Health Care

For nearly 50 years, Idaho WWAMI has provided accessible medical education through a partnership between the University of Idaho and the University of Washington School of Medicine. Idaho ranks 49th in the U.S. for the number of primary care doctors per capita. More than 50% of Idaho WWAMI graduates return to practice in Idaho.

Dr. Ted Epperly, President and CEO of the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, knows quite a bit about the Affordable Care Act. In fact, he was very much a part of its foundation in 2009, when he served as President of the American Academy of Family Physicians. More than a decade later, Epperly says the ACA is more important than ever, considering the nation is grip of a pandemic.

The Mountain West is facing a hospitalization crisis, and even states that cracked down early are feeling the effects of those that didn't.

In Washington State, the frustration is palpable.

The move came without much warning. 

“We were stunned,” Dr. Christine Hahn, the Idaho State epidemiologist, told the radio show Idaho Matters. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the nation to figure out something it's tried to do for years: increase access to telehealth.

That’s true across the nation and in rural Western states like Idaho. 

Over the weekend, folks gathered at the Idaho Statehouse steps to hold a rally in support of Black Lives Matter. But this protest had a very specific angle: health care and its connection to systemic racismc. 

On Saturday in Boise, a group of health care workers are planning to gather at the capitol steps for a rally in support of Black Lives Matter. Speakers are set to address the connection between systemic racism and medical care in the United States. 

Americans are divided on lots of issues. But a new national survey finds that people across the political spectrum agree on at least one thing: Our health care system needs fixing.

Rural communities across America struggle to find adequate dental care nearby, which means oral health can be neglected until it manifests into an urgent medical issue. Some doctors gear their practices and pro-bono work to helping underprivledged and speical needs patients. We talk with one dentist based in Jerome and another in rural Adams County to get a sense for how folks get treatment in these locations. 

Value-based healthcare is designed to incentivize high quality care to Medicare patients. The goal is to help lower and middle income families receive high quality care without private insurance. As more providers move toward this model, Boise State University is launching a certificate program in January to train folks in the healthcare industry. We learn more from the program's director. 

A new national report from Georgetown University shows children in the U.S. lost health insurance at a rapid rate during the past two years. The researchers say this trend emerged as states started dismantling and repealing segments of the Affordable Care Act.

Idaho’s only Children’s Hospital is just days away from opening its doors to a new one of a kind medical building that’s aimed at changing how children view going to the doctor. The Idaho Elks Children’s Pavilion will officially opens its doors to patients September 3 in dowtown Boise.

Scleroderma is a chronic connective tissue disease. Folks who have it often suffer in silence without the support they need to cope. The Southern Idaho Scleroderma Support Group was created to help raise awareness about the disease and provide a network for those diagnosed with it.

It’s not easy to go to the doctor if you speak a different language. But, what if you’re deaf? How do you communicate? What barriers must be overcome for a simple doctor’s visit? Saint Alphonsus is working with the Idaho Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing on programs to help.

How would you like to lower your cholesterol, your blood pressure, your blood sugar — and lose some weight? Sound too good to be true? St. Luke’s is trying to do all of that with the “Complete Health Improvement Program” or “CHIP.” It’s not a diet. It’s an 18-session lifestyle enrichment program. The goal is to change habits and lifestyles to reduce disease risk factors.  

The state of Idaho is still working to implement voter-approved Medicaid Expansion. The debate over expansion has been front and center in the public eye this year. But behind the scenes, health care providers around the state are preparing for the influx of patients, once thousands of more people are eligible for Medicaid. We find out how one hospital system is getting ready.