Statesman reporter wins health reporting award
American-Statesman health reporter Nicole Villalpando has won a Texas Medical Association Anson Jones, MD, Award for her story “Cedar Park Mom Credits Travis County Ambulance Blood Program for Saving Her Life.”
The story looked at how an AustinTravis County EMS pilot program to provide whole blood transfusions in the field saved the life of one mother, as well as the effect it was having on patients arriving in the emergency room, the emergency room doctors, We Are Blood bank and EMS. The story was told through both photos, video and words.
“I am honored to be recognized for the work I do to make health more accessible to our community,” Villalpando said. “None of this would be possible without the medical professionals who work in our community and the people who allow me to tell their stories, including Karanai Ravenscroft, who would have died if whole blood was not given to her in the back of an ambulance.”
The Texas Medical Association represents more than 57,000 doctors and medical students in Texas.
Dr. Jonathan MacClements, past president of the Travis County Medical Society, presented the award Tuesday at the Statesman’s offices, along with Leanne DuPay, director of marketing and communications for the Travis County Medical Society; Swathi Narayanan, media and public relations manager for Texas Medical Association; Brent Annear, director of media and public relations for Texas Medical Association; Nick Canedo, vice president of community engagement at We Are Blood; and Lemuel Bradshaw, public relations manager at United Tissue Resources and heart transplant recipient.
In addition to naming Villalpando the first-place winner in the short print/online news category, the judges also wrote a separate letter recognizing the work Villalpando has done docu
“I am honored to be recognized for the work I do to make health more accessible to our community.”
Nicole Villalpando
menting her kidney donation.
“We overjoyed for Nicole,” said Manny García, the Statesman’s executive editor, who edits Villalpando. “Nicole has the gift for connecting with the subjects of her stories and writing them with empathy and context that helps our community live healthier lives.”
Villalpando has previously won an Anson award for her work on the growing need for blood donors, especially platelet donors, as Austin has grown. Villalpando has been with the Statesman since 1999 as a designer, copy editor, features reporter and editor, and now as the health reporter. She also manages the Statesman’s Season for Caring charity program.
Snowfall in Texas normally pales in comparison with what people see in northeastern cities such as Boston or New York.
This winter was a little different, even though most of the state did not see much, if any, snowfall during the 2023-24 winter season. Cities such as Austin, San Antonio and Houston did not receive any measurable snowfall.
To see real snow accumulations, you had to travel to West Texas and the Panhandle. Lubbock recorded 3.7 inches of snow this winter. Amarillo had more, measuring 8.3 inches.
The state’s highest snowfall totals this winter came between Lubbock and Amarillo. That includes the town of Plainview, which received 13 inches of snow, 12 of which came on Feb 11-12. It was the most snow the town had seen in almost 10 years, when more than 17 inches fell in the winter of 201415.
Plainview recorded more snow this winter than several cities in the northeastern United States. For example, Boston recorded only 9.7 inches, 25% less than what Plainview saw.
To be fair, that’s more about the lack of snow in the Northeast than about how heavy the snow was in Plainview. Boston’s 9.7 inches is the city’s thirdlowest seasonal snow total of all time.
For the record, Boston averages 48.7 inches of snow each winter. This year’s total is only 20% of what’s normal in Boston.
The same is true in New York. This winter’s seasonal snow total in Central Park reached only 7.5 inches, which is less than Amarillo or Plainview. It’s New York’s 10th-smallest snowfall on record and is more than 22 inches below its average for a typical winter.