To view the completed capstone project, go here:
And to view my portfolio, go here:
Thank you so much for your support!
November 23, 2009
November 16, 2009
Last week looked promising. We had a lot of interviews scheduled and a lot of time to get our articles written. But, as always, conflicts arose and other obligations made progress difficult.
Two of Zach’s interviews were a bust, and it looks he might lose a third due to scheduling conflicts. One interviewee was even so bold as to stand Zach up, without explanation or apology.
This image was borrowed from Walk-In Medical's website.
I spent several days playing phone tag with one of my sources, Dr. Kommer of Walk-In Medical Care,in an effort to set up an interview. He returned my call on Tuesday, while I was at work, to let me know that he was available until two o’clock that day. I didn’t get the voicemail until three o’clock, when I got off work, so it was too late. I called again and left him another message, which he returned the next day. This time, I was in class when he called and by the time I got his message, it was once again too late. Finally, on Thursday, I talked my boss into giving a long lunch break so that I could drive down to Walk-In and try to steal five minutes of Dr. Kommer’s time. Luckily, it worked. The quotes I got aren’t great, but it’s certainly better than nothing.
Christine faced issues of her own, between coming down with a cold and trying to fight with various departments and advisers in an effort to sort out her schedule for next semester.
And to top it all off, we’re starting to feel the pressure that comes with the end of the semester – final projects for other classes, major exams (Zach took the GRE last weekend!), et cetera. Fall semester can be particularly stressful when you factor in the Thanksgiving holiday and the family/travel stress that always comes with that.
Needless to say, it has been hectic and it will be hectic until the semester is over. We might be slightly behind the schedule we originally laid out for ourselves. But we have a new plan, and we will succeed. We have to, right?
This week, we’re going to focus on editing our audio clips and getting photographs to supplement them. If luck is on our side, we will have that done before Friday, that way we can spend the weekend editing and finalizing the print articles that will complete our project.
Wish us luck!
October 21, 2009
For Wednesday, 10/22.
Two weeks ago, Christine wrote about a health care forum we had attended on campus. Last week, Zach wrote about our trip to North Country Health Care and our meeting with Dr. Henley. This week, I’m writing not necessarily about our project topic, but about our project in general.
Later this week, I’m supposed to interview two individuals who have first-hand experience with the Flagstaff health care system. They have each made trips to the emergency room at Flagstaff Medical Center, as well as several trips to community health centers and general practitioners. One of them is even on AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System – also known as Medicaid). They each have a unique perspective of the Flagstaff health care system, and could provide valuable information to our “investigation.”
I am also trying to contact two other people who have been patients within the Flagstaff health care system, but they are both proving to be difficult to track down and reluctant to talk.
One is currently battling with her insurance company because they are refusing to pay for the medical bills she accrued while she was here. She’s hesitant to talk about the issue for fear that the insurance company might find out and make the situation worse for her.
Fronske Health Center at Northern Arizona Universtiy. Photo by Samantha McLeish.
My other potential interviewee received treatment at the university health center, Fronske, but has proven to be an impossible person to get a hold of, and we’ve been playing phone tag for the last two weeks. It’s clear that, as time passes, he is becoming less and less interested in sharing his story.
I suppose I underestimated how difficult it can be to arrange interviews. I’ve also underestimated how difficult it can be to come up with solid interview questions. As we learned from Sandy Tolan, a guest speaker in class last week, journalists have to find the right questions if they want to find a solid story. But my imagination is failing me here, and I can’t seem to come up with any strong, determinative questions. Suggestions?
With any luck, inspiration will strike before the two interviews I have scheduled for later this week. Wish us luck!
(And look for Christine’s blog next Wednesday!)
September 30, 2009
The Economy vs. Health Care
The entrance to the Flagstaff Medical Center in Flagstaff, AZ. Photo by Zach Krings.
Not a day can go by in this world without someone mentioning either the economy or healthcare. The United States is facing a devastating recession, with ever-increasing unemployment rates, and most US citizens are facing a future without health insurance, and without any hope for significant change. This has prompted the current Administration to consider mass overhauls of each system. Health care reform and economic stimulation are the first, and often the only, political discussions we here these days.
All this talk made me wonder – how are the economic collapse and health care crises related? Did one trigger the other? Does one make the other worse? Will helping one help or hurt the other? And how will this effect our local community here in Flagstaff, Arizona?
A recent Associated Press article by Beth Fouhy quotes Karyn Schwartz, a researcher at the Kaiser Family Foundation, as saying, “Income is key and most of the uninsured have low incomes. If you look at your budget and think you can’t afford it or can afford it if you eat only ramen noodles, you may choose not to get it.” I think this is very telling.
There is an undeniable connection between level of income and the availability/quality of health care. This means that there is an undeniable link between the state of the economy and the state of healthcare. As more people face unemployment, more people face life without health insurance. People without health insurance are likely to avoid going to the doctor if at all possible, which means the healthcare industry is seeing fewer patients and earning a smaller profit. This leads to unbalanced budgets, which leads to a shortage in personnel, which only feeds into the economic/unemployment issues. A correlation between the economy and the state of health care is clear, and it is a correlation I would like to further explore.
This correlation, and the questions mentioned above, will be the focus of this blog, which is a part of an investigative package put together by myself and two of my peers, Christine Gannon and Zach Krings, for our capstone Journalism class with Mary Tolan at Northern Arizona University.
September 21, 2009
Before I get started…
I will begin posting blogs soon, but in the meantime, check out the blogs of my teammates:
Christine, at cegblog.wordpress.com
Zach, at zkrings.wordpress.com
