Grateful and Pissed.

Over the last year and a half, Brett Kelman of KFF Health News has done more than any other journalist I’ve spoken with to tell the story of the nation’s largest state-sanctioned medical monopoly, Ballad Health.

For that, I’m grateful.

For the last 7 years, the Tennessee Department of Health and its three different commissioners have continued to fail the 1.1 million people of northeast Tennessee in its lack of oversight and accountability with regard to Ballad Health. The claims of commitment to transparency and improved quality are drowned out my data-supported patient complaints that prove otherwise.

Here’s the latest in my fight against corruption in healthcare and politics:

https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/05/30/ballad-healths-hospital-monopoly-underperformed-then-tennessee-lowered-the-bar/