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Listen In, Lubbock: The Other Texas Drought

Bowie Central Hospital closed on February 4th, 2020, ahead of the pandemic. Overgrown plants cover the “Emergency” sign at the hospital.
Keren Carrion
/
KERA
Bowie Central Hospital closed on February 4th, 2020, ahead of the pandemic. Overgrown plants cover the “Emergency” sign at the hospital.

In the last decade, Texas has seen the most rural hospital closures than any other state in the country. Once a hospital closes it’s extremely difficult to reopen it. It is a problem that has left many already disadvantaged communities across the state without a lifeline. Texas Tech Public Media partnered with The Texas Newsroom, American Public Media Research Lab and PBS FRONTLINE, to figure out what can be done to fix this problem. On this episode of Listen In, Lubbock, we tease the investigative podcast will highlight the main finds of the reporting for this project.

Later on, we hear Sarah Self-Walbrick's conversation with democratic gubernatorial candidate, Beto O'Rourke as part of our Conversations with Candidates series—the transcript is linked below.

Guest:

Jayme Lozano, Frontline reporter, Texas tech Public Media

Helpful Links:

Check out previous storiesfrom Jayme and APM Research Lab reported throughout the year.

Click here to explore the data compiled by APM Research Lab for this project.

Texas health group cashes in on state’s rural hospital crisis, Politico's article on the previous owners of Bowie Memorial Hospital and their business model.

Kaysie Ellingson is the former news director for Texas Tech Public Media. She came to Lubbock after living in Anchorage, Alaska, working as a documentary producer for Alaska Public Media. Prior to working in public media, Kaysie earned her master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California with an emphasis in documentary production.
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