Season 4 of the Appalachian Care Chronicles Podcast launches

West Virginia's Higher Education Policy Commission shares new stories of care, purpose, and community with a new host

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission announces the release of Season 4 of the Appalachian Care Chronicles podcast, now available on all major streaming platforms.

This season welcomes a new host, Kristen Carpenter, a women's health nurse practitioner from Morgantown with nearly 20 years of nursing experience. A West Virginia native who cares deeply about heartfelt, high-quality care, Carpenter brings a fresh voice and a deep understanding of the health care profession to the podcast.

Through real stories from the frontlines of care, Appalachian Care Chronicles continues to spotlight the people who are transforming healthcare across West Virginia and Appalachia - and why their work matters.

Season 4 takes listeners inside some of West Virginia's most essential and inspiring care settings - from neonatal intensive care units to emergency rooms, and even the streets where community paramedics meet patients in crisis.

Listeners will meet:

• Hannah Bowen, a Neonatal Pediatric Intensive Care Transport Nurse who rushes to newborns in crisis-sometimes by helicopter - to provide lifesaving care across rural West Virginia.
• Larrecsa Barker and Whitney Maxey, a community paramedic and EMT duo who bring compassion and public health expertise to Cabell County's Quick Response Team, meeting overdose survivors where they are.
• Dr. Judd Lindley, an OB-GYN and sustainable farmer who has served coalfield communities in southern West Virginia for more than two decades.
• Petra Howell-Vasale, a former pastry chef-turned emergency room nurse who now supports patients through high-stress situations at Raleigh General Hospital.

"Behind every healthcare program and degree are people who care deeply about making a difference," said Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia's Chancellor of Higher Education. "Our goal is to share these stories with anyone who has ever considered a career in health care including young people who are thinking about who they might like to be in the future and those considering a new path. By spotlighting those who take on these critical, life-saving jobs and have a real passion for doing so, we hope to inspire new generations of caregivers for the Mountain State."

Produced by the Higher Education Policy Commission in partnership with Charleston-based media and communications firm 84 Agency, Appalachian Care Chronicles is part of the Commission's ongoing efforts to strengthen the region's healthcare workforce by promoting equitable access to health and behavioral health sciences education.