SideBar: Optimism in Action Welcomes Dr. Leslie Hayes

Access to primary health care is essential to a healthy country and it is even more important in small and rural communities.

MONTEREY, CA, UNITED STATES, September 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast, a collaboration of KAZU 90.3 and Monterey College of Law, welcomes Dr. Leslie Hayes to discuss why rural medical health care is an essential community service.

“There is no such thing as a typical day in a family medical practice in rural America,” says Dr. Leslie Hayes of El Centro Family Health in Española, NM. Dr. Hayes joins SideBar: Optimism in Action host Mitch Winick to discuss the work of El Centro Family Health and the importance of rural health care. Access to primary health care is essential to a healthy country and it is even more important in small and rural communities that have limited access to hospitals and other specialty medical practices. She believes that in order for patients to have the best possible outcomes, they need evidence-based, nonjudgmental care in a place that is accessible and familiar to them.

Dr. Hayes was named a White House Champion of Change in April of 2016 for her work with substance use disorder and pregnancy. Her work was also featured in The Providers, an award-winning documentary about rural health care airing on PBS.

Hayes’ episode on SideBar: Optimism in Action goes live Tuesday, September 1, 2026 on www.kazu.org/sidebar.

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KAZU 90.3 radio and SideBarMedia are excited to collaborate to add SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast to KAZU’s digital programming on the station's website (www.kazu.org/sidebar).

KAZU is the NPR affiliate station for Monterey, Salinas, and Santa Cruz. The SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast - sponsored by Monterey College of Law, a long-standing nonprofit sponsor of KAZU 90.3 radio - has become the first non-newscast, locally produced podcast featured on the KAZU website and mobile application.

SideBar: Optimism in Action is hosted by former law dean Mitch Winick and produced by David Eakin, a local theater composer, media consultant, and podcast producer. “The podcast features nonprofit leaders, advocates, and community members who represent extraordinary work that is improving the humanitarian, public policy, and charitable needs of our local, national, and global communities. Our focus this season is on the amazing individuals who are pursuing positive change during challenging times,” explained Winick.

New episodes of SideBar: Optimism in Action are published on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at www.kazu.org/sidebar. To learn more about the podcast, read our blog, and to preview and listen to more than 90 previous episodes, go to SideBarMedia at www.sidebarmedia.org.

Mitchel Winick
SideBar Media
+1 831-241-8999
email us here