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Blake Farmer

Latest Stories (109)

Monkeypox cases may be down, but it still can cause economic harm to infected employees

Sep 29, 2022
Those who become sick with the disease won't find the same kind of employment help that was offered for COVID.
Though new monkeypox cases are down 50% since early August, workers are struggling to find financial assistance if they miss work due to an infection.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Obstetricians weigh their legal risks under Tennessee's new abortion ban

Aug 29, 2022
The new laws punish those who perform abortions, now criminalized as a felony that comes with a fine.
Dr. Kimberly Looney previously served as chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi. She’s now moved into private practice and expects she will receive more scrutiny because of her experience providing abortions.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

To boost diversity in clinical trials, NIH takes to the road to collect DNA from underrepresented groups

Aug 9, 2022
During the pandemic, the effort suspended in-person recruiting and lost momentum.
The All of Us bus helps the program connect with potential drug trial participants and collect biospecimens.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

Lab billing operations add to rural hospital woes, leaving some on life support

Jul 18, 2022
For rural communities, the loss of hospitals means no access to nearby emergency care and the loss of health care jobs.
Rural hospital closures have increased during the pandemic. Many hospitals were run by  lab companies that left difficult financial and legal problems behind.
David McNew/Getty Images

In states that ban abortions, providers are now turning into travel agents for people to leave

Jun 30, 2022
Costs can include gas for car travel or airfare, accommodation, child care for people who have other children and time off from work.
A Planned Parenthood center in Missouri in 2019. In states where abortions are banned or restricted, some clinics are reorienting efforts to connecting patients with abortion funds or out-of-state clinics.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Some music festivals are allowing overdose reversal drugs

Jun 29, 2022
Often nonprofits and volunteers are left to do the work of providing naloxone kits to attendees.
At Bonnaroo, a music festival in Tennessee, nonprofits and volunteers distribute free overdose medication and drug test kits.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

To fill clinical roles, hospitals offer nonmedical staff training and opportunity

Jun 2, 2022
The "grow your own" approach involves offering paid training to employees so they can work with patients.
Clifford Johnson, 52, is one of 11 in an inaugural class at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which offered to train any employee to move into badly needed clinical roles on campus.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

Abortion bans may have inequitable economic consequences, especially for Black women

May 31, 2022
Black women have disproportionally used abortion services across much of the South, where access to the procedure may essentially vanish if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Tia Freeman cheers at a protest following the U.S. Supreme Court’s release of a draft opinion, which would overturn Roe v. Wade. Freeman told the crowd in Nashville that she had two abortions that she says kept her economically on track.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

Guilty verdict for Tennessee nurse in case involving medical error has other nurses worried

Apr 26, 2022
RaDonda Vaught awaits sentencing for criminally negligent homicide. Her conviction is weighing heavily on a weary profession.
The pandemic has already taken a toll on those in the nursing sector. Now, the criminal conviction of RaDonda Vaught — who made a fatal medication error — is another source of anxiety and frustration for nurses.
Sergey Tinyakov/Getty Images

Mall-to-medicine transitions make health care more convenient for suburban patients

Apr 13, 2022
With abundant parking and layouts that are easy to navigate, one-time shopping malls are attractive to some medical facilities looking to expand.
More than a decade ago, Vanderbilt University Medical Center moved 22 specialty clinics to a former mall, now taking up 440,000 square feet of One Hundred Oaks in Nashville.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News