Sarah Fentem
Health ReporterSarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover.
A longtime NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in South St. Louis, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her husband Elliot. They have a dog named Ginger.
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A St. Louis family-owned funeral home purchased the 19th-century building and converted it into an operation for performing alkaline hydrolysis — a water-based alternative to traditional cremation.
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A newly released report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services concludes owners of a north St. Louis nursing home put residents and staff at risk when they abruptly shut the facility down in December.
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St. Louisan John Gaal has called for airlines to stock the overdose-reversal drug naloxone after he used the spray to revive a person during a Southwest flight to Las Vegas in 2022. The airline now has announced that starting this year it will include naloxone in its on-air medical kits.
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Open enrollment to buy health coverage on the federal health insurance marketplace ended on Tuesday. In Missouri, more than 300,000 people have signed up for health plans. The number of people buying plans on healthcare.gov has increased since 2020, with Missouri’s enrollment on track to hit a record high in 2024.
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Transit officials say a $1 billion expansion of the MetroLink that would connect north and south St. Louis along Jefferson Avenue will rely on federal transit grants.
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During a rally Monday, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush called for a federal investigation into the abrupt closure of Northview Village nursing home. Workers said more than three weeks after the closure that they still have not received owed wages.
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St. Louis officials cited the rise in transmission of coronavirus cases and other respiratory illnesses for the updated mandate.
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BJC Healthcare has formally closed the deal that merges the St. Louis-based company with Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, officials announced Monday. The $10 billion merger creates a system that comprises 28 hospitals across Kansas, Illinois and Missouri.
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The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force is calling on older people and pregnant women in the region to get the newly approved RSV vaccine as hospitals fill up with people sick with respiratory illnesses.
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Union nurses at SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital walked off the job at 7 a.m. Wednesday. They plan to picket through Friday morning. The 48-hour strike marks the second action the union has called in four months.
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The Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project connects people in states where gender-affirming care for minors has been banned or restricted by referring them to clinics and doctors in states that still offer hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers and other treatments.
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After Northview Village administrators notified employees at the north Kingshighway facility Friday they would not be paid, management shuttled approximately 170 residents to new homes. Employees still have not received their paychecks, and some families are trying to track down their loved ones.