In August, New York Times reporter Patricia Cohen left her office at 620 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan and boarded a plane for Fayetteville. It would be the New York native’s first visit to Arkansas. From Fayetteville, she rented a car and headed to Mountain Home, specifically to 624 Hospital Drive, Baxter Regional Medical Center, where she wanted to tell a different story about the Affordable Care Act, one focusing on its economic impact to a rural community.
Cohen’s story from her visit to Mountain Home appeared in the New York Times on Monday. She says in her role covering the national economy she seeks to tell stories beyond the statistics.
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Cohen says the Affordable Care Act is not only about patients, it’s also about livelihood for those who work in the healthcare field. She says this is a piece of the story often overlooked.
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Cohen says when she selects a location to focus on, she picks one where she can tell a particular story and profile the people living there. But the community selected reflects a lot of other places.
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During Cohen’s visit, she spoke not only with those in the healthcare field but educators, business leaders, hospital volunteers, resort owners, retirees and manufacturing representatives.
She says when she first arrived she expected some skepticism as a reporter from a newspaper often with a liberal bias reputation.
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While Cohen was in the Twin Lakes Area for almost a week, she says there was not sufficient time to go fishing. She says she’s going to have to return for a fishing trip.
Cohen’s story titled “Deep in Trump Country, a Big State in Health Care” may be viewed at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/16/business/economy/trump-obamacare-arkansas.html
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