Health Archives - Ohio Valley ReSource

Nov 23

Health

It’s been decades since toxic dust rules for mines have improved. Lawmakers are taking notice.

Ohio Valley ReSource · An important mine safety rule hasn’t been updated for decades. Lawmakers are taking notice. Vonda Robinson watches her husband struggle to breathe. She says he contracted the incurable black lung disease after working in coal mines with little to no safety protocols. She’s been to pulmonologist appointments where doctors showed her […]

By Justin Hicks

Nov 23

Health

It’s been decades since toxic dust rules updated

By Justin Hicks

Sep 2

Health

A tax to provide benefits to black lung victims is permanent, but might not fix all the fund’s problems

It’s early in the morning outside a Hampton Inn in Hazard, Ky. A bright blue-and-white RV covered in larger-than-life portraits of coal miners sits smack in the middle of the parking lot. Standing outside of it is Christopher Parker with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. “Hey! This is NIOSH. Here’s our mobile […]

By Justin Hicks

Sep 2

Health

A tax to provide benefits to black lung victims is permanent, but might not fix all the fund’s problems

Justin Hicks

Aug 5

Health

In remote eastern Kentucky, neighbors help where no one else will

Ohio Valley ReSource · In remote eastern Kentucky, neighbors help where no one else will Over the past week, Havanna Thacker has transformed a historic high school in Carr Creek, Kentucky into a supply depot. While her mother whips up trays of food in a tiny cafeteria, she stocks the gym with supplies that people […]

By Justin Hicks

Aug 5

Health

In eastern Ky, neighbors help each other through flood

Justin Hicks

Jul 15

Health

Prison nurseries allow ‘intimate moments’ necessary for childhood development

Ohio Valley ReSource · Prison nurseries allow for ‘intimate moments,’ childhood development Every morning Gianna wakes up in a wooden crib next to her mother’s bed. Sunlight streams through the window, warming the room and displaying the razor-wire fence just beyond the yard. Gianna has spent her first year of life in the nursery at […]

By Kaitlin Thorne

Jul 15

Health

Prison nurseries allow for ‘intimate moments,’ childhood development

Kaitlin Thorne

Jul 4

Health

The Ohio Valley is poised to become an abortion desert

Ohio Valley ReSource · Ohio Valley poised to become an abortion desert It was already difficult to get an abortion in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, but it’s about to become almost impossible after the U.S. Supreme Court left it up to states to decide reproductive rights. All three states have laws in place […]

By Justin Hicks , Becca Schimmel , , Kaitlin Thorne , , , Liam Niemeyer , , , , Corinne Boyer and Katie Myers

Jul 4

Health

The Ohio Valley is poised to become an abortion desert

Justin Hicks, Becca Schimmel, , Kaitlin Thorne, , , Liam Niemeyer, , , , Corinne Boyer and Katie Myers

Jun 24

Health

Ohio Valley food banks see longer lines amid inflation, declining government support

Ohio Valley ReSource · Ohio Valley advocates expect more hunger in months ahead Ruth Cummings gingerly leaned over the boxes of produce in the hot June sun, looking through the bags of greens, carrots and apples laid out in front of the old church building that serves as the local food pantry. With prices surging […]

By Liam Niemeyer

Jun 24

Health

Ohio Valley food banks see longer lines amid inflation, declining government support

Liam Niemeyer

Jun 14

Health

Regional hospitals are dealing with a teen mental health crisis

It’s not uncommon for kids to show up to Marietta Memorial Hospital’s emergency room for mental health help. Linda Sistrunk, a social worker and director of behavioral health at the hospital in southeastern Ohio, says that’s a big difference from 20 years ago. “Our ER systems are now being utilized as a community mental health […]

By Corinne Boyer

Jun 14

Health

Regional hospitals are dealing with a teen mental health crisis

Corinne Boyer

Jun 6

Health

Black lung patients, advocates urge mine safety officials to update silica dust standards

Ohio Valley ReSource · Black lung patients, advocates urge mine safety officials to update silica dust standards Jerry Coleman mined West Virginia coal underground for 37 years. When he was in his early fifties, he found himself gradually struggling to keep up with other men his age, and went to get checked out. “Most people […]

By Katie Myers

Jun 6

Health

Black lung patients urge officials to update dust standards

Katie Myers

May 30

Health

Prison nurseries help incarcerated mothers bond, but options are limited

Ohio Valley ReSource · Prison nurseries help incarcerated mothers bond, but options are limited Kea’Londa Fuqua was 20 years old when she found out she was pregnant with her first child. A surprise pregnancy at a young age can feel overwhelming, but Fuqua had an additional stressor on her impending motherhood: a prison sentence. […]

By Kaitlin Thorne

May 30

Health

Prison nurseries help incarcerated mothers bond, but options are limited

Kaitlin Thorne

May 13

Health

While neighboring states open up to cannabis, Kentucky stays closed

Ohio Valley ReSource · While neighboring states open up to cannabis, Kentucky stays closed Tourists come from far and wide to see the 15-foot Superman standing with hands on hips in the center of Metropolis, Illinois. The 6,000 person-town got its name about a century before the Man of Steel was conceived, but still, the […]

By Becca Schimmel

May 13

Health

While neighboring states open up to cannabis, Ky. stays closed

Becca Schimmel