Robin Fields became managing editor of ProPublica on January 1, 2013. She joined ProPublica as a reporter in 2008 and became a senior editor in 2010. As an editor, she has overseen projects on political dark money, injection wells, the military’s handling of traumatic brain injuries, police violence in post-Katrina New Orleans, cell tower deaths, and the nation's troubled system of death investigations. Work she has edited has twice been honored with George Polk Awards, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and IRE. These projects also have resulted in four documentaries made in partnership with PBS "Frontline," two of which received Emmy nominations. As a reporter at ProPublica, Fields did a project on U.S. dialysis care and wrote stories about a troubled chain of psychiatric hospitals. Fields was a finalist for a National Magazine Award for her work on dialysis, which was also honored by IRE and the Society of Professional Journalists and received the Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism. Fields began her career at the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida. Before joining ProPublica, spent nine years as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she worked on investigations into political fundraiser Norman Hsu, California's adult guardianship system and abuses at the J. Paul Getty Trust. Her work on guardianship received the National Journalism Award for investigative reporting, a Sigma Delta Chi Public Service Award and an Associated Press Managing Editors Public Service Award.
Articles
May 11, 8:54 p.m.
The release of Medicare Part D records changes the conversation about how practitioners prescribe drugs—and indicates the government could do more to ensure they do so safely.
April 17, 2012, 10 a.m.
ProPublica obtained data about the performance of more than 5,000 U.S. dialysis clinics. Our Dialysis Facility Tracker allows patients to compare clinics on such measures as patient survival, infection control, hospitalization rates and transplant rates.
Aug. 4, 2011, 4:37 p.m.
DaVita, the country’s second-largest dialysis provider, announced in a financial filing that a U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation into the company’s business practices is “preliminary.”
March 29, 2011, 9:41 a.m.
Officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told Sen. Grassley they are now providing Dialysis Facility Reports, statistical compilations on each of the nation’s 5,000-plus dialysis clinics, to anyone upon request and are trying to add the reports to Medicare’s Dialysis Facility Compare website.
Dec. 28, 2010, 9:35 a.m.
An investigation by ProPublica found that some states are failing to meet inspection targets for the nation’s more than 5,000 dialysis clinics. Patient advocates say the backlog increases risks for patients in a system that has one of the industrialized world’s highest mortality rates.
Dec. 23, 2010, 10:28 a.m.
ProPublica obtained data about the performance of more than 5,000 U.S. dialysis clinics. ProPublica’s Dialysis Facility Tracker allows patients to compare clinics on such measures as patient survival, infection control, hospitalization rates and transplant rates.
Dec. 22, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter Tuesday to Dr. Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, expressing concern about clinic conditions and oversight described in a report published by ProPublica and the Atlantic Monthly in November.
Dec. 9, 2010, 2:02 p.m.
A new study shows that patients treated at dialysis clinics run by the largest U.S. for-profit chains have a higher risk of death than patients treated by the biggest nonprofit chain.
Nov. 10, 2010, 6:53 a.m.
Medicare rules do not require dialysis clinics to tell outside authorities about lapses in patient safety, even if they result in injuries or deaths. One model: The Department of Veterans Affairs, which has adopted mandatory reporting of accidents and near-misses to save lives.
Nov. 9, 2010, 7 a.m.
Every year, more than 100,000 Americans start dialysis. One in four of them will die within 12 months—a fatality rate that is one of the worst in the industrialized world. And dialysis arguably costs more here than anywhere else. Although taxpayers cover most of the bill, the government has kept confidential clinic data that could help patients make better decisions. How did our first foray into near-universal coverage, begun four decades ago with such great hope, turn out this way? And what lessons does it hold for the future of health care reform?
Aug. 26, 2010, 7:11 p.m.
Federal agents are looking into allegations that high-ranking New Orleans police commanders gave orders after Hurricane Katrina authorizing officers to shoot looters.
May 17, 2010, 3:13 p.m.
Psychiatric Solutions Inc., a mental health care provider that has been the subject of several ProPublica stories, will be acquired by Universal Health Services Inc., another large operator of hospital and psychiatric facilities. The companies announced the deal today.
May 13, 2010, 3:31 p.m.
The Justice Department is investigating executive compensation at Psychiatric Solutions Inc., the inpatient mental health care company that has been the subject of several articles by ProPublica. The company substantially increased executives' salary and options about two weeks before reports surfaced that the company was in talks to be acquired.
May 7, 2010, 8:38 a.m.
Florida has halted admissions to a Manatee Palms, psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents operated by a subsidiary of Psychiatric Solutions Inc., which is under scrutiny for reports of neglect and sexual abuse at several of its centers.
Dec. 18, 2009, 9:28 a.m.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., calls for hearings into the recruiting practices of for-profit schools, citing an investigation by ProPublica and Marketplace. "To find that for-profit institutions allegedly drew students in with disingenuous claims and sometimes outright fabrication, subjected them to onerous loans, and left them with often unusable 'credits,' is inexcusable," he said.
Dec. 16, 2009, 12:10 p.m.
Sept. 22, 2009, 5:01 p.m.
