Robin Fields

Reporter

Photo of Robin Fields

Robin Fields is a reporter with ProPublica. She joined ProPublica as a reporter in 2008, became a senior editor in 2010 and served as managing editor from 2013 to 2022 prior to returning to the reporter role. 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.

Google’s Heat Map of Voting Problems

Nine Ideas to Make Tylenol and Other Acetaminophen Drugs Safer

Scientists, regulators and manufacturers have come up with numerous proposals that could reduce the toll of deaths and injuries from one of America’s most popular drugs.

Celebrating Five Years at ProPublica

Five years later, many things have changed at and around ProPublica, but its mission to hold those in power accountable remains the same.

Lifting the Veil on Dangerous Prescribing

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.

Updated: Dialysis Facility Tracker

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.

Federal Grand Jury Probes Major Dialysis Provider

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.”

Feds to Follow ProPublica, Release Dialysis Clinic Data

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.

Led by California, Inspection Backlogs Weaken Dialysis Oversight

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.

Dialysis Data, Once Confidential, Shines Light on Clinic Disparities

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.

Sen. Grassley Demands Information on Dialysis Clinic Conditions

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.

New Study Shows Higher Mortality Risk at For-Profit Dialysis Chains

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.

When Needles Dislodge, Dialysis Can Turn Deadly

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.

In Dialysis, Life-Saving Care at Great Risk and Cost

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?

Troubled Mental Health Provider Acquired by Competitor

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.

Psychiatric Solutions' Executive Pay Probed by Justice Department

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.

Florida Regulators Stop Admissions to Troubled Youth Facility

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.

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