Coalition for Access to Health Care

04/16/2026

Not surprising.

Not a coincidence.

01/19/2026

SC legislators want to improve health care in rural areas, emphasizing physician-led team care and collaboration with nurse practitioners, physician assistants.

01/18/2026

01/16/2026

01/07/2026

SC Nurse Legislative Day, February 26, 2026
https://buff.ly/fNH79UL

01/06/2026

Great loss. We so need more women health and nurse midwife providers to bridge these gaps in care.

Dr. Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse-midwife and passionate advocate for Black maternal health care, has died due to complications from childbirth, the American College of Nurse-Midwives announced.
Green Smith received her nurse-midwife certification in 2021 and became a doctor of nursing practice in 2024.

In an Instagram post that year Green Smith shared that the alarming statistics around Black maternal mortality were central to her decision to become a midwife. She said that she “wanted to be a part of the solution and step into a role as the provider that would listen to [her] patients when they said they were in pain.”

Her death has renewed attention to long-standing inequities in maternal health outcomes in the United States.

In 2023 the maternal mortality rate for Black women was more than three times as high as that of White, Hispanic and Asian women, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Public health experts have pointed to systemic racism and lack of access to quality and affordable health care as potential contributing factors to these disparities.

In its announcement, the American College of Nurse-Midwives described Green Smith’s death as “a profound failure of the systems meant to protect birthing people.” The organization said it would recommit to “intensifying our actions to dismantle racial inequities in maternal health,” calling for continued advocacy, accountability and structural change.

Green Smith is survived by her husband and newborn child. A GoFundMe has been established to support her family as they navigate this loss and transition.

✍️: Gabby Gladney, reporting fellow
📸: Janell Green Smith via Facebook

01/05/2026

Media Contact: Bryan Black AUSTIN, TEXAS — The American Association of Nurse Practitioners ® (AANP) welcomed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) announcement of state awards under the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), a $50 billion initiative designed to strengthen acc...

12/13/2025

A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the Education Department to add nursing to a list of college programs that are considered “professional.”

10/29/2025

. formally endorses my bills to increase the scope of practice for nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists, calling this healthcare legislation “a vital step toward ensuring equitable access to care for all South Carolinians.”

10/23/2025

Medical Affairs Subcommittee meeting November 5th from 10 am to 5 pm will hear testimony on bills 44 (PA), 45 (APRN), 669 (Physician led team). All APRNs are encouraged to attend!

09/11/2025

08/07/2025

The number of nurse practitioners (NPs) in the United States quadrupled from 91,000 in 2007 to 431,000 in 2024. But does this remarkable growth result in improved access to primary care where it is needed most?