Health
Elections, blue catfish, huge trees, education: The Mercury’s most-read stories of 2024
The Mercury’s top 10 most-read stories this year reflect our readers’ interests in a range of issues that most affect them and communities across the commonwealth. Since January, over 2.7 million people have visited our site and read our stories on state politics and government, local, congressional and presidential elections, Virginia’s environment and evolving energy […]
Youngkin unveils plan to improve maternal health in Virginia
When Jasmine Storrs took the stage Tuesday, she didn’t hold back: She nearly died after childbirth because she ignored her body’s warning signs. Now, she wants other women to listen. Storrs, who suffered a heart attack after days of chest tightness, shared her harrowing experience before Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a slate of investments aimed […]
In bipartisan push, Virginia lawmakers target rural healthcare crisis
Lawmakers criss-crossing rural Virginia this year heard a common refrain: Rural communities are struggling with healthcare workforce shortages and transportation challenges. After months of meetings and site visits, the bipartisan House Select Committee on Advancing Rural and Small Town Health Care on Tuesday released its report with a slate of legislative and budgetary recommendations aimed […]
‘Momnibus’ package aims to close maternal health gaps across Virginia
Virginia lawmakers are gearing up for a renewed push to tackle maternal health disparities in the 2025 session, with a slate of bills and budget amendments focused on improving outcomes for parents across the state. A key proposal is a bipartisan effort to mandate unconscious bias training for nursing license renewals, which previously passed the […]
‘Meet people where they are’: Special teams aid Va.’s efforts to expand mental health care services
Editor’s note: The Mercury is not identifying the name of Asheley Tuck’s son to protect the child’s identity. Tuck’s statements were substantiated through interviews with mental health professionals with knowledge of her family’s situation. With books, toys and artwork strewn about, Asheley Tuck’s son’s room is the typical sort one might expect from an 11-year-old […]
Vaccines protect your children and others, too
Parents in Virginia who don’t vaccinate their young children, a percentage that’s grown over the past decade, are making a risky bet with their kids’ health – and maybe even their lives. It’s a dangerous trend, perhaps attributable to the bleats of vaccine deniers who elevate misinformation, emotion and quackery over science. Some adults may […]
To protect Virginia clinics and patients, improve federal safety net program accountability
Families across the commonwealth need solutions that will meaningfully lower their health care costs. As a pediatric rheumatologist, I’ve witnessed families making hard choices when their prescriptions become too expensive. That’s why I find it incredibly upsetting when some Virginia hospitals and healthcare systems exploit and profit from federal programs intended to provide underserved patients […]
9 states, including Virginia, poised to end coverage for millions if Trump cuts Medicaid funding
With Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans taking full control of Congress in 2025, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion is back on the chopping block. More than 3 million adults in nine states would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage should the GOP reduce the extra federal Medicaid […]
Six years into an Appalachia hospital monopoly, patients are fearful and furious
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Jerry Qualls had a heart attack in 2022 and was rushed by ambulance to Holston Valley Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for a week and kept alive by a ventilator and blood pump, according to his medical records. His wife, Katherine Qualls, said his doctors offered little hope. In an interview […]
Kaine, Spanberger part of bipartisan, bicameral efforts to address drug supply chain shortages
Southside Virginia resident Wendy Oliver’s body might be frail amid her struggle with Lupus — an autoimmune disease that has rendered her disabled — but her spirit is strong as she and her husband navigate accessing her pain medication amid national drug shortages. “This (disease) is something I have to deal with, but I don’t […]
Anti-lockdown researcher Trump’s pick to lead National Institutes of Health
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he has selected a Stanford University professor of health policy and skeptic of COVID-19 precautions to run the National Institutes of Health, the sweeping federal agency tasked with solving many of the country’s biggest health challenges. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will require Senate confirmation before taking over the role […]
Hundreds of animals have tested positive for rabies in Va. this year. How does it affect humans?
Last week, central Virginia’s district of the state health department reported a cat in Lynchburg tested positive for rabies, following at least four cases in the Lynchburg area and 272 positive rabies tests in animals statewide so far this year. While the full year’s numbers haven’t been reported yet, 381 animals tested positive for rabies […]