Patti Neighmond
Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
Based in Los Angeles, Neighmond has covered health care policy since April 1987. She joined NPR's staff in 1981, covering local New York City news as well as the United Nations. In 1984, she became a producer for NPR's science unit and specialized in science and environmental issues.
Neighmond has earned a broad array of awards for her reporting. In 1993, she received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of health reform. That same year, she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for a story on a young quadriplegic who convinced Georgia officials that she could live at home less expensively and more happily than in a nursing home. In 1990, Neighmond won the World Hunger Award for a story about healthcare and low-income children. She received two awards in 1989: a George Polk Award for her powerful ten-part series on AIDS patient Archie Harrison, who was taking the anti-viral drug AZT; and a Major Armstrong Award for her series on the Canadian health care system. The Population Institute, based in Washington, DC, has presented its radio documentary award to Neighmond twice: in 1988 for "Family Planning in India" and in 1984 for her coverage of overpopulation in Mexico. Her 1987 report "AIDS and Doctors" won the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, and her two-part series on the aquaculture industry earned the 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
Neighmond began her career in journalism in 1978, at the Pacifica Foundation's DC bureau, where she covered Capitol Hill and the White House. She began freelance reporting for NPR from New York City in 1980. Neighmond earned her bachelor's degree in English and drama from the University of Maryland, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is stressful for everyone. But for children who already have mental health conditions like anxiety disorder or depression — the emotional impact is dramatically magnified.
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As most Americans shelter in place, many young people find themselves back at home with families who are not supportive of their values, politics or sexuality.
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Stuck at home, with graduations and celebrations canceled, young people are feeling disconnected. Here's how to help them through. -
As more Americans get COVID-19, and many more lose their jobs and their health insurance, there's another big worry: If you get sick enough to be hospitalized, how much is it going to cost?
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In severe cases of COVID-19, as lungs become inflamed, membranes that transfer oxygen into the blood can become blocked. Some hospitalized patients need mechanical breathing support to recover. -
As evacuees who cleared a 14-day quarantine return home to their communities, a U.S. man talks of his experience in China and the transition home. -
With drug costs on the rise — and insurers refusing to cover some prescriptions — even patients with insurance can find themselves facing high out-of-pocket costs or going without. -
A new study from University College London finds the human brain responds to a familiar song at super speed. Researchers say their finding could be used to help calm patients with dementia.
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The number of workers getting less than seven hours of sleep a night is rising. Stress and our culture of constant connection may be to blame. -
Pregnant women and people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease are particularly vulnerable to flu complications yet lag the elderly in getting vaccinated.
