Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.

Marshall Allen's stories range from in-depth coverage of a health insurance merger and a criminal investigation at a public hospital, to heartfelt stories of patients getting caught up in a system that's often dictated by money and politics instead of quality patient care.

Judges' Comments: Marshall Allen's stories in the Sun were eye-opening accounts of a medical system dangerously out of control. Allen uncovered a range of abuses and flaws in the region's health system, including how a for-profit hospital involuntarily committed a depressed M.S. patient who was only seeking a referral.

Allen's beat reporting submissions

• Indentured Doctors
• Doctors exploited; patients suffer, too
• Woman locked in mental hospital
• Secret contract at public hospital:
  Deal could save hospital money, raise profile
  UMC chief of staff's dual role as administrator questioned
• UMC changes tune on top doctor's contract

See the contest questionnaire in which the reporter writes about how this story was written.

Learn more

Allen has written for AHCJ, describing how he reported on two projects in 2007:
• Indentured doctors: Foreign-born doctors exploited by U.S. physicians
• Death in Sin City – analyzing the CDC’s mortality database