Sarah Fentem
Sarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover. A longitme NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in the Kingshighway Hills neighborhood, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her fiancé Elliot. She has a cat, Lil Rock, and a dog, Ginger.
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At an event about pregnancy and maternal health convened by the St. Louis Department of Health on Thursday, a panel of health workers said quality pre- and post-natal health care provided by workers beyond clinical health settings is essential to reducing the state’s maternal and infant mortality rates.
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The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is fining the directors of the closed Northview Village nursing home more than $18,000 for each day they violated federal rules. Advocates for residents of long-term care facilities say it's not enough.
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A Missouri Foundation for Health report finds both planned and unexpected costs of medical care create financial, physical and emotional burdens for the state’s residents.
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The bill would also require a professional nurse to serve as a director of nursing and designate a charge nurse for each shift.
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The Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project connects people in states where gender-affirming care for minors has been banned or restricted by referring them to clinics and doctors in states that still offer hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers and other treatments.
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On Jan. 1, those 18 and under who enroll in Missouri's insurance programs for low-income people will not be removed for 12 months.
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Infant mortality in Missouri went up 16% between 2021 and 2022, according to federal data released earlier this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Missouri was one of only four states that showed a significant rise.
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A mobile clinic is on a Missouri road trip offering free vasectomies this week. The trailer stopped Thursday in St. Louis and also will visit clinics in Springfield and Rolla.
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Between 2018 and 2020, more than 200 women in Missouri died during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, according to a state health department report released this week. The number of deaths has increased since the 2022 report. The number of deaths from suicide and firearms increased, and Black women were three times as likely to die during or after pregnancy than their white counterparts.
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St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo granted a request from the Missouri chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and their plaintiffs to extend the pause on Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's rule limiting transgender care for another two weeks.