Health

HELENA, Mont. — Sophia Ferst remembers her reaction to learning that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade: She needed to get sterilized. Within a week, she asked her provider about getting the procedure done. Ferst, 28, said she has always known she doesn’t want kids. She also worries about getting pregnant as the result of a sexual assault then being unable to access abortion services. ...

While physicians have been discussing anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors with their patients particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased call to focus on how often a patient interacts with others. 

Taylor Swanson, 31, of Spokane has her sights set on Paris this summer, but not for her once-held Olympic dreams as a sprint runner. After competing about 15 years as an "able-bodied" track sprinter, she is set to go to the July 18-20 U.S. Paralympics Trials, because it was only about a year ago that Swanson learned she has cerebral palsy.

As thousands flood into downtown Spokane this weekend for Hoopfest, efforts are underway to keep players safe while playing 3-on-3 basketball.

BOISE – Bird flu virus has been a longstanding issue in Idaho, having plagued Idaho’s poultry and waterfowl populations for years. But this year’s strain is bringing something new – its ability to infect cows.

Walk it off. It’s more than just a jesting turn of phrase for ’90s tough guys. When it comes to back pain, according to a recent study, it might be the key to relief.

A few years after World War II, Margaret Craig Dikes told her mother about a family business idea for improving senior care, saying, "Mom, I think we can do better." That 1949 company – still operated by a third generation of family members  –  is Sunshine Health Facilities in Spokane Valley, offering longtime senior and behavioral health services, and it plans to celebrate 75 years with activities on Thursday.

As schools empty and beaches and playgrounds fill, the prolonged heat wave baking swaths of the country this week poses significant health risks to children, from newborns enjoying a shady nap to older teens exerting themselves in sports or summer jobs.

The Spokane Regional Health District is looking for input on a proposal to privatize its opioid treatment services.

MultiCare cancer center nurse practitioner Marie Brenden, 59, has a record for a 270-pound bench press. She's also a grandmother who got a pacemaker in April.

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center tech workers have ratified a new contract with Providence a month after the workers’ strike of the hospital ended.

Inside every human is a thriving zoo of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microscopic organisms collectively known as the microbiome. Trillions of microbes live in the digestive tract alone, a menagerie estimated to contain more than 1,000 species.

New robotics at MultiCare Valley Hospital ensure patients will not need to travel outside Spokane Valley to receive a broad range of surgeries.

Carl Garabedian still recalls sickly, lethargic children staying at his parent's house, and then days later, those kids after heart surgeries couldn't stop running. He was struck then by his dad Hriar Garabedian's work as a pediatric cardiologist and entered the same field. Two Garabedian doctors, father and son, have since helped shape children's critical care.

Students at Shadle Park and North Central high schools can now get their basic primary health care right inside their school.