About AHCJ: General News

AHCJ announces 10th class of Health Performance Reporting Fellows Date: 11/18/19

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Association of Health Care Journalists has awarded AHCJ Reporting Fellowships on Health Care Performance to six journalists who intend to pursue significant projects in 2020. The program, in its 10th year, is meant to help journalists understand and report on the performance of local health care markets and the U.S. health system as a whole.

The fellowship program, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, is intended to give experienced print, broadcast and online reporters an opportunity to concentrate on the performance of health care systems – or significant parts of those systems – locally, regionally or nationally. The fellows are able to examine policies, practices and outcomes, as well as the roles of various stakeholders.

The 2020 fellows will be:

  • Carol Cruzan Morton, independent journalist writing for The Oregonian (@CarolMorton)
    Morton will investigate suicide data being collected at local, state, and national levels and how existing and innovative data approaches are working to understand and prevent suicides.

  • Nicholas Florko, Washington correspondent, Stat (@NicholasFlorko)
    Florko will study three states' unique strategies to eliminate Hepatitis C in prisons. 

  • Sebastián Martínez Valdivia, public health reporter, KBIA (@sebastiansings)
    Martínez will investigate the effects of automation on Missouri's Medicaid renewals program, which has dropped more people's coverage than most other states. 

  • Alice Ollstein, health care reporter, Politico (@AliceOllstein)
    Ollstein will examine how state and federal policy changes including the Title X rule are impacting the epidemic of sexually transmitted infections. 

  • Luanne Rife, health reporter, The Roanoke Times (@LuanneRife)
    Rife will explore Virginia policies that keep geriatric mental health patients locked in state psychiatric hospitals long after they are medically cleared for discharge.

  • Jocelyn Wiener, independent journalist writing for CalMatters (@jocelynwiener)
    Wiener will examine the roots of California’s mental health crisis and explore possible solutions that may exist elsewhere.

The fellows will continue in their current jobs during the coming year, but also receive customized training, mentoring and financial support for field reporting and conference and workshop attendance. With the support of the program, and their own news outlets, they are expected to complete significant and unique reporting projects by the end of 2020.

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. With about 1,500 members across the United States and around the globe, its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The association and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism provide training, resources and a professional home for journalists. Offices are based at the Missouri School of Journalism.

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. The Fund is based in New York City and has supported this fellowship program since it began.