Urban-rural divide Coverage

'Game changer': CDC's Dr. Mandy Cohen visits NC to talk drug costs, rural health

Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was in North Carolina on Friday bringing attention to efforts to expand access to health care in rural areas and lower prescription drug costs.

Destinee Patterson, WRAL reporter

Rural communities learning to reimagine identity as state's economy changes, population shifts to urban cores

Growth in some places means population loss in others. More than half of the state's counties lost people between the 2010 and 2020 census surveys. All of them are rural.

Ali Ingersoll, WRAL Investigative Data Journalist

NC's urban growth affecting rural communities

Thirty years ago, there were 85 counties in North Carolina considered rural. Now, it's down to 78.

Billions of dollars for NC internet expansion: US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Raleigh to promote grants

Democrats in Washington and Republicans in Raleigh have voted to spend large sums of money on grants to help expand broadband internet access to rural areas. President Joe Biden's head of the USDA, Tom Vilsack, came to Raleigh Thursday to promote the efforts.

Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter

ROBERT BILBRO: Expanding Medicaid makes economic sense

Thursday, April 21, 2022 -- The total expenditures for healthcare in North Carolina would be strongly decreased if access to primary care were provided to all citizens. For persons established with a primary physician as a medical home, costs of healthcare are 33% less than for people without such a relationship.

Medicaid myths debunked at first study panel meeting

At the inaugural meeting of the first joint legislative committee to study Medicaid expansion, policy experts spent time debunking some of the key arguments lawmakers have used for years as reasons not to expand Medicaid.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief

NC's rural residents, uninsured younger people lead those hesitant to get vaccinated

In North Carolina, there's overlap in rural communities that are uninsured and that have low vaccination rates.

Ali Ingersoll, WRAL investigative data journalist

Uninsured younger people, rural residents lead way when it comes to vaccine hesitancy in NC

There's an overlap when it comes to all three datasets

Campbell University's mobile units bring education and healthcare to rural communities

Three new mobile healthcare and education units are equipped to bring medical services to rural communities in North Carolina.

Abbey Slattery, WRAL Digital Solutions

DHHS says most vaccine doses are divvied up according to population

Lawmakers from rural counties are calling on state health officials to hold off on more vaccination mega-sites until the state starts getting more vaccine, arguing that rural areas are being shortchanged.

Rural lawmakers say too much of NC's vaccine going to mass vaccination sites

Lawmakers from rural counties are calling on state health officials to hold off on more vaccination mega-sites until the state starts getting more vaccine, arguing that rural areas are being shortchanged.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

In rural NC, students gather at hot spots as state seeks larger broadband fix

Even with 84,000 wireless hot spots distributed, some students rely on paper packets and calls from teachers. Others leave home for parking lots and churches.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

Editorial: Compromise not confrontation gets action on broadband expansion

Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 -- The lesson in the compromise over $30 million for broadband expansion: Stop arguing over what you agree on. Get the job done. Expand highspeed broadband so every North Carolinian has easy and affordable access to this most basic 21st century utility.

In Edgecombe County, students live in a "digital darkness"

In Edgecombe County, 1,000 out of 6,000 kids don't have access to high speed internet services. Longtime county manager Eric Evans refers to it as a "digital darkness."

Indira Eskieva, WRAL Eastern North Carolina reporter

$30 million freed up for rural broadband in NC

Republican lawmakers struck a deal with Gov. Roy Cooper this week to spend $30 million on rural broadband projects, freeing up money that had been tied up over federal spending rules.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

Coronavirus spread on the rise in rural North Carolina counties

More than half the state's COVID-19 deaths in October were in rural counties, not the population centers.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

LESLIE BONEY: Coping with COVID-19 reveals serious broadband gaps

Friday, March 27, 2020 -- Despite significant progress in the past few years, almost 18 percent of North Carolina households have no internet access, and those are disproportionately located in the rural areas of the state. But that absence of connection isn't just about fiber. A notable portion of the state's offline households are also in urban areas, cut off not by distance but by cost. More than 40% of N.C. households where broadband is available don't subscribe. Infrastructure isn't helpful if you can't afford to use it.

WRAL Documentary: Disconnected

The ability to do business, get an education and get quality health care are becoming increasingly dependent on access to a high-speed Internet connection or broadband. WRAL News reporter and anchor Monica Laliberte narrates "Disconnected," March 19 at 7:30 p.m. on WRAL-TV, WILM-TV, wraldocumentary.com and the WRAL channels on Amazon Fire, Apple TV and Roku.

Editorial: Want to save N.C.'s rural hospitals? Expand Medicaid now

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020 -- Rural hospitals in Medicaid expansion states are 62 percent LESS likely to close. Looked at another way, rural hospitals in states that haven't expanded Medicaid are more likely to close. This is no mystery. Expanding Medicaid means there are fewer patients whose care isn't compensated. Hospitals that get paid for the care they give more patients will have better financial performance. Doctors who know they will get paid for the services they deliver will be more willing to practice in rural areas. This is not complicated.

LESLIE BONEY: If we build it, will they come?

Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 -- We are closer to the day when every North Carolinian will have access to high speed internet services. The transformative power of high speed services won't happen unless we answer a critical question: If we build it, will they come? Now the evidence is mixed.

MICHAEL WALDRUM: Work together to meet state's critical 2020 health needs

Wednesday, Jan.1, 2020 -- It is time to put aside uncompromising attitudes to do what is right for all North Carolinians. It is about how we treat each other and our desire to come together to do what is right for those we all serve. In 2020, we must commit to greater collaboration with a focus on creating a health care system for the state we can all be proud to say we built together.

Education Matters: Forum to study needs of rural NC students

Did you know that North Carolina is home to 568,000 rural students, the second largest rural student population in the United States after Texas? This fall, the Public School forum will convene its seventeenth study group to better understand the unique needs, challenges, and strengths of rural school districts across the state. It's a critically important undertaking because in the years following a court ruling known as "Leandro," the state has fallen short of its obligation to ensure that all children, including those who are from rural and underserved communities, have access to a sound basic education.

Rural NC school districts grapple with campus closures as students go elsewhere

For schools across the Triangle, the challenge has long been to keep up with rapid student population growth, But the story is much different in our region's rural counties.

Bryan Mims, WRAL reporter

Rural schools face diminishing populations and school closures

For schools across the Triangle, the challenge has long been to keep up with rapid student population growth.

New loan program for rural hospitals clears Senate

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger has pitched it as a way for hospitals with oversized and outdated facilities to right-size.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter