Latest news with #ECUHealth
Miami Herald
11-07-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
The neediest people were let down again by the lawmakers they voted for. It's baffling.
Cathy Price's words stopped me cold. She's a 72-year-old woman who worked as a nurse at Martin General in a rural part of North Carolina. That area stands to be particularly hard hit by the 'big beautiful bill' Republicans passed and President Donald Trump signed into law on the 249th anniversary of this country's birth. Martin General was part of ECU Health, a not-for-profit system that serves about 1.4 million people in eastern North Carolina, including rural areas in Martin County. ECU planned to reopen Martin General, at least for emergency and some diagnostic services. It closed in 2023, then North Carolina finally agreed to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), giving residents hope their local hospital would return. The nearest hospital is a 30- to 40-minute drive away. 'We're in a life-and-death crisis,' Price told The New York Times. 'People's lives are on the line because of the hospital not being here.' She knows the dire situation facing rural residents in Martin County, and elsewhere. Still, she told The Times she supports President Trump's supposed efforts to rid Medicaid of fraud and waste. What she and many other Trump supporters don't seem to understand is that in the eyes of Trump and most other Republicans in Washington, D.C. — including the ones rural North Carolina residents sent to the nation's capital to represent them — they are the fraud and waste. They are the lazy 'able-bodied' people, supposedly addicted to government assistance, who hate having to take care of themselves. They are the problem Republicans are trying to solve, the sacrifice the GOP just made to ensure the wealthiest Americans and corporations can receive yet another massive tax cut. The wealthiest Americans did not need even more money in their pockets, but Price's neighbors and friends in Martin County need the health care that will be taken away, or may never materialize, because of the 'big beautiful bill' billionaire Trump can't stop crowing about. The Medicaid coverage that, as recalled in The Times article, allowed 58-year-old Lori Kelley in Harrisburg to save a finger and detect two tumors? That might be going away. But at least private plane and yacht owners are gonna have yet another way to write off some of their tax obligations. For decades now, rural residents have been flocking to the Republican Party. It's mostly been white rural residents, but a small but not-insignificant number of Black and brown rural residents have joined them. Theories abound as to why. Political analysts will point to policies such as NAFTA, which has been blamed for the loss of manufacturing jobs in rural areas. I grew up in St. Stephen, S.C., and saw the Georgia Pacific paper plant that had sustained us close and leave a devastating void. At least four of my family members worked there. As a journalist, I documented the closing of a bevy of manufacturing plants, including International Paper and Georgetown Steel in Georgetown, and an electricity-producing plant in Conway. The shifts in manufacturing are complex and multilayered. They've caused real harm to real people. But there is no one cause, which is why I don't believe that can explain the voting shifts. And the two parties have been exceedingly clear about their priorities. When Democrats are given power, they fight to expand health care coverage, strengthen the safety net and argue for a living wage and higher taxes on the wealthy. The GOP does the opposite. (The same can be said of how the parties view disaster preparedness and assistance. The Trump administration is trying to dismantle FEMA even as natural disasters are causing even more harm and killing more people. Democrats want to better fund such agencies.) During Trump's first term, one of the Republicans' top goals was to fully uproot Obamacare, risking the lives of tens of thousands of Americans and the health of millions. The 'big beautiful bill' helped the GOP partially accomplish that goal – at the expense of Price and her rural North Carolina neighbors. It's one of the most baffling truisms of the modern political era. The neediest Americans repeatedly empower the people most likely to ignore their most-pressing needs.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
ECU Health and Food Lion Feeds to offer free summer meals for kids
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — ECU Health is partnering with Food Lion Feeds to provide summer meals for children and teens. Starting today, Wednesday, June 11, free meals are available Monday through Thursday at their different meal sites in Greenville, Ahoskie, Bethel, and Tarboro. They were at York Memorial AME Zion Church in Greenville today. 'We understand and we know that children, some children, don't have access to food once they leave the school during the summer,' Associate Minister at York Memorial AME Zion Church in Greenville, Janie Rouse, said. 'You know, they no longer have breakfast or lunch. And we're excited about offering them a lunch during the summer.' In 2024, 3,502 meals were served across the East. 'Our previous years, we have seen a lot of children as well as other community members come to our sites,' Community Health Project Consultant at ECU Health Alexis Connell said. 'Thankfully, this year we were able to expand to a four-site and in the future we hope to continue to expand to different sites in our community.' Meals will be available until food runs out each day at the following locations: Greenville: English Chapel Free Will Baptist Church – 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday-Friday from June 10 to Aug. 23. The location will be closed July 22-26. Ahoskie: Calvary Missionary Baptist Church – 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday-Friday from June 10 to Aug. 23. The location will be closed June 19 and July 4-5. Bethel: Bethel Youth Activity Center – 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday-Thursday from June 17 to July 17. The location will be closed July 3-7. No registration is required. For more information about the ECU Health Summer Meal Program, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Journals
09-06-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
North Carolina faces worrying health care landscape
2025 State of Health Care panel event on June 5 at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The panel featured ECU Health CEO Michael Waldrum; Cristy Page, chief academic officer at UNC Health; Dr. Seth Brody, chief physician executive at WakeMed; Mickey Foster, CEO of FirstHealth of the Carolinas; Morgan Jones, chief strategy officer at Duke Health; Greg Moon, vice president of health care strategy at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
NC Governor delivers gun locks to Elizabeth City Police. Here's how to get one
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) — In his first visit to Northeast North Carolina since being elected the state's 76th Governor, Josh Stein delivered a box of gun locks to local police as part of N.C. S.A.F.E. Week of Action. The week long campaign focuses on safe gun ownership and management, to try and prevent tragedies that Stein, (D-N.C.), said have become far too common. 'Firearms are the leading cause of death of our children age 1 to 17,' Stein said. 'It's not car accidents, it's gun violence. And from 2019 to 2021, the rate of firearm deaths among children more than doubled.' Elizabeth City looks for solutions to gun violence Specifically, the governor was focusing on accidental deaths that have occurred when guns found their way into the hands of children. Dr. Eric Toschlog, chief trauma surgeon for ECU Health, named several examples of cases he had experiences with. '14-year-old male gunshot wound to the brain, inflicted by his brother with a unsafely stored weapon. Five-year-old male gunshot wound to the brain by his brother, unsecured weapon. 13-year-old female gun shot wound to the arm at a family party, unsecured weapon. 18-month-old male, gunshot wound to the heart by family member cleaning gun,' Toschlog said. 'Unfortunately I could consume the remainder of our time with more cases.' Fon Dockery however knows one of the cases all too well. His daughter, Jenesis Dockery, was eight when she was shot and killed in 2023 while at a babysitter's house in Fayetteville. 'The adults responsible for securing these firearms for being present and having these conversations and ensuring that in a house filled with children that any firearm here is secure, effective and that just wasn't done,' Dockery said. 'We we absolutely decided as a family that for the life of Jenesis in the light that she brought to this world. This is a preventable issue and we're going to advocate and we're going to push all across the state of North Carolina all the way to Washington, DC. That we can change the problem that we have in our country and secure our firearms.' FBI data says that the rate of gun theft from vehicles is three times as high as it was 10 years ago. To help reduce gun violence and needless tragedies, Governor Stein proposed more than $2.2 million for safe storage in his . Recently appointed Elizabeth City Police Chief Eddie Graham Jr, accepted a box of gun locks from Stein. The locks use a cable threaded through the barrel or action to prevent someone else from firing the gun. 'We must use every tool at our disposal to keep children safe and promote responsible gun ownership – we need folks locking up their guns, using a gun safe, and talking about the risks of loose firearms,' Stein said. The gun locks are free and anyone looking to obtain one can contact your local police department of sheriff's office, according to the governors office. You can also visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
ECU Health Pop Up series provides health care to rural counties
MARTIN COUNTY, N.C (WNCT) — ECU Health is bringing two free community pop up health events this week to Martin County, as part of the Health and Hope: Martin County Community Health Pop Up series. Tuesday's event took place at the Jamesville Fire Department and provided health screenings, health care education, enrollment assistance for affordable health insurance plans through ACA Market place, and more vital services. Another service provided was a free fruit and vegetable giveaway, thanks to partnering service provider, Conetoe Family Life Center. The event offered health services as an opportunity to support rural health directly. Community Health Improvement Coordinator, Kelly Ange, who serves ECU Health Beaufort Hospital, says events like this help improve outcomes in Eastern North Carolina. 'ECU Health just wanted to bring quality health care here to Martin County,' she said. 'So, we're offering free health screenings to include height, weight, BMI, high blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol screening. So that's a whole lot for one day, right? And we've also brought free produce with us as well as ways to get hooked up to insurance, as well as if you don't have a primary care provider, we have a way here for you to get connected' The next event is Thursday, June 5th at Faith Community Outreach Food Distribution Center in Robersonville from noon to 4 o'clock. Click the video above for more. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
