The winners of the 2022 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism were announced Monday by AHCJ.
Now in its 19th year, the contest recognizes the best of print, broadcast and online health care journalism. The 2022 contest drew 476 entries in 14 categories; there were 14 first-place winners.
“We were thrilled to see so many journalists continuing to produce sterling work in 2021, which was the grueling second year of the pandemic,” said Tony Leys, a Des Moines Register reporter and AHCJ board member.
“Many pieces focused on COVID-19 concerns, but reporters also kept digging into the countless other vital areas of health care coverage.”
Winners of the large-division audio reporting category, Dorey Scheimer, Meghna Chakrabarti, Tim Skoog of WBUR’s On Point,tackled artificial intelligence and the future of American health care. While reporters Rosemary Westwood, Eve Abrams and Patrick Madden ofWWNO/WRKF explored the Mississippi case to end Roe v. Wade and snagged first place in the small-division audio reporting category.
The Seattle Times reporter Hanna Rose Furfaro took first place in the beat reporting category for her work covering proactive approaches to mental health in Washington state.
Staff at the Wall Street Journal won first place in the business category for their coverage of nonprofit medical institutions and the federal benefits they receive in exchange for services provided to local communities.
In the consumer/feature category, ProPublica’s Duaa Eldeib was named winner of the large-division with their reporting on stillbirths in the U.S. In the small-division, Kristen Hwang of CalMatters claimed first place with their piece exploring rising congenital syphilis rates alongside dwindling public health funding.
For the health policy category, Ava Kofman, ProPublica and The New Yorker, won first place in the large-division for their coverage of the perils of the little-regulated hospice care industry. Guy Boulton of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel was selected as the winner of the small-division with their coverage of the funding disconnect between health care and social services.
Cynthia Dizikes and Matthias Gafni of the San Francisco Chronicle claimed first place in the investigative category, large-division, for their reporting on child deaths at John Muir health system. Molly Castle Work of the Post Bulletin was selected as winner of the small-division for their work on the contentious relationship between the Mayo Clinic and patients eligible for charity care.
In the public health category, Matt Richtel of The New York Times won first place in the large-division for their coverage on the science behind the teen mental health crisis. In the small-division, Ted Alcorn of New Mexico In Depth, was named winner for their work on the growing rate of alcohol-related deaths in New Mexico.
The fellows and faculty of the Global Reporting Program at the UBC School of Journalism, Writing and Media were named winners of the student reporting cateorgy for their in-depth coverage of aging in the U.S.
Charlotte Huff of Health Affairs was named winner of the trade publications category for their coverage of the Utah health system’s work to stem the tide of deaths by suicide.
Entries were judged by 70 volunteers who are current or retired journalists or journalism professors.
All prizes will be presented during the Health Journalism 2023 awards luncheon on March 11 in St. Louis. First-place winners will receive $500 and complimentary lodging for two nights and registration for one person at the annual conference.
