![Olivia Aldridge, Health Care Reporter for KUT News. Feb. 7, 2024. Renee Dominguez/KUT News](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1b7d669/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x800+300+0/resize/150x200!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fed%2F1f%2Fe237f0024e24b7f6b4f3bc9ec390%2Folivia-aldridge.jpg)
Olivia Aldridge
Health Care ReporterWhat I cover
I report on issues related to health in Travis County and the surrounding region. My work centers on local health care systems and resources — how they fit together and how they function. I’m also interested in following trends in the health care workforce and state-level decisions that affect local access to medical care.
Plus, I’m game for the occasional fun tangent, like my obsessive search for a lost time capsule.
My background
I’m from a tiny, rural town in Georgia called Monticello. Growing up, I rarely saw places like my home reflected in the media I consumed, and I wanted to hear the voices and challenges of my neighbors amplified more often. That background is at the core of why I’m passionate about local news.
I started my career as a reporter and producer for NPR member station South Carolina Public Radio. There, I focused on South Carolina’s recovery from a series of devastating floods and hurricanes. I also delved into some fun local oddities, like a small town’s belief in a giant cryptid lizard creature.
My entry into health reporting came at Community Impact, where I reported on communities in Central and Southwest Austin. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I led coverage of the pandemic in Austin, reporting on everything from the development and rollout of vaccines to hiring challenges in the nursing workforce.
I also spent a year launching, hosting and producing three local news podcasts for Community Impact covering the Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas.
Journalistic ethics
Radio may be an auditory medium, but I strive to be more of a listener than a talker. My best days at work are the ones where I get to sit down and listen to someone tell me their story without being rushed by a pressing deadline. I care about representing people honestly and with respect. I also care about being precise with the language I choose — every word carries weight.
-
Este otoño estará disponible una actualización de la vacuna contra el COVID, pero algunas personas podrían querer renovar antes su protección.
-
An updated COVID vaccine will be available this fall, but some folks might want to re-up their vaccine protection sooner.
-
Los asegurados ya no podrán recibir seguro médico a través de Ascension Personalized Care a partir de enero.
-
Baylor Scott & White, Blue Cross extend contracts for three months, staving off coverage disruptionsThe health system and the insurer now have until October to finalize a new contract and keep benefits intact for thousands of policyholders.
-
Policyholders will no longer be able to receive health insurance through Ascension Personalized Care beginning in January.
-
Women, doctors and lawyers have all made efforts to test the margins of Texas' near-total abortion ban. Here's where some of those efforts stand.
-
The study tracked infant deaths that occurred in the year following Senate Bill 8's passage.
-
Las directrices de la Junta tienen por objeto proporcionar cierta claridad a los médicos que trabajan dentro de la estrecha excepción de emergencia a la prohibición del aborto en Texas.
-
The board's guidance is aimed at providing some clarity to physicians working within the narrow emergency medical exception to Texas' abortion ban.
-
A new exhibit at the Bastrop County African American Cultural Center tells the stories of families descended from local freedom colonies, which were founded by formerly enslaved people after emancipation.