Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez

Author's posts

Small, Rural Communities Have Become Abortion Access Battlegrounds

After local leaders in rural Nevada reached an impasse over a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic, an anti-abortion activist pitching local abortion bans across the U.S. arrived at their remote City Hall.

Doctor Shortages Distress Rural America, Where Few Residency Programs Exist

Patients in rural northeastern Nevada soon will have fewer providers and resources, after a local hospital decided to close its medical residency program. Nationally, the number of rural residency slots has grown during the past few years but still makes up just 2% of programs and residents nationwide.

Mobile Clinics Really Got Rolling in the Pandemic. A New Law Will Help Them Cast a Wider Safety Net.

Mobile clinics that provided covid-19 testing and vaccines at the peak of the pandemic are now being used to provide a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. A law passed late last year allows qualified health care centers to use federal grants to expand the fleets.

Clinics on wheels bring doctors and dentists to health care deserts

Health care vans that provided COVID testing and vaccines in the pandemic are now providing a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. New access to federal funds could expand the trend.

Looming Cuts to Emergency SNAP Benefits Threaten Food Security in Rural America

In a few weeks, pandemic-era emergency boosts to SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, will be rolled back across 32 states, putting more pressure on food pantries to fill the gaps and exacerbating challenges for rural areas, where a greater share of people are enrolled in the program compared with metro areas.

With less access to paid leave, rural workers face hard choices about health, family

Coastal and politically progressive states have passed stronger paid sick and family leave policies than many states with larger rural populations.

After a Brief Pandemic Reprieve, Rural Workers Return to Life Without Paid Leave

Coastal and politically progressive states have passed stronger paid sick and family leave policies, but many workers in rural America are left out, facing tough decisions when choosing between caring for themselves or sick family members or keeping their jobs.

Mistrust and Polarization Steer Rural Governments to Reject Federal Public Health Funding

As the covid-19 pandemic grinds on, Elko County, Nevada, still lacks a public health department. Yet its elected leaders rejected federal funds that could have helped it create one. Decisions like the one in Elko, and ones made by officials with other state and local governments, leave health experts concerned about whether the country’s public health infrastructure will be prepared to handle future health challenges.

When Monkeypox Reaches Rural Communities, It Collides With Strained Public Health Systems

In Nevada, local health officials are assessing the threat of monkeypox, but their response may be hampered by historically limited public health infrastructure worn thin by the covid-19 pandemic.

A Needle Exchange Project Modeled on Urban Efforts Aims to Save Lives in Rural Nevada

Five years after HIV tore through a rural Indiana town as a result of widespread drug use, a syringe and needle exchange program was set up in rural Nevada to prevent a similar event.