Randolph County, Georgia, had the highest death rate of any rural county in the nation at the start of the COVID pandemic in April 2020. But later that year, the local hospital in Cuthbert, the county seat, closed. That forced residents in need of emergency services to travel more than an hour. It was the third emergency room closure in the heavily African American region in southwest Georgia. Brad Bailey, reporting for Georgia Public Broadcasting with support from the Fund, probed the county’s healthcare system. He documented the stories of local residents whose access to care was severely limited by the closures, during and after the worst of the pandemic.
Grantee examines the impact of shuttered hospitals that highlight health care inequities in Georgia
