by Laurence Hammack | Nov 1, 2014 | Health care
The competition between Southwest Virginia’s two major health care systems can be as fierce as what you see on a college football field. Which may explain why officials at Carilion Clinic were so perturbed when Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer began...
by Laurence Hammack | Sep 7, 2014 | Addiction/drug abuse
BLAND — Nearly everything that Kevin Keller did in his final years bore the mark of constant pain, even the note he left in the end. His right arm rendered useless by a crippling stroke, Keller used an unsteady left hand to scrawl a brief letter to his best...
by Laurence Hammack | Dec 29, 2013 | Health care
Next year, Nathan Auldridge will be as much a cancer survivor as he has been for the past eight years. There will be a difference, though, one that he calls life-changing. Because of his pre-existing condition, Auldridge has been paying $483 a month for health...
by Laurence Hammack | Dec 8, 2013 | Health care
MONTEREY — Ann Foster’s allergies have taken her over many a mountain in search of a cure. Foster lives in rural Highland County, where there is no hospital, no practicing physician, not even a pharmacy. To see a pulmonary specialist, Foster recently...
by Laurence Hammack | Oct 13, 2013 | Health care
First thing on the morning of Oct. 1, Candice Verwey logged on to her computer to shop for health insurance from her dining room table. That was how it was supposed to work under the Affordable Care Act: Go to healthcare.gov, enter your personal information, see if...