Blake Farmer

More and more hospitals are contracting with private companies to run their emergency departments. To save money, many are increasingly relying on nurses and physician assistants instead of doctors.

Clinics that care for long COVID patients are wrestling with how to handle a condition that is still poorly understood and has no widely accepted treatments.

When rural hospitals go out of business, they're frequently gone for good. But now, some comebacks are a welcome sign for communities that have been without easy access to health care.

Reproductive rights proponents worry about the risk of counseling those who seek medication abortions, though they've published online support techniques and guides for safe use of the drugs.

Black patients and their families are less likely to sign up for end-of-life comfort care. To reach them, investors are starting hospice agencies run by people who look like the patients they serve.

With few options for health care in their rural community, a Tennessee couple's experience with one outrageous bill could have led to a deadly delay when they needed help the most.

Republican legislators in Tennessee pushed to limit marketing COVID-19 vaccines to youth, and to restrict access. Some doctors worry it will have a chilling effect on vaccinations.

A majority of white, rural conservatives in Tennessee are open to getting the vaccine at some point, but at least 45% won't consider it. Rates in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi are also lagging.

Hospitalizations are down 62% for childhood respiratory illnesses, a study shows. Masking and physical distancing are keeping a variety of viruses in check, but will these behaviors last?

Once Pfizer's vaccine gets delivered, it's up to individual states to actually get people vaccinated. States have different priorities and plans.

As states move on from social distancing, they need plenty of coronavirus testing to prevent future outbreaks. But many communities face testing bottlenecks. Tennessee has a solution.

Only a few states have enough tests to ensure safe reopening. Most of those have a small population or have taken up unique approaches. The state of Tennessee has decided to pay for every single test.