Rural healthcare

Henry Brannan

Henry Brannan covers rural healthcare in the Shenandoah Valley and outside of Charlottesville for VPM News and WMRA. Before joining Report for America, he was the 2022-23 Jim Lehrer fellow at the PBS NewsHour, where he produced stories on topics ranging from the disparities driving a projected surge in U.S. heart disease rates to the future of military recruiting as officials struggle to attract Gen Z recruits. Brannon got his start reporting at Street Roots, a weekly investigative street paper in Portland, Oregon. While there, he reported on the housing crisis, racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes and Oregon’s struggling behavioral health system. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and History from Grinnell College. While in school, he researched corporate landlords' use of LLCs to obscure political contributions as an intern for the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project. He’s also a proud Pell Grant recipient and alumnus of Portland Community College.

VPM News/WMRA

VPM is a public media organization serving central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Based in the state capitol of Richmond, the VPM News team covers statewide politics, local government, education, legal issues and more for our NPR and PBS stations and digital channels to reach 2 million people in our coverage area. As an independent, non-profit service, we strive to create and serve a more informed public.

Kyle Pfannenstiel

Kyle Pfannenstiel is a reporter for the Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho, covering rural healthcare. The Register covers the eastern part of the state as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming. Pfannenstiel began his reporting career at University of Idaho’s student newspaper, The Argonaut. Soon after, he covered the Idaho State Legislature as an intern for Idaho Public Radio and the McClure Center for Public Policy Research. Pfannenstiel continued to cover government and politics for The Idaho Press in Nampa, where he reported on a 2018 ballot initiative to expand Medicaid access for Idahoans. He will graduate in May with a B.S. in journalism and political science from University of Idaho, which is located in Idaho’s panhandle. His last name means panhandle in German.

Victoria Advocate

Established in 1846 – the same year the Republic of Texas joined the Union – the Victoria Advocate has a rich tradition of local ownership and stewardship of its community. It was named the Newspaper of the Year in 2014 by the Local Media Association.  

Post Register

The Post Register covers 10 counties in eastern Idaho with some additional coverage in western Wyoming and southwestern Montana. The land mass is equivalent to size of the state of West Virginia. Four sister weekly newspapers also operate within our coverage area and we share content with them. The Post Register traces its roots to the Idaho Register, which was founded in Blackfoot in 1880. It's mission is to be the source of reliable, vetted information for eastern Idaho.