Adam Spencer

I'm a reporter for the Del Norte Triplicate newspaper covering environmental, health and transportation issues. Even though we're located in a remote northwest corner of California that much of the state has never heard of, we keep ourselves busy with Del Norte County's unique superlatives: the largest tribe in California (the Yurok Tribe), the most productive commercial seafood port north of Monterrey (number one for Dungeness Crab), the largest completely undammed river in the state, the most tsunami-prone city in the Lower 48, and the closest city to the largest old-growth redwoods via Redwood National and State Parks.

Articles

There are 1,332 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States, more than a quarter of all hospitals in the country. Graphic courtesy of Rural Assistance Center

Closer Look at Critical Access Hospitals

California hospitals are facing a $22 billion decrease in Medicare funding by 2022, according to industry analysts, forcing many hospitals to evaluate how they will stay afloat. One solution is converting some hospitals to a Critical Access Hospital, but what will this mean for patients?

Water testing due in Smith River

More than $30,000 will be spent on a water testing project planned to begin late this summer in the Smith River floodplain, the “Easter Lily Capital of World” and home to more than 1,100 residents.

Hospital control in rural California

In the Northwestern corner of California, a David and Goliath battle set in the impenetrable world of modern medicine is playing out as a small community musters everything they have to block a multi-billion dollar medical corporation’s attempt to centralize operations.