Since Anchor Medical Associates announced it will close its primary care practice in Rhode Island on June 30 — leaving behind about 25,000 patients, including 7,000 children — doctors’ offices have been swamped with calls. I know, because I’m one of their patients. The Monday after the news broke, I called close to a dozen […]
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.
Posted inHealth, Labor, Local
Butler Hospital’s unionized staff vote to authorize a strike
Unionized workers at Butler Hospital have voted to authorize a possible strike, saying the hospital’s operators at Care New England have refused to address concerns about workplace safety and wages. Leadership of the SEIU District 1199 New England – which represents more than 4,000 workers in Rhode Island, including over 400 frontline staff at Butler […]
Posted inLocal, Newport Bureau, Transportation
Rhode Island authorizes Newport Pell Bridge risk assessment
The Rhode Island agency that oversees the Newport Pell Bridge on Monday released its response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommended risk assessment following last year’s deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore. The four-lane suspension bridge linking Aquidneck Island and Jamestown is one of 68 bridges nationwide that the NTSB in March recommended for a […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local, Politics
NOAA employees in R.I. and Mass. fired, rehired, then fired again
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week fired its previously reinstated probationary workers, including many who worked at local facilities in Narragansett and Woods Hole. NOAA employees in Rhode Island and Massachusetts told The Publics Radio that they received a mass email on Thursday informing them their jobs had been terminated – again. The […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Is South County Hospital’s escalating fight with critics alienating donors?
South County Hospital prides itself on being one of the few remaining independent hospitals in Rhode Island. But the hospital’s financial and staffing challenges are now compounded by its ongoing battle with a group of doctors and community members demanding leadership changes. The Public’s Radio’s Luis Hernandez spoke with health reporter Lynn Arditi about the […]
Posted inEducation, Local, Politics
Trump administration to cut $510 million in funding to Brown University
The Trump administration plans to cut off more than a half billion dollars in federal funding to Brown University, White House officials reportedly told The Brown Daily Herald and several national news outlets onThursday. The Associated Press, CNN and The New York Times are among the national news outlets reporting the administration plans to block […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Trump CDC cuts will undermine response to outbreaks in Rhode Island, health officials say
The Trump administration’s abrupt termination this week of Rhode Island’s remaining $31 million in federal grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could significantly undermine the state’s ability to prevent and respond to infectious disease outbreaks, state health officials said Friday. The CDC grants, allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic, were helping Rhode Island […]
Posted inHealth, Local, Politics
R.I. House passes bill to safeguard access to COVID-19 vaccines for children
The state House of Representatives this week approved legislation to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for children in Rhode Island even if the Trump administration rolls back federal approvals. The House voted 58-10 to approve a bill (H-5427A) to allow pharmacists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to children age 3 or older. The bill, introduced […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local
Early career scientists in Rhode Island consider leaving the U.S.
Most workday mornings, Eddie Cascella is too busy to get depressed about his career. From behind the counter at The Coffee Exchange on the East Side of Providence, the 26-year-old environmental scientist serves bags of coffee beans to a steady stream of customers. “Would you like that ground or whole bean?” he asks each customer. […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of R.I. reports job cuts and operating losses
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 3% amid reports of ongoing operating losses. The job cuts will impact about 30 of its 946 full-time equivalent employees in Rhode Island, the company said in a statement released earlier this week. The jobs cuts’ primary “focus” is […]
