Natalie Krebs
Reporter, Iowa Public Radio and Side EffectsNatalie Krebs is the health reporter for Iowa Public Radio in Des Moines. She previously worked as an independent producer in west Texas where she covered issues related to the environment, immigration and health care. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. She can be reached at nkrebs@iowapublicradio.org.
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Twenty states, including Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska and Kansas, have joined a lawsuit suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over a nursing home staffing requirement. -
It’s been an active season for tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest due to various factors like hot and cold jet streams and climate change. This could create lasting public health challenges. -
An Iowa law that bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy is poised to go into effect next week. The law could have rippling affects on abortion care across the Midwest. -
Thirteen states across the U.S., including much of the Midwest, introduced bills this year that could give some rights to embryos and fetuses usually associated with people. None passed but people in the fertility world are concerned that lawmakers will try again and what that means for reproductive rights. -
Seniors who are hospitalized with even a minor illness or injury are at risk of something called hospital-acquired disability. This puts them at risk of rehospitalizations and a downward spiral that could eventually land them in a nursing home. -
The report by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform found a growing number of rural hospitals no longer deliver babies. -
At a time when many rural hospitals continue to make the tough choice to shutter their obstetrics units and stop delivering babies, some have found ways to make their units survive and, sometimes, even thrive. -
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack sent out a letter to the governor's of 44 states that are not meeting federal standards for processing SNAP applications. -
New proposed rules for nursing home staffing levels by the Biden administration elicited mixed reactions. Nursing home workers say they’re much needed and long overdue. But some Republican governors echo the long-term care industry’s concerns. They say the measures will push some facilities to shut down. -
Water sources in agricultural areas across much of the Midwest often show high levels of nitrate. Federal standards require drinking water to stay below 10 parts per million, but a growing number of studies suggest lower levels of nitrate could also be tied to serious health issues.
