Really enjoyed the Sarah’s style of narrating and interviewing. The subject matter is close to home here in Mexico, Mo where our hospital is closed snd trying to restructure.

Would love to know if/when the second season is starting. Such an important topic to be talking about in America right now.

You did a wonderful job at highlighting rural americas cry for access to healthcare, while showing why limitations to quality health and hospitals exist. Thank you for capturing this story, it has been very inspiring and wakening to my knowledge of healthcare in various parts of America, especially as an international resident.

If you’ve lived in a rural area or know anything about healthcare then you won’t learn anything from this podcast. It does have some entertainment value and human interest filler but there is little else to praise. I was surprised at how much this podcast, ostensibly about Fort Scott, revolves around a journalist who isn’t from the town. We are told countless times that she is from Kansas, but not from this town, about her late sister, even about how she doesn’t want to make herself part of the story by giving someone a ride. Her ego seems to have crowded out time and space for any kind of thoughtful reflection. The low point is episode 4 where a nun tells her the hospital was losing $2 million year so they didn’t have the option to continually providing medical care at a loss indefinitely. The journalist this seems confused and asks “but how does that make you feel?” (paraphrase) and you wonder if it is an interview or a therapy session. I had to listen to it twice and it was even more bizarre on the second pass. I thought the part where she ambushed an 80 year old for an interview and is politely declined—yes still put the audio in the podcast!—was going to be the low point, but I was wrong.

As a doctor who grew up in rural America, I love how this podcast brings to light the stories of rural Americans struggling to access health care of all kinds. Wonderfully done!

Incredible series that shows the pain and challenges for rural communities when the health center at the heart of the community disappears. Really makes an important statement about why health coverage and health care matters to real people. Closing a hospital strikes at the core of a community’s fabric. Well done series that gives voice to those affected by the closure.

If you are paying attention to health care news, you know rural hospitals are in dire straits. This podcast goes beyond the news to give you a real sense of the people of Fort Scott, Kansas — the laughter strikes me, even as they describe extremely difficult things they are going through.

Fascinating and real look inside our healthcare system and it’s impacts on rural America. This is a perspective I don’t get often and is a great way to learn through people’s stories. Plus I love listening to Sarah’s approach and observations! It’s like being on a run with a friend - she tells it like it is but still finds ways to laugh about it with her interviewees!

This gives me the opportunity to hear voices I wouldn’t otherwise