A new March of Dimes report card gives Georgia a “D’’ grade for its preterm birth rate, which rose last year to 11.2 percent from 10.8 percent. Ten other states and the District of Columbia also got a “D,’’ while four others and Puerto Rico received an “F” on the report card, issued Wednesday. Georgia’s grade…
Georgia’s preterm birth rate rose in 2016 after years of decrease, a disturbing trend that is mirrored by national data, state officials said Monday. Preterm birth is when a baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed. It’s also called premature birth. Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk…
While suicide rates have increased across the United States, the highest percentages are in rural counties, a new CDC report reveals. That differential may reflect not only economic factors, but also insufficient access to mental health treatment in rural areas, experts say. Overall, suicide death rates for rural counties nationally (17.32 per 100,000 people) were…
Special Report: Inside three Georgia counties that have struggled to keep their vulnerable hospitals ― and futures ― alive This article was produced through a partnership between Georgia Health News and HuffPost. It was written by HuffPost reporter Lauren Weber and GHN editor and CEO Andy Miller. GLENWOOD ― If you want to watch a…
Tens of millions of dollars in government funding for Georgia health care faces a dangerous deadline in less than two weeks. And while experts believe that much of the funding, if not all, will be renewed by Oct. 1 or afterward, there are no guarantees, with a fractious Washington dealing with the bitter aftermath of votes to…
PART FOUR OF SPECIAL REPORT By Brenda Goodman and Andy Miller Brenda Goodman is a senior news writer for WebMD, and Andy Miller is editor and CEO of Georgia Health News. This investigation was supported by a grant from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Almost as soon as he could balance on his plump…
“Looking for a partner’’ seems like a theme best suited to a high school dance or a dating website. That phrasing, though, is increasingly used in health care to describe financially strapped hospitals’ efforts to seek a combination with a system that has a better bottom line. Hospitals in metro Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, Milledgeville and…
The fields in Colquitt County in South Georgia are green this time of year and laden with cucumbers, eggplant and melons — vegetables that represent summertime and healthy eating. Many of the people who pick them, though, have health challenges. The farmworkers who move through the region, harvesting and packing the produce, are at a…
Healthcare Georgia Foundation has announced grants totaling $770,000 to 11 partnerships in a program aimed at eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity in rural Georgia. The funding represents the first phase of the foundation’s Two Georgias Initiative, designed also to expand access to quality health care in rural Georgia. Each rural partnership will develop…
Two of three Medicaid beneficiaries in Georgia are children. The national average is lower, with 43 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries being kids, but the numbers are still huge. So when cuts to the government program are proposed, as is the case with Republican health care legislation in Congress, many pediatricians become alarmed. Their fear is…