Name: ‘No Mercy’ Chapter 6: Trickle-Down Heartache Reaches the Next Generation in a Rural Town With No Hospital
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‘No Mercy’ Chapter 6: Trickle-Down Heartache Reaches the Next Generation in a Rural Town With No Hospital

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November 3, 2020Can’t see the audio player?&nbsp;.Can’t see the audio player?&nbsp;.Josh is 17. He said he smokes marijuana. He struggles with anger.He’s also juggling some extraordinary responsibilities for a teenager. Josh’s mother died of a drug overdose when he was 3 years old and he has lived with his grandparents ever since. When his grandfather’s heart started failing, Josh and his grandmother followed as his grandfather was shuttled from one regional hospital to another. The family couldn’t pay their light bill and struggled to find the money to pay for gas for the car. They wanted to stay nearby as Josh’s grandfather recovered in the hospital, but paying for a hotel was another financial burden.Josh said he had to be there to help even though it meant missing school.“I’m just taking care of my family. I’m doing what I was raised and taught to do,” he said. “Gotta survive. Family sticks together.”To protect his privacy and because Josh was a minor when he shared his story, we are not including his last name.In Chapter 6 of “No Mercy,” he talks about the health care challenges his family faces — and his own struggles growing up in a town where drugs are readily available but jobs aren’t.The podcast also spotlights new health services now available in Fort Scott. Mercy Hospital, which closed at the end of 2018, did not provide addiction or behavioral health services, but the new community health center in town does.“I get the privilege of working with hardworking, blue-collared folks and they oftentimes view, you know, depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder or battles with addiction as a weakness,” said Eric Thomason, director of addiction treatment and behavioral health services.“And there’s no hardworking person that wants to just sit here and admit that they have a problem. And so a lot of times we avoid it. And what happens when we avoid chronic illness, regardless of if it’s diabetes, hypertension or depression, is it gets worse.”Thomason said part of the health center’s work is convincing people to feel comfortable enough to come in and get help.Josh, who has lived with his grandparents since he was 3, said he dropped out of high school, in part, to help them navigate health care. He left school around the same time Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closed.“Where It Hurts” is a podcast collaboration between KHN and St. Louis Public Radio. Season One extends the storytelling from Sarah Jane Tribble’s award-winning series, “.”Subscribe to Where It Hurts on , , , or .And to hear all KHN podcasts,&nbsp;.Josh is 17. He said he smokes marijuana. He struggles with anger.He’s also juggling some extraordinary responsibilities for a teenager. Josh’s mother died of a drug overdose when he was 3 years old and he has lived with his grandparents ever since. When his grandfather’s heart started failing, Josh and his grandmother followed as his grandfather was shuttled from one regional hospital to another. The family couldn’t pay their light bill and struggled to find the money to pay for gas for the car. They wanted to stay nearby as Josh’s grandfather recovered in the hospital, but paying for a hotel was another financial burden.Josh said he had to be there to help even though it meant missing school.“I’m just taking care of my family. I’m doing what I was raised and taught to do,” he said. “Gotta survive. Family sticks together.”To protect his privacy and because Josh was a minor when he shared his story, we are not including his last name.In Chapter 6 of “No Mercy,” he talks about the health care challenges his family faces — and his own struggles growing up in a town where drugs are readily available but jobs aren’t.The podcast also spotlights new health services now available in Fort Scott. Mercy Hospital, which closed at the end of 2018, did not provide addiction or behavioral health services, but the new community health center in town does.“I get the privilege of working with hardworking, blue-collared folks and they oftentimes view, you know, depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder or battles with addiction as a weakness,” said Eric Thomason, director of addiction treatment and behavioral health services.“And there’s no hardworking person that wants to just sit here and admit that they have a problem. And so a lot of times we avoid it. And what happens when we avoid chronic illness, regardless of if it’s diabetes, hypertension or depression, is it gets worse.”Thomason said part of the health center’s work is convincing people to feel comfortable enough to come in and get help.Josh, who has lived with his grandparents since he was 3, said he dropped out of high school, in part, to help them navigate health care. He left school around the same time Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closed.“Where It Hurts” is a podcast collaboration between KHN and St. Louis Public Radio. Season One extends the storytelling from Sarah Jane Tribble’s award-winning series, “.”Subscribe to Where It Hurts on , , , or .And to hear all KHN podcasts,&nbsp;.Copy HTMLWe encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here’s what we ask:You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our khn.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and “Kaiser Health News” in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.It’s important to note, not everything on khn.org is available for republishing. If a story is labeled “All Rights Reserved,” we cannot grant permission to republish that item.Have questions? Let us know atThank you for your interest in supporting Kaiser Health News (KHN), the nation’s leading nonprofit newsroom focused on health and health policy. We distribute our journalism for free and without advertising through media partners of all sizes and in communities large and small. We appreciate all forms of engagement from our readers and listeners, and welcome your support.KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). You can support KHN by making a contribution to KFF, a non-profit charitable organization that is not associated with Kaiser Permanente.Click the button below to go to KFF’s donation page which will provide more information and FAQs. Thank you!Go Back

November 3, 2020Can’t see the audio player?&nbsp;.Can’t see the audio player?&nbsp;.Josh is 17. He said he smokes marijuana. He struggles with anger.He’s also juggling some extraordinary responsibilities for a teenager. Josh’s mother died of a drug overdose when he was 3 years old and he has lived with his grandparents ever since. When his grandfather’s heart started failing, Josh and his grandmother followed as his grandfather was shuttled from one regional hospital to another. The family couldn’t pay their light bill and struggled to find the money to pay for gas for the car. They wanted...

‘No Mercy’ Chapter 6: Trickle-Down Heartache Reaches the Next Generation in a Rural Town With No Hospital

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