Healthcare

By the mid-1930s Kansas City area high school football players, like these members of the William Chrisman High School football squad in Independence, competed while wearing helmets and protective padded apparel.

Risks and Rewards of Playing High School Football

By Brian Burnes | September 6, 2023

Kansas City football history is littered with players killed and maimed playing the sport. It was so violent high school football once was banned for 13 years.

Two black cows stick their heads under a fence to eat out of a trough.

Who Regulates the Food We Eat?

By Cami Koons | August 31, 2023

There’s a fight brewing over who will regulate U.S. food — and who picks up the tab. Here’s what Kansas and Missouri producers think about the EATS Act.

Cancer patient Isidro Rodriguez at El Centro's Johnson County office.

Latino Community Lobbies Hospitals for Cancer Care

By Mary Sanchez | August 24, 2023

The Latino community, led by El Centro, has launched a campaign to improve access to cancer treatment at Kansas City area hospitals.

woman with short dark hair holds a blue scoop full of oats up to a white horse, who munches on the oats. The woman has her hand on the horses face.

Heart’s Pursuit Ranch Offers Horse Powered Healing

By Vicky Diaz-Camacho, Cami Koons | August 11, 2023

Sarah Hanson, founded Heart’s Pursuit Ranch, which pairs individuals and horses together to help folks deal with anything from trauma to self-confidence.

Nurses in the emergency department of a hospital.

One-third of Missouri’s Rural Hospitals at Risk of Closure

By Clara Bates, Missouri Independent | August 1, 2023

The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform found that 19 of Missouri’s 57 rural hospitals are at risk of closure due to “serious financial problems.”

Wellness Center Planned for Former Wendell Phillips School Near 18th & Vine

By Kevin Collison | July 13, 2023

(Editor’s note: This article originally was published March 13, 2023) By Kevin Collison The former Wendell Phillips school near the 18th & Vine District is slated to become a community wellness center serving the neighborhood and a new affordable housing project planned across the street. Urban Catalyst Inc. has acquired the school at 24th and…

Ten people wearing Come on Now! t-shirts.

Come on Now! New App Fills Gaps in Health Care Access

By Teagan King | July 12, 2023

Many folks are still struggling to access health care. Dr. Shelley Cooper has developed an app to overcome those obstacles. It’s called Come on Now!

Nicole Noblet (at center in purple) with Missouri's People First Chapter at Disability Rights Legislative Day at the Capitol. (Contributed)

Young Adults with Disabilities Want Independence. Guardianship Is a Hurdle.

By Vicky Diaz-Camacho | June 8, 2023

Students with disabilities are too often faced with hurdles when entering young adulthood. One lesser-known issue: the school-to-guardianship pipeline.

A man in a gray shirt and black pants bends over a row of short bean plants situated at the base of a trellis. With his hand he demonstrates the size of the beans yielded by the plants to address food security.

A Lawrence Farmer’s Innovative Approach to Food Security

By Cami Koons | June 7, 2023

LAWRENCE, Kansas — Pantaleon Florez III looks at food security as an issue to be solved. He asks those working in local food systems (and himself) what they would do if their community didn’t have a hunger issue. “That’s my new narrative: ‘What would you do if you didn’t have to do this work?’”…