Alabama Public Radio wins Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for series on state's rural health-care crisis

APR News Director Pat Duggins

Alabama Public Radio has won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for its series, “Help Wanted: Alabama’s Rural Health Care Crisis.” News Director Pat Duggins, Stan Ingold and Alex AuBuchon "spent the year, with no budget, investigating why the system here is so badly broken and why solutions aren’t being pursued," Duggins said in the nomination, which includes links to the audio reports.

The National Rural Health Association calls Alabama “ground zero” for "most of what’s wrong with rural health care," Duggins wrote, reporting that 80 percent of the state's rural hospitals are losing money."Rural residents of Alabama frequently go without treatment. Some are reduced to seeking medical care from their veterinarians to avoid long lines or co-pays they can’t afford."