One of the questions the doctor always asks when I go for my annual Medicare Wellness checkup is, “Have you been falling recently?” — to which I always answer, “No.” And technically that’s not a lie. 

The “no” would have been true through and through in my younger years. I could walk a skinny branch in a gale. But now, a decade into Medicare, my balance has become “a diminished thing,” to borrow from Robert Frost, and I do fall from time to time.

Harris Regional Hospital will partner with Jackson County Public Schools to host its annual free sports physical event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in the Smoky Mountain High School gym in Sylva. 

Haywood Health Foundation announced its Annual Request For Proposals for Grants Pertaining to Unmet Healthcare Needs in Haywood County.

HHF’s grant program will provide grants to Haywood County non-profit organizations, government agencies and schools for healthcare initiatives, as well as educational and leadership programs related to improving healthcare in Haywood County. 

Shortly after opening the doors of the Don Tomas Health Sciences Center back in 2021, Southwestern Community College developed a strategy for not only filling the area’s tremendous healthcare workforce needs — but also providing a promising future for soon-to-be high school graduates. 

Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital, Duke LifePoint hospitals, are pleased to announce that Rebekah Artman has been named chief nursing officer for both facilities. In this elevated leadership role, Artman will guide overall nursing strategy and clinical operations, leading initiatives that support exceptional quality, safety, and patient experience across the region. 

Throughout her first two-and-a-half semesters in Southwestern Community College’s Medical Sonography program, Emma Dao heard her instructors repeatedly emphasize the value of curiosity. 

Because Dao took that message to heart, one area woman received an early cancer diagnosis and now has a much better outlook for treatment and recovery.

Western North Carolina has struggled for decades with a simple problem that produces complex consequences — not enough primary care providers practice in rural areas. Specialists often practice in urban areas, routine care gets delayed until an urgent problem arrives and options for patients are limited. The Mountain Area Health Education Center was created to address that gap, and continues to do so with a new facility in Cullowhee. 

As the federal shutdown drags on, Republicans accuse Democrats of prolonging it for political reasons, pointing to stalled votes that could reopen the government and fully restore programs like SNAP. But Democrats say what they’re holding out for isn’t politics — it’s protection. Specifically, protection for millions of Americans who rely on Affordable Care Act subsidies that will soon expire. 

To the Editor:

The Congress has to finalize the Big “Bad” Bill (for most of us) by Oct. 1 or face a government shutdown. This means Congress still has the rest of September to “fix” the worst parts of this bill if they want to before the final vote by Oct. 1. 

To the Editor:

Thank you for including the article by SMN News Editor Kyle Perrotti, "COVID mounts late summer surge amid onset of flu season" in the Aug. 27 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. The article was-well written, factual, informative and encouraging.