AHCJ is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism.
Now in its 20th year, the contest recognizes the best of health care journalism across all platforms. The 2023 contest drew 426 entries in 14 categories; there were 14 first-place winners.
“We made some pretty dramatic changes this year to the contest, based on feedback we’d received — and we’re thrilled that the number of entrants remained as high as ever,” said Christine Herman, AHCJ board member and chair of the contest committee. “It’s a privilege to oversee a contest that aims to highlight the best of the best in health reporting — to honor the passion and drive of journalists who go deep on stories, share them with the world and make an impact.”
And the award goes to…
The winner of the Audio Reporting (large division) category is Susan Burton, who examined a surgical procedure called egg retrieval — and women’s pain that often accompanies it — for Serial Productions and The New York Times. In Audio Reporting (small division), first place went to reporters Jonathan Davis, Michael I. Schiller and Taki Telonidis of Reveal for their podcast exploring America’s efforts to approve psychedelics as PTSD treatment.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Wendy Ruderman took first place in the Beat Reporting category for covering accountability in Philly’s health care systems.
Staff at ProPublica and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette won first place in the Awards for Excellence Business category for their coverage of the dangerous defects in millions of breathing machines used in homes and hospitals around the world.
In the Consumer/Feature category (large division), Carrie Arnold won first place for her reporting for The Guardian on bodily autonomy and treatment when it comes to anorexia. In the small division, Anna Altman nabbed first place with a story for The Atavist Magazine on the compassionate release process.
For the Health Policy category, David Hilzenrath of KFF Health News and Jodie Fleischer of Cox Media Group won first place in the large division for their coverage of social security overpayments. Jenna Carlesso and Dave Altimari of the Connecticut Mirror were selected as first-place winners of the small division for their coverage of Connecticut’s elder care system.
A.J. Lagoe, Gary Knox, Steve Eckert of KARE 11 claimed first place in the Investigative (large division) category, for their coverage of veterans benefits administration. Wilson Criscione of InvestigateWest won the small division for reporting on a child abuse whistleblower and all that followed.
In the Public Health category, the staff of Reuters won first place (large division) for coverage of the risk of global health disasters via bat habitats. In the small division, the staff of Public Health Watch won first place for their work covering Texas’ toxic air.
Simar Bajaj took first place in the Student Reporting category for work published in The Guardian about smoking sales bans.
In the Trade publications category, Jennifer Couzin-Frankel of Science took first place for coverage of a new procedure for organ donation.
Check out the complete list of Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism winners here.
Entries were judged by more than 80 volunteers who are current or retired journalists, or journalism professors.
All prizes will be presented during the Health Journalism 2024 awards luncheon on June 8 in New York City. First-place winners will receive $500 and complimentary lodging for two nights and registration for one person at the annual conference.
Oversight and support for the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism comes from the AHCJ Contest Committee, co-chaired by AHCJ board members Christine Herman and Carrie Feibel. The committee also includes board members Joyce Frieden and Sabriya Rice and member volunteers Pauline Arrillaga, Jonathan Rockoff and Mia de Graaf. AHCJ members interested in serving on the committee can contact us at contest@healthjournalism.org.
Special thanks to AHCJ staff member Tina England for the organizational excellence and administrative care she brings to the year-round management of contest operations.
