Governor Daniel J. McKee announced on Thursday the appointment of an infectious disease specialist who recently joined the Rhode Island Department of Health as its interim director until a permanent hire is finalized. Dr. Staci Fischer worked 15 years at Rhode Island Hospital and oversaw training for medical residents and fellows for Lifespan in her […]
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, Local
The Centurion Foundation’s purchase of Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals would rely on bond funding
Unionized employees turned out in force at a public hearing Tuesday to oppose the proposed sale of two Rhode Island community hospitals by Prospect Medical Holdings to an Atlanta-based nonprofit. Nurses, lab technicians, social workers and other staff of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence filled […]
Posted inHealth, Local
More people who use cocaine in Rhode Island are dying of overdoses
In an empty stairwell in Pawtucket, R.I., Jackson offered to show a reporter how he tries to reduce his risk of overdosing when he smokes crack cocaine. (Jackson agreed to speak to The Public’s Radio for this story on the condition that we use only his first name.) It had been several hours since his […]
Posted inArticle, Health, Local
Wanted: Health Director for Rhode Island
Gov. Daniel J. McKee is asking state lawmakers for permission to negotiate a higher salary for the job of state health director, which currently pays less than the average doctor in their first year out of residency training. The health director post has been vacant since January 2022, when Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott resigned. Five months later, Dr. […]
Posted inHealth, Local, Stories
A place to use illegal drugs under medical supervision near Rhode Island Hospital
Two Rhode Island nonprofits announced Wednesday the location of the country’s first state-regulated center where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision. Project Weber/RENEW, a peer-led harm reduction and recovery group, and its partner, the clinical services provider VICTA, plan to open the “overdose prevention center” next to the campus of Rhode Island Hospital, […]
Posted inHealth, Labor, Local, Stories
Women & Infants Hospital front-line workers say staffing shortages are straining patient care
Unionized nurses and other frontline caregivers at Women & Infants Hospital are calling on management to address staffing shortages that are expected to be especially acute during the holidays. “Right now there’s such a nursing shortage that it’s very hard to even staff this hospital appropriately,’’ Dana Carcieri, a nurse who worked 26 years in […]
Posted inHealth, Local, Stories
‘Tis the season for viruses, but Rhode Island doctor says common sense can keep people healthy
The holidays are upon us and so are some unwelcome guests: COVID-19, the flu and the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV are all circulating this season in what Dr. Philip Chan, a medical director for the Rhode Island Department of Health, calls a “tripledemic.” He talked with Health Reporter Lynn Arditi about the viruses and […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, Local, Stories
CVS, Walmart and Walgreens to pay Rhode Island more than $56 million in opioid settlements
Three national drugstore chains will pay Rhode Island more than $56 million as part of the state’s final round of legal settlements with companies accused of flooding communities with addictive opioid painkillers. The settlement money from CVS, Walmart and Walgreens is expected to begin flowing into Rhode Island in early 2024, and continue through 2037, […]
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Doctor, staffing shortages strain Rhode Island community health centers
Rhode Island community health centers and their patients are feeling the effects of nationwide health workforce shortages, raising concerns about access to primary care
Posted inArticle, Health
What’s missing in the effort to encourage Spanish-speaking Rhode Islanders to get vaccinated against COVID-19?
Rhode Island’s Spanish-speaking communities need trusted sources of health information in their own language. That’s what long-time public health advocate Dr. Pablo Rodriguez is attempting to provide.
