By Michelle Crouch Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger When a Charlotte man fell off a ladder last week and likely fractured his foot, his doctor told him he needed to go to the hospital for an X-ray. But the man, the Latino owner of a small construction company, refused to go, the doctor said. He […]
Posted inRural Health
Police embrace social workers to help field rising calls tied to homelessness, mental illness
By Rachel Crumpler Chris Hatton oversees a 15-officer police force in a small western North Carolina town in Jackson County — a place where he says many calls to 911 aren’t really police matters at all. A “suspicious” person loitering. Someone yelling in the street. A person rummaging through a dumpster. Someone in a mental […]
Posted inMental Health
NC psychiatric commitment process under scrutiny after Iryna’s Law
By Taylor Knopf North Carolina lawmakers are now taking a closer look at how people with mental health issues can be involuntarily committed for treatment in the wake of a new law they passed — in September. Lawmakers created Iryna’s Law in response to the fatal stabbing in August of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska on […]
Posted inState Health Policy
New Bern eye surgeon’s challenge of NC law could upend how health care facilities are regulated
By Anne Blythe A New Bern eye surgeon who is challenging North Carolina’s laws that cap the kinds of medical services, facilities and equipment that can be offered in geographic regions of the state will take his case back to court this week. Jay Singleton, owner of Singleton Vision Center has been fighting for five […]
Posted inHospitals
HCA reports $3.8 billion increase in 2025, citing rise in admissions, volume
By Sally Kestin Asheville Watchdog Mission Health’s corporate owner, HCA Healthcare, has seen its revenues increase by $3.8 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, the company reported. The 7.2 percent increase over 2024, along with its third quarter performance, caused the hospital conglomerate to revise its 2025 revenue projections upward by as much […]
Posted inFeatured
“There’s no way”: Huge ACA premium hikes force Buncombe policyholders to make hard choices, including dropping coverage
By Dan DeWitt Asheville Watchdog Virginia Gilbert was shocked and angry after she learned last week that premiums for her Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance policy will more than double next year, jumping from $930 to $2,042. She was freshly outraged after U.S. senators reached an agreement this week to end the six-week government shutdown […]