By Rose Hoban The impulse to retreat to nature to improve and sustain one’s mental health has a long history — from the times of Hippocrates, who’s often credited with saying “nature is the physician of diseases,” to Henry David Thoreau who voyaged into the woods to “live deep and suck out all the marrow […]
Posted inMental Health
Former NC psych hospital staff allege they were told to falsify patient records
This article was co-published with WRAL-TV. By Taylor Knopf Days after her 21st birthday in March 2023, Mo Hatcher found herself short of breath and dizzy, feeling helpless at what she described as minor inconveniences to most people, but major events for her. Hatcher had a history of anxiety, but her panic attacks had become […]
Posted inMental Health
Former employees say short-staffed NC psych hospital rife with violence, abuse
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article mentions self-harm, suicide, sexual assault, violence and psychiatric hospitalization. If you need mental health support, call or text 988 or consult this resources page. This article was co-published with WRAL-TV. By Taylor Knopf In June last year, 11-year-old Henry picked up a sharp object and threatened to harm himself and his […]
Posted inMedicaid
New federal rule to boost pay for home health workers
By Jaymie Baxley Under a new federal rule, home health care providers in North Carolina will be required to put most of the money they receive from Medicaid toward workers’ wages. The policy, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on April 22 as part of the Biden administration’s Expanding Access to Medicaid […]
Posted inHospitals
HCA pruned staff at Mission Hospital, reaped soaring profits, academic study finds
By Grace Vitaglione, Carolina Public Press Staff cuts have driven up patient-care profits at Mission Hospital in Asheville after HCA Healthcare acquired the facility, according to a draft report by Mark Hall, director of the health law and policy program at Wake Forest University. The report tracked the hospital’s profits from 2011 to 2022 and […]
Posted inGender health
NC abortion providers brace for influx of patients from the South
By Rachel Crumpler A six-week abortion ban taking effect today in Florida will usher in a significant shift in abortion access in the South. The new restrictions position North Carolina as one of the last places in the South that allows abortion past six weeks of pregnancy — a point at which many women do […]