.”
- Taylor Knopf, profile feature, “Family Ties Keep One Rural OB-GYN Practicing in Eastern NC, Despite Challenges.”
Third place
- Rose Hoban, feature writing, “With Opioid Overdoses Rising, Medical Cannabis Gets a Second Look.”
* * *
2017
NC Health News receives 12 awards from NC Press Association
The reporting team at NC Health News was honored with 12 writing awards for stories published in 2017. The awards were presented at the annual N.C. Press Association awards dinner held Feb. 22, 2018, in Raleigh.
Beat Feature Reporting:
1st place: Taylor Knopf There’s hope for the Increasing Number of Babies Born Opioid Dependent
2nd place: Catherine Clabby Camp Lejeune toxic water battle continues
3rd place: Catherine Clabby Fight, then flight from poultry research
Beat News Reporting:
1st place: Taylor Knopf Providers of disability services see state budget cuts passed down
2nd place: Taylor Knopf ECU helps expand telemedicine at Duplin County Schools
News Feature Writing:
1st place: Catherine Clabby Better housing for better health in Greensboro
2nd place: Thomas Goldsmith, Rose Hoban Goldsboro caskets unearthed by Matthew reveal NC “Achilles’ Heel”
Online Breaking News Coverage:
3rd place: Rose Hoban Coal ash language late addition to bill at NCGA
General News Reporting:
1st place: Staff Opioid epidemic coverage
3rd place: Thomas Goldsmith, Rose Hoban, Taylor Knopf Mental health coverage
Profile feature:
2nd place: Rose Hoban The doctor is in…the House of Representatives
3rd place: Rose Hoban Mandy Cohen: “I’m here to focus on work.”
2016
NC Health News received 9 writing awards and was honored with First in General Excellence for Online outlets by the NC Press Association.
2015
Rose Hoban, Media Award recognizing outstanding coverage of mental health from the North Carolina branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.