Rural Health

An issue here in Alabama is getting traction in the U.S. Senate as lawmakers debate Donald Trump’s so called Big Beautiful Bill. Members of the upper chamber are working to set aside Medicaid funding to help rural hospitals. APR news focused on that issue during its eight month investigation into the new U.S. House seat in District two.

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.

Alabama lawmakers are working on a bill that could bring more doctors to rural parts of the state. The measure would extend tax credits for physicians who practice in rural Alabama. It would eliminate earlier wording that denied that tax break to doctors who live outside the community they serve.

The Associated Press is finishing up 2025 by remembering notable news makers who died this year. One may be familiar to longtime listeners to Alabama Public Radio. Pete Buxton died in May at the age of eighty six. He was the federal health care worker who blew the whistle on the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment.

Voters in one Alabama Congressional district will make history in November. They’ll cast their first ever votes for a newly redrawn seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered deep red Alabama to redraw its political map to better represent African Americans. The APR news team spent the better part of the year investigating issues impacting voters in the new District 2. One hits many close to home.

Close to two hundred thousand people in Alabama, and two other States could see over $300 million dollars in medical debt disappear. A New Orleans-based system of hospitals and clinics is working with a New York nonprofit to wipe out their doctor bills.

Public health experts from some of the nation's leading research universities have deployed a massive medical trailer to rural parts of the South as part of an ambitious and unusual new health study. The researchers aim to test the heart and lung function of rural residents of Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Healthcare services in some rural West Alabama Communities are on the decline. A lack of financial support appears to be causing problems for those who have to travel almost an hour to a hospital. Others are worried whether they’ll make it there if they or a family member has a life-threatening emergency. APR student reporter Caleb Aguayo* explains how this situation is impacting rural ambulance services and peoples’ access to care. This feature is made possible by a grant by the Caring Foundation.

Alabama lawmakers gave final approval to legislation creating a new high school focused on preparing students for careers in healthcare, science and technology. The school will be located in Demopolis but would take in students from around the state.

A new initiative by The University of Alabama aims to alleviate the shortage of health services for youth in rural Alabama counties. The H.O.P.E project stands for health, opportunity, passion and equity. The program received more than $3.7 million in federal funding.