Bonus Episode: Voices from the Frontlines of a Rural Healthcare Crisis

Trillbilly Worker's Party

Comedy

4.8 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2019

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our very own Tanya Bernice Turner went down to Kingsport, Tennessee, to speak with community members protesting the closure of a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, at privately-owned Holston Valley Medical Center. The protest has been going on for over 140 days with little-to-no media coverage, and so we thought it was something you all should know about. This interview features @danithepoet who you can follow for updates. As Dani explains, "The reason this matters is we are the test case for rural America. They intend to roll this out everywhere across the country. And it should scare you that a healthcare corporation and a couple of politicians can make some laws that tie the hands of the federal government." For more information: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2019/06/23/ballad-health-merger-rural-hospital-closures/1342608001/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, welcome to this bonus episode of Tribally Workers Party. I'm Tanya and I was
0:06.9	recently able to visit a group of incredible women entering nearly 140 days of peaceful 24-7 protests outside their only medical center in Kingsport, Tennessee.
0:19.0	Valid Health, after a merger, announced cuts to their NICU, servicing sick babies, and
0:26.0	downgrades to their trauma center.
0:28.5	These women have since collected 27,000 signatures from the rural communities that Holston Valley Medical Center services to petition that decision.
0:37.0	I'm excited for you to hear from these women.
0:40.0	I also dropped in some music from the High Women.
0:43.0	Enjoy.
0:45.8	The Tennessee Department of Health
0:50.9	approved the closure of the Host of Valley Medical Center at
0:54.2	KU. Despite all the evidence that shows they shouldn't do so. So my name is
1:00.3	Danny Cook, DA and I cook, so like a boy but I'm not.
1:03.7	And I am originally from Bristol, Tennessee.
1:07.6	In August of 2017, my youngest daughter
1:11.6	who lives in Bristol with her husband and my oldest grandson and my
1:17.1	mom they also live there.
1:19.5	She was pregnant and was due November 11th, 2017.
1:25.0	And I got a phone call on August 9th around 1 o'clock in the afternoon and she said,
1:31.0	hey mom, they are putting me in the hospital and I was
1:33.5	like when and she was like right now there's something wrong and so I left
1:41.2	Atlanta Georgia and I was in the Holston Valley Medical Center parking lot at 6 PM.
1:46.0	And two days later, my granddaughter Bella was born at just 26 weeks on August 11th weighing one pound and three ounces.
	...

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