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Author Archives: Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin WatchWPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow

bsablesmith@wisconsinwatch.org @besables

Bram Sable-Smith joined the Center in 2019 as the Wisconsin Public Radio Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow. Before moving to Wisconsin he spent five years reporting on health care at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and as a founding reporter of Side Effects Public Media, a public media reporting collaborative in the Midwest. He also taught radio journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Bram’s contributed stories to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, American Public Media’s Marketplace and Kaiser Health News. His reporting has received two national Edward R. Murrow awards, two national Sigma Delta Chi awards, a health policy award from the Association of Health Care Journalists among others. Bram is a proficient Spanish speaker and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.

bsablesmith@wisconsinwatch.org

Location

Madison, Wisconsin

Languages Spoken

Spanish

Posted inEconomy, Lives on Hold

‘We aren’t a bunch of lazy people’: Rejoining workforce isn’t easy for some who lost jobs to COVID-19

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch July 15th, 2021August 9th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Wisconsin’s jobless are mismatched on openings and skills or struggle with child care or transportation. Others are still waiting on unemployment aid.

Posted inHealth & Welfare, Outbreak Wisconsin

‘Season of rebirth’: A Madison ER nurse ponders life after the pandemic

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch April 13th, 2021April 27th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Mariah Clark reflects on the traumas she witnessed while treating COVID-19 patients and losing her own loved ones to the deadly disease.

Posted inHealth & Welfare

‘We’re not given the option to get vaccinated’: Advocates work to narrow racial and ethnic disparities in Wisconsin

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch April 5th, 2021April 25th, 2024 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Community groups find success through partnerships, deep listening and meeting people where they are — lessons that transcend vaccination campaigns

Posted inHealth & Welfare

“No tenemos la opción de vacunarnos”: Defensores trabajan para reducir las disparidades raciales y étnicas en Wisconsin

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch April 5th, 2021April 16th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Los grupos comunitarios encuentran el éxito a través de alianzas, escucha profunda y divulgación — lecciones que trascienden las campañas sobre la vacunación contra el COVID-19

Outbreak Wisconsin logo
Posted inOutbreak Wisconsin

Wisconsinites share how they are coping and adapting one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

Avatar photoAvatar photo by Bridgit Bowden / WPR, Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch and Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch March 18th, 2021January 11th, 2023 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Outbreak Wisconsin participants reflect on a life-changing year and what the future holds.

Posted inCoronavirus Coverage

Wisconsin has wasted few COVID-19 vaccine doses, data show

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch March 15th, 2021March 18th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Wisconsin’s top episode of vaccine loss: A Grafton pharmacist intentionally spoiled hundreds of doses in December.

Posted inCoronavirus Coverage

How to get a COVID-19 shot in Wisconsin: Vaccine hunters share tips

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch March 12th, 2021March 12th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Tired of waiting, some eligible Wisconsinites take action or find help to nab vaccine appointments.

Posted inEconomy, Lives on Hold

‘I got nothing left’: Wisconsin’s jobless pushed to brink as ideas swirl for mending torn safety net

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch February 18th, 2021February 13th, 2025 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Upgrading outdated technology could help. So could making claims more user-friendly and overcoming partisan paralysis.

Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Health & Welfare

So you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19. What next?

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch January 18th, 2021March 8th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Wisconsin experts share tips for limiting spread and boosting your immune system — aiming to prevent hospitalization.

Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Health & Welfare, Outbreak Wisconsin

‘I’m happy to be part of history’: An ER nurse gets the coronavirus vaccine, offering example to others

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch December 28th, 2020February 24th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Health care workers were among the first in Wisconsin on Dec. 14 to receive doses of the new Pfizer vaccine after the state’s first shipments arrived.

Posted inCostly Care, Health & Welfare

‘I just kind of panicked’: Patients confused as hospitals file liens to recoup costs of treating injured uninsured

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch December 22nd, 2020March 8th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Hospitals file liens against uninsured patients to get a cut of compensation in personal injury lawsuits.

Posted inCostly Care, Health & Welfare

A Wisconsin hospital promised to stop suing most patients during the pandemic. Then it filed 200 lawsuits.

Avatar photo by Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch December 21st, 2020March 8th, 2021 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch

Consumer advocates see an ‘electronic debtor’s prison’ when hospitals and collection agencies take patients to court.

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