Whitney Zahnd
@whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy at UIowa| UIUC alumna | Posts about rural health, cancer disparities, access to care, faith, cats, and women’s basketball| Opinions are mine, not my employer’s | Website: https://www.acre-lab.org
Pinned
NRHA's Journal of Rural Health | National Rural Health Association - NRHA | NRHA
NRHA produces several digital and print publications to engage NRHA members and inform rural health professionals. These include our weekly newsletter NRHA Today, our quarterly magazine Rural Horizons...
www.ruralhealth.us
The Journal of Rural Health ( @jruralhealth.bsky.social), @ruralhealth.bsky.social's scientific journal, is soliciting applications for new editorial board members! As chair of the board, please apply! We'd welcome your applications by December 18th. www.ruralhealth.us/publications...
This year I’ve purchased wide leg jeans and a Sarah McLachlan album. It’s like high school all over again.
December 10, 2025 at 3:22 AM
This year I’ve purchased wide leg jeans and a Sarah McLachlan album. It’s like high school all over again.
I really don't how The Onion stays in business at this point.
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:02 AM
I really don't how The Onion stays in business at this point.
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
An extraordinary loss of institutional knowledge. 🧪
December 8, 2025 at 8:00 PM
An extraordinary loss of institutional knowledge. 🧪
The biggest source of healthcare waste is consistently administrative complexity, not fraud and abuse. Yet, this administration is insistent on expanding administrative complexity--veterans, Medicaid work requirements, etc.--under the guise of rooting out the lesser problem, creating more waste.
Conservatives are trying to cut VA benefits for nearly seven million veterans, claiming the current disability compensation encourages veterans to stay sick and cheat the system. From Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early:
trib.al/K77Yf8G
trib.al/K77Yf8G
Trump Is Coming for Veterans’ Disability Benefits - The American Prospect
The veterans disability system has traditionally been a sacred cow for politicians of all stripes. Now, as part of the conservative war on the Department of Veterans Affairs, the administration is falsely alleging that many former soldiers are cheating the system.
trib.al
December 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The biggest source of healthcare waste is consistently administrative complexity, not fraud and abuse. Yet, this administration is insistent on expanding administrative complexity--veterans, Medicaid work requirements, etc.--under the guise of rooting out the lesser problem, creating more waste.
This is a really important policy issue!
Iowa has the highest percentage of physicians who are on H1-B visas, not even considering other impacted health professions.
Iowa has the highest percentage of physicians who are on H1-B visas, not even considering other impacted health professions.
Health orgs wrote letters asking Sec. Noem to exempt health care workers from the new $100K H-1B visa fee. There's been no response.
Learn about a rural hospital that may have to pay the fee after it received job apps from international but no American lab techs.
My latest:
Learn about a rural hospital that may have to pay the fee after it received job apps from international but no American lab techs.
My latest:
December 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
This is a really important policy issue!
Iowa has the highest percentage of physicians who are on H1-B visas, not even considering other impacted health professions.
Iowa has the highest percentage of physicians who are on H1-B visas, not even considering other impacted health professions.
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
December 7, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
A great 4-0 basketball day for both the alma mater and employer! 🧡💙💛🖤
December 7, 2025 at 3:11 AM
A great 4-0 basketball day for both the alma mater and employer! 🧡💙💛🖤
Amid all else, there are still a lot of scientists and public servants doing important work at the CDC.
Yesterday, they released updated PLACES data--model-based county and census tract level estimates of a lot of important health and sociodemographic data.
data.cdc.gov/browse?categ...
Yesterday, they released updated PLACES data--model-based county and census tract level estimates of a lot of important health and sociodemographic data.
data.cdc.gov/browse?categ...
Data | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Data published by CDC public health programs to help save lives and protect people from health, safety, and security threats.
data.cdc.gov
December 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Amid all else, there are still a lot of scientists and public servants doing important work at the CDC.
Yesterday, they released updated PLACES data--model-based county and census tract level estimates of a lot of important health and sociodemographic data.
data.cdc.gov/browse?categ...
Yesterday, they released updated PLACES data--model-based county and census tract level estimates of a lot of important health and sociodemographic data.
data.cdc.gov/browse?categ...
He designed one of the buildings on the University of Iowa campus.
www.iowaarchitecture.org/discover/pro...
www.iowaarchitecture.org/discover/pro...
December 6, 2025 at 3:11 PM
He designed one of the buildings on the University of Iowa campus.
www.iowaarchitecture.org/discover/pro...
www.iowaarchitecture.org/discover/pro...
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
Are all these vaccines we're giving seriously harmful?
No, they are saving lives.
No, they are saving lives.
December 5, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Are all these vaccines we're giving seriously harmful?
No, they are saving lives.
No, they are saving lives.
There was a whole episode of Scrubs on this topic years ago.
Ugh. A frustrating article, @washingtonpost.com!
Full-body MRI? wapo.st/44Sf9dV
No good evidence to support (industry study?). Exploitive money grab. Likely = > harm. Iatrogenic injury. Anxiety. Cost (to individual & system). Etc.
Professional orgs recommend against. Just... no.
Full-body MRI? wapo.st/44Sf9dV
No good evidence to support (industry study?). Exploitive money grab. Likely = > harm. Iatrogenic injury. Anxiety. Cost (to individual & system). Etc.
Professional orgs recommend against. Just... no.
Column | A full-body MRI can reveal hidden killers. Do we want to know?
Like many emerging technologies, this one can improve our lives, make us miserable or both. Nobody knows yet which it will be.
wapo.st
December 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
There was a whole episode of Scrubs on this topic years ago.
Brandi Carlile: NPR Tiny Desk Concert ♥️ www.npr.org/2025/12/03/g...
Brandi Carlile: Tiny Desk Concert
Brandi Carlile has a way of making any performance feel like a tête-à-tête, a deep emotional exchange between friends that just happens to take place in a crowd.
www.npr.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Brandi Carlile: NPR Tiny Desk Concert ♥️ www.npr.org/2025/12/03/g...
Anytime I get a manuscript review request
![Comic. Doing a task using a company or organization’s website: [flowchart] Go to website, try to log in → Did it work? → Yes → Try to do your task. → Did it work? Yes → Nice! Done! If logging in did not work → Spend hours troubleshooting account / login. If that works, go to Try to do your task. If no → Give up and call customer service. If spending hours troubleshooting doesn’t work, also give up and call customer service. After calling customer service: Hold message: “Did you know you could do all this more quickly and easily on our website? Just go to w-w-w dot…” → Throw phone and laptop into the sea.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiewqnkcrrc4tgla7j5skyz2djf3mrrvre3577c4xcgzurvq33bw4y@jpeg)
December 4, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Anytime I get a manuscript review request
👀 Not gonna lie--I might print some Exoplanet Travel Bureau coloring sheets for post-semester destressing later this month.
Today I learned that NASA has a collection of free ebooks that can be downloaded as pdfs or ebub format.
The science books even include a children’s section with fun activites and coloring books!
science.nasa.gov/multimedia/s...
The science books even include a children’s section with fun activites and coloring books!
science.nasa.gov/multimedia/s...
Science e-Books - NASA Science
From Earth and the other planets in our solar system, to supermassive black holes and the distant galaxies that contain them, explore NASA science and imagery through our library of e-books.
science.nasa.gov
December 4, 2025 at 8:52 PM
👀 Not gonna lie--I might print some Exoplanet Travel Bureau coloring sheets for post-semester destressing later this month.
I’ve always said my musical taste is “music that plays when a woman is driving in the rain in a movie that passes the Bechdel test”. My Spotify unwrapped says that tracks.
December 4, 2025 at 12:57 AM
I’ve always said my musical taste is “music that plays when a woman is driving in the rain in a movie that passes the Bechdel test”. My Spotify unwrapped says that tracks.
We're still accepting applications for the @jruralhealth.bsky.social editorial board through December 18th!
The Journal of Rural Health ( @jruralhealth.bsky.social), @ruralhealth.bsky.social's scientific journal, is soliciting applications for new editorial board members! As chair of the board, please apply! We'd welcome your applications by December 18th. www.ruralhealth.us/publications...
NRHA's Journal of Rural Health | National Rural Health Association - NRHA | NRHA
NRHA produces several digital and print publications to engage NRHA members and inform rural health professionals. These include our weekly newsletter NRHA Today, our quarterly magazine Rural Horizons...
www.ruralhealth.us
December 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
We're still accepting applications for the @jruralhealth.bsky.social editorial board through December 18th!
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
The Journal of Rural Health ( @jruralhealth.bsky.social), @ruralhealth.bsky.social's scientific journal, is soliciting applications for new editorial board members! As chair of the board, please apply! We'd welcome your applications by December 18th. www.ruralhealth.us/publications...
NRHA's Journal of Rural Health | National Rural Health Association - NRHA | NRHA
NRHA produces several digital and print publications to engage NRHA members and inform rural health professionals. These include our weekly newsletter NRHA Today, our quarterly magazine Rural Horizons...
www.ruralhealth.us
November 13, 2025 at 7:31 PM
The Journal of Rural Health ( @jruralhealth.bsky.social), @ruralhealth.bsky.social's scientific journal, is soliciting applications for new editorial board members! As chair of the board, please apply! We'd welcome your applications by December 18th. www.ruralhealth.us/publications...
Good move from my home state!
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Tuesday to make Illinois the first state to issue vaccine recommendations independent of the CDC. Democrats believe Illinois should ensure healthcare regardless of decisions made by the federal government.
Illinois becomes first state to issue vaccine recommendations separate from CDC
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Tuesday to make Illinois the first state to issue vaccine recommendations independent of the CDC.
www.wandtv.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Good move from my home state!
Sad that we need this, but kudos to Linn County for doing this!
Linn County Public Health adds gun locks to harm reduction vending machines
Linn County Public Health adds gun locks to harm reduction vending machines
In addition to Naloxone, menstrual products and wound care kits, Linn County's harm reduction vending machines now dispense gun locks.
www.thegazette.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Sad that we need this, but kudos to Linn County for doing this!
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
"The purpose of this policy [not to release applications during review] is to protect the integrity of evaluations, applicant confidentiality..."
Applicant confidentiality for states that are to be responsive to their constituents? These aren't academic faculty or private companies.
Applicant confidentiality for states that are to be responsive to their constituents? These aren't academic faculty or private companies.
Our story has a map/database of state applications to the Rural Health Transformation Program! Proposals include using drones to deliver meds, installing produce refrigerators, + bringing telehealth to libraries+senior centers.
W/ @sjtribble-reports.bsky.social
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
W/ @sjtribble-reports.bsky.social
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
December 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
"The purpose of this policy [not to release applications during review] is to protect the integrity of evaluations, applicant confidentiality..."
Applicant confidentiality for states that are to be responsive to their constituents? These aren't academic faculty or private companies.
Applicant confidentiality for states that are to be responsive to their constituents? These aren't academic faculty or private companies.
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
I'm so tired of measles.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
Gallatin Co. reports 2nd measles case, warns of exposure sites nbcmontana.com/news/local/g...
December 2, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
MEPS seems to be gone as of now. This is very bad. These are critical pieces of data about health care and they belong to the American public.
December 2, 2025 at 2:45 AM
MEPS seems to be gone as of now. This is very bad. These are critical pieces of data about health care and they belong to the American public.