By Judi Kanne Henry County resident Audrey Benford was 10 when she arrived at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in December 2018, after her pediatrician diagnosed her with scoliosis. The news that she would have to wear a back brace to help correct a curvature in her spine was about the last thing this sports-loving pre-teen cheerleader…
Tired of wearing a mask in public places? Do you ever forget to take one along when you go out? Are you weary of social distancing with friends and family members? Is your hand-washing getting less frequent and a little less thorough? These may be signs that weariness with COVID-19 guidelines is setting in. This…
This article was reported and written in collaboration with WebMD By Debbie Koenig and Andy Miller The number of young adults testing positive for COVID-19 has increased dramatically in recent weeks across many states. The spike among those ages 20-39 could be explained by a combination of increased testing, rejection of social distancing and masks,…
The search for answers over whether waste from America’s largest coal-fired plant has tainted drinking water in a small central Georgia town has united local officials and a riverkeeper group.
By Andi Clements and Andy Miller Dr. Robert Price’s routine of going to work and coming home used to be drama-free and pretty ordinary. Price, an emergency physician at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, would leave through the front door of his house, and he would return hours later to be greeted by hugs from…
Once again, the kids at Benjamin Preparatory School can’t go outside for recess. The school, which serves infants to second-graders, is keeping the kids indoors because a toxic gas, ethylene oxide, is once again being used to sterilize medical equipment at a facility about a mile away, in suburban Atlanta. School officials want state regulators…
By Dr. Angel R. Leon As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in the U.S., we need to reflect upon how hospitals initially responded to the crisis, and how market forces may have made them more vulnerable. Some institutions that invested years of work and millions of dollars to hone how they care for heart disease,…
By Naomi Thomas and Andy Miller Becca loved her job in the travel-and-tourism industry, but few industries have been so thoroughly decimated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 31-year-old metro Atlanta resident, Becca watched helplessly this year as the devastation deepened, and it eventually reached her company. She was furloughed in March. There’s no word when…
By Andi Clements Ally Freeman, who’s pursuing her doctorate in physical therapy at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, used to spend about nine hours a week getting hands-on experience in a classroom or a lab. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted daily life around the globe as governments and private businesses try…
By Madeline Laguaite Billy Hendrix, a 30-year veteran of the funeral industry, thought he had seen it all. But the last few months have changed his mind. Growing up in Indiana, he spent a lot of time after school at the nearby funeral home — a 37-room, three-story mansion with a second-floor ballroom. He went so…