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2 weeks ago | 
wfae.org | Tony Mecia |Charlotte Ledger
The opening of new lanes on a 17-mile section of I-485 in southern Mecklenburg has been delayed yet again, with the N.C. Department of Transportation saying it now expects them to open by “late 2025” or “winter 2025.”The department had said last year that it anticipated opening the lanes by “late summer” 2025, so the new timeline represents a delay of at least several months. The project has been under construction since 2019. The original forecast called for it to be completed by 2022.
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1 month ago | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
The Charlotte LedgerA lawsuit filed earlier this month seeks to stop Atrium Health from taking control of organ donation services at partner hospital Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. For 40 years, Wake Forest Baptist relied on HonorBridge, an independent organ procurement organization that serves 75 percent of North Carolina, to handle the hospital’s life-saving organ donations and get them to transplant recipients.
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2 months ago | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger Atrium Health received a $45 million sales tax refund from North Carolina in 2023 and 2024, hitting a statutory limit allowed by the state for nonprofits, tax records reviewed by The Charlotte Ledger/NC Health News show. And that may not even be the full amount. Thanks to a legal loophole, the hospital system’s total refund is likely even higher.
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2 months ago | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger Teachers and state workers have long counted on better-than-average health benefits to help make up for the lower pay and demands of their government jobs. But some say it feels like that once-reliable perk is slipping away. Just days into his tenure, newly elected State Treasurer Brad Briner warned that rising health care costs could drive up premiums for the State Health Plan in 2026.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger OrthoCarolina, one of the nation’s largest independently owned orthopedic practices, is close to a deal to sell its physical therapy business to PT Solutions Physical Therapy, an Atlanta-based company backed by private equity, the Charlotte Ledger/NC Health News has learned. OrthoCarolina CEO and orthopedic surgeon Leo Spector declined to confirm specifics on Thursday, but he acknowledged that the company expects to announce a sale in the next few weeks.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger When Mominul Mahim’s daughter needed a refill of her eczema medication, the Huntersville dad made the request through Novant Health’s MyChart app, which connects him to his daughter’s medical record and to the clinic. He assumed the process would be cost-free and easy, since the app has a notice that says refill requests between visits are free. Weeks later, Mahim was shocked when he received a bill for $41.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Emily Vespa |Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
Co-published with The Charlotte LedgerFaced with a growing health care worker shortage and provider burnout, some North Carolina health care leaders have said there is great promise in artificial intelligence systems. The state’s health care systems have been early adopters of AI tools — overt and invisible — that are shaping the patient and provider experience. Across North Carolina, AI is helping providers predict health risks, communicate with patients and manage administrative tasks.
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Jan 6, 2025 | 
ourcommunitynow.com | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
When pediatrician Jocelyn Wilson sees patients at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Charlotte Pediatrics, she begins each visit with a simple request: for permission to record the conversation. The reason isn’t surveillance — it’s efficiency. Like a growing number of doctors, Wilson uses an artificial intelligence tool that listens to her conversations with patients.
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Dec 31, 2024 | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Rose Hoban |Will Atwater |Jaymie Baxley |Anne Blythe |Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger | +3 more
When the NC Health News team took a stab at the start of the year at predicting what health-related issues would guide our coverage throughout 2024, there was no question that politics and the campaigns for president, governor and other state offices would play a large role. And they did. But we had no idea about the devastation that Hurricane Helene would bring to western North Carolina and all the news the catastrophic storm would generate the last quarter of this year.
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Nov 21, 2024 | 
northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger
Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger When Mary Katherine Snow of Cornelius was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017, she was prepared to fight for her life. But she didn’t expect that in addition to fighting cancer, she would also have to fight a cascade of medical billing errors that tanked her credit score, required hours of back-and-forth with her hospital and her health insurer, and piled on stress at a time when she could least afford it.
