Rural Alabamians southwest of Huntsville will have drive longer distances for health care starting today. Lawrence Medical Center in the town of Moulton says it’s closing its emergency room. Residents of this Lawrence County community will have to travel to Decatur or Huntsville for treatment. APR news has focused a lot of coverage on rural health in the State. Doctor David Bramm teaches this subject for UAB in Huntsville. He says the extra distance could mean trouble for people in need of help…
“An emergency basis is not too bad, as long as it's something like a kidney stone or pneumonia or even a broken arm, a 30 minute drive for a heart attack or a breech baby that the head's out, you know, that would clearly be fatal,”
Doctor Bramm says Moulton is in a slightly better position than a community like Thomasville would be if its rural health capacity was reduced. That’s because, Bramm contends, Thomasville is farther from larger cities where rural patients can seek help. He says residents of Lawrence County will still have travel to get treatment.
“The people in Moulton can hop on the, I guess, highway 25 or whatever it is, and you can get to Decatur in probably 2025,minutes, but the closure of emergency medical services and Moulton is going to hit poor people that have less transportation,” Bramm said.
Doctor Bramm was featured during APR’s coverage into Alabama’s new U.S. House seat in district two. That documentary was just honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, and two segments from that coverage are finalists for national “Salute to Excellence” awards from the National Association of Black Journalists. APR’s earlier series “Help Wanted: Alabama’s Rural Health Care Crisis” was honored with the 50th annual Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Radio. This RFK is the father of the current head of the Department of Health and Human Service.