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Sandy West

Houston
As seen in: CNN, MSN, Yahoo Life, The Washington Post, USA Today, Yahoo News, Aol, CBS News, NBC News, NBC Out and
Freelance journalist. AP, ACBJ, small-town newspaper alum. Native Kansan. President @houstonspj. muckrack.com/sandy-west

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Sandy West’s Journalist Portfolio

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Maternal Healthcare 'Deserts' Leave Thousands of Texas Women to Their Own Devices - Public Health...

Maternal Healthcare 'Deserts' Leave Thousands of Texas Women to Their Own Devices - Public Health...

Cash-Strapped Rural Hospitals in East Texas and Beyond are Closing Their Labor-and-Delivery Units

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Maternal Healthcare 'Deserts' Leave Thousands of Texas Women to Their Own Devices - Public Health...

Maternal Healthcare 'Deserts' Leave Thousands of Texas Women to Their Own Devices - Public Health...

Cash-Strapped Rural Hospitals in East Texas and Beyond are Closing Their Labor-and-Delivery Units

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East Texas Hit Hard by Gun-Related Suicides - Public Health Watch

East Texas Hit Hard by Gun-Related Suicides - Public Health Watch

Scarcity of mental health resources, prevalence of guns and stigma attached to seeking help contribute to hig…

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Immigrant kids detained in "unsafe and unsanitary" sites as Trump administration seeks to end pro...

Immigrant kids detained in "unsafe and unsanitary" sites as Trump administration seeks to end pro...

The Justice Department seeks to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, which requires U.S. immigration of…

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The Adoption Trap

The Adoption Trap

Private foster care and adoption agencies in Texas are brokering contracts for moms to turn over their childr…

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A runner was hit by a car. His ambulance bill was $13,000.

A runner was hit by a car. His ambulance bill was $13,000.

"It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me because the doctor is the one who put him in the ambulance," said …

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Articles

Maternal health ‘deserts’ endanger some Texas women, babies

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By Sandy West, Ellie H. Ashby, Chloe Landen
| Texas Tribune Verified
HEMPHILL — Sarah Gipson knew something was wrong when the normally chatty sonogram technician fell silent and called for the doctor. Gipson was in the 32nd week of her high-risk pregnancy, and she felt horrible. She was seeing stars, had constant ringing in her ears, and had been on bed rest for several weeks. Still, she wasn’t alarmed. “It wasn’t anything abnormal for me to feel terrible,” she said. That Halloween Day in 2024, however, was different.
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Maternal healthcare ‘deserts’ leave thousands of Texas women to their own devices

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By Sandy West, Hannah Layfield
| Texas Standard Verified
State records show about 100 births annually attributed to women from Sabine County. Grant funds recently enabled the county’s hospital to purchase a baby warmer and an obstetrics stretcher. The hospital has also applied for a Texas Rural Health Innovation Grant through the state’s Health and Human Services Commission in hopes of bringing back the county’s prenatal and post-partum care to the hospital and its clinics.
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Maternal Healthcare ‘Deserts’ Leave Thousands of Texas Women to Their Own Devices

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By Sandy West
| Public Health Watch Verified
This is the first story in a two-part series by Public Health Watch examining maternal health deserts in East Texas. In the second part, women share their stories of delivering without adequate support. HEMPHILL, Texas — Sarah Gipson knew something was wrong when the normally chatty sonogram technician fell silent and called for the doctor. Gipson was in the 32nd week of her high-risk pregnancy, and she felt horrible.
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