What the soldiers saw after virus hit rural nursing home

Of Georgia’s more than 1,100 COVID-19 deaths, 12% are from long-term care facilities in a region that holds just 3% of the state’s population. As the state reopens, staff know that risks of exposure will only increase. By Max Blau This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica. Georgia Health News is a member of…

COVID-19 bus brings help for behavioral health needs

By Naomi Thomas A bus mobilized during the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing behavioral health care to two rural counties. The mobile health unit, run by CarePartners, a local agency, has been traveling through Emanuel and Candler counties in east Georgia to bring services to people in need. Since the virus appeared in the state, the…

Pandemic brings financial trouble for many doctors

An irony about COVID-19 — the greatest public health threat in a century — is that many doctors’ offices are now basically empty. The pandemic has led to much lower patient volumes for physicians across Georgia. A lot of people have stopped going to the doctor. “It happened almost overnight,’’ says Dr. Donald Fordham, a…

Rural hospitals: A new crisis on top of the old one

Georgia’s rural hospitals have faced financial challenges for a long time. Even the recent economic boom was not enough to pull them out of the ditch. Now things may get even worse. The COVID-19 pandemic is both a medical crisis and an economic shock, and in Georgia, the state’s most vulnerable hospitals could bear a…

Why does telehealth fail to catch on in some schools?

By Crysta Jones and Andy Miller Habersham County has a high uninsured rate, with 12 percent of its children lacking health coverage. The mountainous northeast Georgia county also has a low number of primary care physicians and mental health providers. For those reasons and others, a school-based telemedicine program would seem like a natural fit…

A showdown over what’s in the water

In a small Georgia town, residents worry that their neighbor, a giant coal plant, has tainted their drinking water. Some are relying on the help of the Altamaha Riverkeeper to find answers.

Wellness in rural Georgia: Hope, hard work and some frustration

This article is part of an occasional series on rural health care in Georgia. These articles are supported by a grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. By Amber Perry  The northeast Georgia town of Crawfordville is quiet on any given day of the week, apart from a few cars passing through. Many of the businesses along the main street are open “by appointment only.”   But there…

Fighting the doctor shortage in rural Georgia

This article is part of an occasional series on rural health care in Georgia. These articles are supported by a grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Scott Bohlke is the only doctor practicing in Brooklet, a tiny town in southeastern Georgia. He has been working there for 21 years. “I didn’t do it…

Georgia’s HIV problem hitting rural areas hard

This article is part of an occasional series on rural health care in Georgia. These articles are supported by a grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Metro Atlanta is often characterized as the epicenter of Georgia’s HIV crisis. Earlier this year, in fact, President Trump announced an anti-HIV plan targeting four populous counties in…

Georgia gets an ‘F’ grade in preventing preterm births

Johnecia Mason’s pregnancy was going along fine until at six months, she developed preeclampsia, a complication characterized by high blood pressure. Soon afterward, her son was born prematurely, at 26 weeks, weighing just 1 pound, 8 ounces. He died in the hospital 12 days later. “It was very hard,’’ Mason says now. “He was our…