What Comes Next?
After depending on the local hospital for more than a century, Fort Scott, Kan., residents now are trying to cope with life without it.
No Mercy
Exploring what happens when the closure of one beloved rural hospital disrupts a community鈥檚 health care, economy and equilibrium.
Emergency Care
Delays cost patients dearly.
Have Cancer, Must Travel
Patients left in the lurch after hospital closes.
Coping With Loss
A year later.
1 - 16 of 16 Results
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Listen to 鈥楾radeoffs鈥: How the Loss of a Rural Hospital Compounds the Collapse of Care
Six years ago, the hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas, shuttered, leaving residents in the small community without a cornerstone health care institution. In the years since, despite new programs meant to save small hospitals, dozens of other communities have watched theirs close.
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鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Bonus Episodes: More From Fort Scott, Kansas
Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning "Where It Hurts" podcast.
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鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 7: After a Rural Town Loses Hospital, Is a Health Clinic Enough?
In Fort Scott, Kansas, the Community Health Center鈥檚 big green-and-white sign replaced Mercy Hospital鈥檚 name on the front of the town鈥檚 massive medical building. In the final chapter of Season One: 鈥淣o Mercy,鈥 we have an appointment to see what鈥檚 inside.
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鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 6: Trickle-Down Heartache Reaches the Next Generation in a Rural Town With No Hospital
Meet Josh. He鈥檚 a teenager in Fort Scott, Kansas, who dropped out of high school around the same time the town鈥檚 hospital closed. He says those two things are related.
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KHN on the Air This Week
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
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鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 5: With Rural Hospital Gone, Cancer Care Means a Daylong Trek
The hunt for good cancer treatment often means miles on the road, time spent waiting and exhaustion from treatment and transit. 鈥淭he further you have to travel to get care, the less likely that you are going to take that effort to do that,鈥 said Boban Mathew, an oncologist in southeastern Kansas.
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鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Chapter 4: So, 2 Nuns Step Off a Train in Kansas 鈥 A Hospital’s Origin Story
Mercy Hospital and the people of Fort Scott, Kansas, have a long, tangled history. To understand what the town lost when the hospital shut its doors, we rewind the story to 1886.
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‘No Mercy’ Chapter 3: Patchwork of Urgent Care Frays After a Rural Hospital Closes
Fort Scott, Kansas, went without an ER for 18 days, after the local hospital shut down. Documenting local trauma during that 鈥渄ark period鈥 helped investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble unravel some of the complications that come after a rural hospital closes.
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‘No Mercy’ Chapter 2: Unimaginable, After a Century, That Their Hospital Would Close
After Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble traveled to Kansas and spent time with former hospital president Reta Baker and City Manager Dave Martin 鈥 to understand what their town lost.
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鈥楴o Mercy鈥 Explores the Fallout After a Small Town Loses Its Hospital
Listen to 鈥淲here It Hurts,鈥 each episode debuting on Tuesdays, from Sept. 29 through Nov. 10. When Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, locals lost care. Health workers lost jobs. The hole left behind is bigger than a hospital. Season One is 鈥淣o Mercy.鈥
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Air Ambulances Woo Rural Consumers With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging
State regulators and even one medevac company have raised doubts about prepaid subscriptions and promised benefits offered by air ambulance companies.
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Listen: After Its Hospital Closes, A Pioneer Kansas Town Searches For What Comes Next
Deep questions underlie what is happening in Fort Scott, Kan.: Do small communities like this one need a traditional hospital at all? And, if not, what health care do they need?