In 2021, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Stephen Simpson won a grant from the University of Southern California’s Center for Health Journalism to work on a series about health disparities in the Arkansas Delta.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic pain and heart issues now plague David Chenault and he is required to see a list of specialists, but none of them are in that part of the Delta.

Before Ben Gilmore was a senator, he lived in the Delta in southeast Arkansas and witnessed firsthand the region's struggles with health care, infrastructure, education and more.