Press release:
Carolina Public Press and HuffPost will present a free and public Newsmakers forum focused on women’s health and rural hospitals on Monday, Sept. 25, from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville and via a live-stream.
Panelists will discuss challenges to rural women’s health, including decreasing labor and delivery services in rural hospitals; labor and delivery options currently available for families across Western North Carolina; disparities in accessing rural healthcare; and related public health and public policy implications. As of Sept. 30, 10 of the 19 westernmost counties of North Carolina will either not have a hospital at all or will have a hospital without a labor and delivery department.
Journalists with Carolina Public Press and HuffPost will moderate the Newsmakers forum, which includes networking, a panel discussion and audience Q&A. Local event sponsors include Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Blue Ridge Public Radio, Communication Mark, Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville, Park Ridge Health and Self-Help Credit Union.
Seats are limited and RSVPs are required. A live-stream of the forum will be available for those unable to attend in person. RSVP at carolinapublicpress.org to reserve a seat and for details on how to connect and participate remotely.
The event is one part of a journalism collaboration between Carolina Public Press and HuffPost, which includes an in-depth reporting project on the same topic, specifically on the changing access to labor and delivery departments and services across the mainly rural portions of Western North Carolina. The reports will be published in September and will be available at carolinapublicpress.org and huffpost.com.
For more information on the Newsmakers series, please visit carolinapublicpress.org; subscribe to Carolina Public Press or call 828-774-5290.
For more information on HuffPost’s “Listen To America” project, visit huffpost.com/feature/listen-to-america and follow along via HuffPost’s daily newsletter and Facebook page.
ABOUT CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS:
Launched in 2011, Carolina Public Press is an award-winning nonprofit online news service providing the 19 westernmost counties of North Carolina with independent, in-depth and investigative news. Our Newsmakers forums draw participants from across the state for civic and civil dialogues about the top issues facing our communities, region and state. Find us at www.carolinapublicpress.org or call 828-774-5290 for more information.
ABOUT HUFFPOST:
HuffPost is a global, premier media platform: a Pulitzer Prize-winning source of news, commentary, entertainment, features and lifestyle content. HuffPost serves 200 million viewers on a monthly basis, consecutively reaching 1 billion monthly video views, ranking as the #1 publisher on Facebook in 2016, and spanning 17 editions around the world while using every available tool and platform, including augmented reality and immersive storytelling. HuffPost is part of Oath.
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