Every Friday, BPR's Helen Chickering talks with NC Health News Founding Editor Rose Hoban. This week they discuss the latest COVID-19 metrics , how the public is responding to the modified stay-home order as Phase-2 approaches along with the recent surge in telemedicine and the challenges for rural communities.

The biggest health crisis in a lifetime hit Asheville shortly after the one-year anniversary of the biggest upheaval in local healthcare: the $1.5 billion sale of the nonprofit Mission Health System to HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital management chain.

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted some dentists to break into the new frontier of teledentistry – including the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). BPR’s Helen Chickering caught up with a MAHEC dental resident as the program was just getting underway.

Mental healthcare providers say that increased anxiety and a shorter fuse are normal during COVID-19 stress. BPR talked with one provider for rural Western North Carolina about what it’s like to deal with a pandemic – and help others through it: Meridian Behavioral Health Services serves the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina. Like anywhere else, life looks very different now for the organization’s health care providers: “Pretty much everything has changed since COVID-19.” That’s

The Coronavirus pandemic took hold right as one of Southern Appalachia’s most important cultural traditions annually takes place. The pungent wild onions known as ramps are largely absent from people’s plates because they’re usually brought to the table by foragers – a group that is feeling the pinch of social distancing not in how they collect, but in how they sell.

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into the lives of high school seniors all over the U.S - including athletics, where many seniors have been left in limbo as they try to determine where and how to take the next step. That's certainly the case for one such high school senior in Asheville.

During "Phase 1" of reopening, many retail businesses in North Carolina have been able to open back up, but under reduced capacity. So-called "personal care" businesses remain shuttered -- like salons, gyms, and barber shops.

The COVID-19 pandemic arrived at the same time as an annual ritual - spring cleaning. That provides an opportunity for donations at a time when many community organizations desperately need them.

Every Friday, BPR's Helen Chickering talks with NC Health News Founding Editor Rose Hoban. This week they discuss what health officials are monitoring as the first wave of stay-home restrictions are lifted, the complicated challenge of figuring out if somebody has recovered from COVID-19 and her thoughts about Nurse’s week amid coronavirus.

Graham County is one of the most rural counties in North Carolina, with just around 9,000 residents. It’s isolation led county leaders to put in place some of the most restrictive measures in the state in hopes of keeping the Coronavirus away - but it still came anyway. BPR spoke with Graham County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case about the responsibility she felt when she learned the news: Graham County doesn’t have a hospital. That’s the main reason county commissioners decided to close off