Health

Kansas City has long supported health services for people without insurance or a means to pay. This is primarily done through a health levy, or property tax, that brings in about $50 million annually. A portion of that tax will soon expire. Renewing it is now up for a popular vote this Tuesday. It’s Question 1 on the ballot. Despite all the contention around health policies and spending right now, there doesn’t appear to be much opposition to the local measure.

Alzheimer’s affects so many people these days that many senior living facilities have dedicated wings for sufferers of the disease.

It seems like there’s a greeting card for everything these days: for going back to school, for anniversaries, and yes, even for losing your job. But what about a card for being in hospice or at the end stages of life? That’s the idea of a high-profile patient advocate who recently turned her attention to Kansas City.  But as KCUR’s Elana Gordon reports, such a concept is not so easy to materialize.

This story was originally published online last month. Below is the audio and transcript for the radio version that aired on KC Currents March 24.

Everyone knows you should wear a hard hat during construction, but are your lungs in just as much danger as your head?

According to the latest Kansas County Health Rankings, Johnson and Riley counties have the healthiest residents in Kansas again this year.  Wyandotte County and a cluster of counties in southeast Kansas remain among the least healthy.

North Kansas City’s hospital can’t be sold, so long as a dispute over whether the city has the authority to sell it is in court. That’s according to a preliminary injunction issued by a Clay County judge yesterday. While the ruling is good news for the hospital board bringing the lawsuit, the board also took a hit in yesterday’s court decision.