A free youth fishing clinic will coincide with an Old Time Music Jam 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee.

Learn how to raft guide with a three-day clinic Friday, Oct. 6, through Sunday, Oct. 8, at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Swain County.

The curriculum is suited for everyone from beginners to experienced paddlers seeking to solidify their skill and confidence on the river. Professional instructors from NOC will meet participants at their skill level and ensure they leave with newfound knowledge, technique and confidence.

Cost starts at $550. Participants must be at least 18 years old. Learn more or register at noc.com/courses/learn-to-raft-guide.

The International Friendship Center, the Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers and Vecinos have hosted six weekly Latino COVID-19 vaccine clinics since mid-February, providing vaccines to several hundred of our Latinx neighbors, and plan more clinics in the coming weeks.

It’s not unusual to hear a visiting veterinarian term Cherokee Animal Care Clinic an emergency day clinic, Dr. Robbie McLeod says as she takes a standing lunch break accompanied by a stethoscope, paperwork and a wiggly puppy in for its shots. 

A partnership that could quadruple patient volume and expand medical staffing for the uninsured of Jackson County has been the subject of a flurry of meetings and conversations since The Good Samaritan Clinic of Jackson County announced last week that it’s moving toward a partnership with Hendersonville-based Blue Ridge Health Center.

When someone shows up to a medical clinic, sick and suffering, the hardest words to say can be, “Sorry, but you’ll have to wait three months for an appointment.” 

Dr. Frank VanMiddlesworth is on a mission to bring free medical care to the uninsured in Swain County and improve the overall health of its residents.

Plans are in the works to open a 24-hour emergency clinic at Junaluska Animal Hospital in Waynesville next year, a first for the mountains west of Asheville.

Within six months, a primary care medical clinic for Evergreen Packaging employees went from being on the chopping block to expanding its services.

Haywood Regional Medical Center’s recent decision to purchase the Evergreen Family Medical Center in Canton will keep Evergreen employees from losing their primary care physician and will expand health care services to the entire community. 

Since Evergreen announced in January that it would close the clinic and pharmacy at the end of March, Evergreen employees and their families have been protesting in hopes of finding a way to keep them open.