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.
-
The health insurance company Elevance, known as Anthem in Missouri, is hiring 250 new employees to work at its downtown St. Louis office. City leaders celebrated the news, which comes as other high-profile tenants are leaving the city's core. -
BJC Healthcare has finalized plans to merge with St. Luke's, a Kansas City-based health system that operates 14 hospitals in Kansas and Missouri. The two systems expect to complete the $10 billion deal by Jan. 1.
-
Health workers in Illinois are performing about 1,800 more abortions per month on average than before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
-
On Jan. 1, those 18 and under who enroll in Missouri's insurance programs for low-income people will not be removed for 12 months.
-
Missouri University of Science and Technology professor Mark Towler has patented a glass powder that helps wounds stop bleeding. He's now investigating whether it also can prevent infections.
-
Supporters of the resolution didn't put the measure to a vote because two members were absent.
-
Infant mortality in Missouri went up 16% between 2021 and 2022, according to federal data released earlier this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Missouri was one of only four states that showed a significant rise.
-
Patients who buy health insurance on the federal marketplace will be able to select a plan that includes BJC in its network, thanks to a last-minute deal with insurer Aetna, health system officials confirmed today.
-
For years, the Tivoli Theatre in the Delmar Loop screened "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." But leaders of One Family Church, which bought the historic building, say they will no longer screen movies that don't align with their faith.
-
The regulations include requiring short-term rental operators to get a permit before leasing out their properties on Airbnb and other platforms.
-
A mobile clinic is on a Missouri road trip offering free vasectomies this week. The trailer stopped Thursday in St. Louis and also will visit clinics in Springfield and Rolla.
-
The federal goverment has approved updated COVID-19 vaccines that protect people against getting dangerously sick. But the shots are being distributed through commercial means for the first time, and patients have reported canceled appointments and insurance denials.
![Zach Wargel embraces his girlfriend Maggie Sullivan, both 26 and of Tower Grove Heights, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, during a protest outside of the Tivoli Theater on the Delmar Loop. “I grew up in St. Louis and the Tivoli was an important spot for me growing up and realizing I was queer and not out,” Sullivan said. “I’m also half Middle Eastern, so it was a very important space to see other people who aren’t white. When I heard [about One Family Church not playing Rocky Horror Picture Show], I was devastated and outraged that… they were using Christianity to hide behind their bigotry.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/26a0960/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1671+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2F5d%2Fea8fe5e1430ab74a45cb2e919ed0%2F100623-bm-tivoli-2.JPG)
