Sarah Fentem
Sarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover. A longitme NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in the Kingshighway Hills neighborhood, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her fiancé Elliot. She has a cat, Lil Rock, and a dog, Ginger.
-
St. Luke's, a Kansas City-based health system that operates 14 hospitals in Kansas and Missouri, has finalized plans to merge with BJC Healthcare in St. Louis. The two systems expect to complete the $10 billion deal by Jan. 1.
-
Beginning in the new year, patients 18 and under who enroll in Missouri's insurance programs for low-income people will not be removed for 12 months. Missouri was one of the few U.S. states that did not offer guaranteed yearlong coverage.
-
Missouri University of Science and Technology professor Mark Towler has patented a glass powder that helps wounds stop bleeding. He's now investigating whether it also can prevent infections.
-
The St. Charles County Council decided not to act yet on a resolution condemning the International Institute’s efforts to bring Latin Americans to the region. The resolution opposes "the importation of illegal immigrants," but Institute leaders said people helped by their program are in the country legally.
-
Infant mortality in Missouri went up 16% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Missouri was one of only four states that showed a significant rise.
-
A mobile clinic is swinging through several Missouri cities offering free vasectomies this week. The procedure takes just about 10 minutes and can be done in outpatient settings.
-
Officials on Monday announced Washington University's Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital would no longer offer puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgeries to minors — even those who are exempted from Missouri's new ban.
-
A growing number of people are testing positive for the coronavirus, but Missouri scientists say the virus still poses a smaller threat to residents than during the height of the pandemic.
-
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that callers to Missouri's social services helpline waited an average of 48 minutes before reaching someone, and 44% of callers hung up before being helped.
-
Between 2018 and 2020, more than 200 women in Missouri died during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, according to a state health department report released this week. The number of deaths from suicide and firearms increased, and Black women were three times as likely to die as their white counterparts.