Sebastián Martínez Valdivia
Sebastián Martínez Valdivia is a health reporter and documentary filmmaker who focuses on access to care in rural and immigrant communities. A native Spanish speaker and lifelong Missouri resident, Sebastián is interested in the often overlooked and under-covered world of immigrant life in the rural midwest. He has a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri and a master's degree in documentary journalism at the same institution. Aside from public health, his other interests include conservation, climate change and ecology.
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So-called cryptic lineages may hold the key to better understand how the virus that causes COVID mutates to evade our immune systems. -
Research suggests access to public health insurance can help curb recidivism. Reentry organizations in Missouri are working to enroll people in Medicaid after they leave prison to keep them from coming back. -
The first U.S. omicron case was identified Wednesday – about a week after its discovery in South Africa. While there are concerns about the variant’s transmissibility, the number of mutations it possesses make it easier to detect than other strains. -
Public health experts and law enforcement blame the uptick in overdose deaths on fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that is much more deadly than other derivatives. -
Medicaid expansion has been a contentious issue across the U.S., and in Missouri, battle lines are drawn at the highest levels of government. State residents voted to expand the health insurance program. But the legislature balked at funding it and the governor says the state will not offer coverage to the estimated 250,000 newly eligible Missourians. That triggered a lawsuit on behalf of three people eligible under expansion. Side Effects Public Media's Sebastian Martinez Valdivia spoke with one of the plaintiffs' lawyers about the case. -
Missouri Republicans are trying to avoid funding an expansion that would give 275,000 people health insurance. Democrats argue they are pushing ideology over the will of the people. -
Last year, Missouri voters added Medicaid expansion to the state constitution through a ballot measure. But there's a major hiccup: the GOP-controlled legislature refuses to fund expanded coverage.
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Rural Carthage, Mo., is home to a growing community of Latin American immigrants. Language barriers and economic stress have made it harder to slow the spread of COVID-19. -
More than 1,200 people in Missouri have died from COVID-19. As the toll rises each day, the human aspect can get obscured. Angela Kender is looking to... -
Latinx communities have been disproportionately hit by the coronavirus. But helping recent immigrants understand how to protect themselves is complicated, especially in rural areas.
