Harry and Lorraine Sterling have been enjoying a kind of extended honeymoon since they married four years ago. They found each other on an internet dating site for seniors. They are regular theatre-goers. And though they are both in their 80s they still love to travel. This winter, they planned to hitch their red Mini […]
Lynn Arditi
Lynn joined The Public's Radio as health reporter in 2017 after more than three decades as a journalist, including 28 years at The Providence Journal. Her series "A 911 Emergency," a project of the 2019 ProPublica Local Reporting Network, won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award in the radio/podcast category in 2020.
A native of New York City, she graduated from Oberlin College and landed her first journalism job at The Center for Investigative Reporting (now known as Reveal) in Washington, D.C., where she did story development for 60 Minutes. When the T.V. market imploded in 1987, the D.C. office of CIR closed and within a year she moved to Massachusetts to take a reporting job at the former Holyoke Transcript-Telegram, a small daily newspaper.
A year later, she moved to Providence, R.I. to work at The Providence Journal. There, she worked for several years as a bureau reporter covering schools and local issues, before she began covering statewide beats including higher education, the economy, housing and health care. During those years, she also honed her skills in narrative journalism, and served as chairwoman of the newspaper’s writing committee. Her work has been recognized by New England Associated Press News Executives Association and the Society of American Business Editors & Writers.
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Rhode Island digs out from powerful winter storm
This weekend’s winter storm has left Southern New England, leaving behind deep blankets of snow across Rhode Island.
Posted inArticle, Health
Dr. James McDonald tapped as interim health director as McKee searches for permanent replacement
Dr. James McDonald, a state medical director who heads the board of licensure and discipline, will serve as interim director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, Governor Daniel J. McKee announced Thursday. McDonald, a pediatrician, will assume the day-to-day operations of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, who is stepping down from the directors’ post […]
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Hospital employees and public voice concerns about Lifespan-Care New England merger
More than 250 people joined the first public hearing this week to weigh in on the proposed merger of Rhode Island’s two largest healthcare systems, Lifespan and Care New England. “I’m terrified about the impacts of this merger,’’ said Sara Gello Weinreich, a nurse at Butler Hospital in Providence. She recalled that Butler Hospital used […]
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Eleanor Slater Hospital to get nearly $170 million in governor’s spending plan
Eleanor Slater Hospital would receive $167.8 million over the next seven years for a new medical facility, building upgrades and a new electronic medical records system in Governor Daniel J. McKee’s proposed state budget released Thursday. Eleanor Slater, which has campuses in Burrillville and Cranston, serves as Rhode Island’s hospital of last resort for patients […]
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RI health director stepping down at critical time for the state’s health care system
Rhode Island Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott is resigning her post, leaving a major leadership hole at a time when the state’s health care system is straining under the pandemic’s latest wave. Gov. Daniel J. McKee’s office, which announced her departure Thursday, said the governor “regretfully” accepted her resignation. Alexander-Scott approached McKee about her plans […]
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Biden to send military personnel to help hospitals in Rhode Island as COVID-19 cases surge
Rhode Island is one of six states that will be receiving medical military personnel to help alleviate staffing shortages in hospitals, President Joseph Biden announced Thursday. Starting next week, 1,000 military medical personnel will begin arriving to help mitigate staffing crunches at hospitals across the country, including Rhode Island. A 23-person medical team — a […]
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RI Gov. McKee deploys National Guard troops to one hospital
The announcement comes after weeks of healthcare professionals sounding the alarm about staffing shortages at the state’s hospitals.
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Omicron surge forecast to peak in RI as early as this week
A forecasting model from a Brown University epidemiologist predicts that Rhode Island will see record high COVID-19 cases and hospitalization as early as this week. Health reporter Lynn Arditi spoke with John P. Fulton about the models he and his colleague at Brown’s School of Public Health developed for the state Department of Health. Dr. […]
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Rhode Island hospitals say staffing shortages are critical. So why hasn’t the National Guard been called to help?
Healthcare professionals have been sounding the alarm for weeks about staffing shortages at Rhode Island hospitals, but Gov. Dan McKee has yet to deploy the National Guard to help. “The staffing crisis is at critical levels in all areas,” Dr. Nadine Himelfarb, president of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians […]
