Recent News

On The Front Lines Of The Overdose Epidemic In Baltimore

Nov 22nd, 2016

As a wave of heroin overdoses strikes West Baltimore, a medical team warns a stricken neighborhood and hands out last-ditch doses of lifesaving medication.
 

WEST BALTIMORE — At the sidewalk’s edge in a vacant lot, the crowd gathered around the card table, to learn how to bring someone back from the dead.

On the table rested a vial of naloxone — the drug that reverses overdoses from heroin and other opioid drugs — screwed into a nostril-shaped inhaler. Daryl Mack of the Baltimore City Health Department had assembled the kit in about 30 seconds in front of the crowd.

The watchers, older black men and women from Baltimore’s Sandtown neighborhood, nodded at Mack’s description of a black person turning ashy gray during an overdose as their breathing stops, and how the drug on the table will call them back from the edge of death.

Read the entire story.

BCHD Celebrates Waxter Senior Center Fitness Center Grand Opening!

Nov 18th, 2016

BCHD Waxter Senior Center Fitness Center Grand Opening

On Thursday, Dr. Wen and BCHD staff joined Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Council President Jack Young, Aaron Merki from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, and Kathy Brill from the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation to celebrate the grand opening of the Waxter Senior Center Fitness Center.

This 3,000 square foot fitness center will provide Waxter center members and the surrounding community with new fitness equipment and a space for therapeutic services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other health related activities.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Issues Statement in Response to Landmark Surgeon General Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health

Nov 18th, 2016

BALTIMORE, MD (November 18, 2016)—Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen today issued the following statement in response to a new report by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy that identifies substance use disorders as one of America’s most pressing public health concerns.

Healthwatch With Dr. Leana Wen: Record-Low Infant Mortality; Youth Health Strategy; Obamacare (WYPR)

Nov 17th, 2016

It’s the Midday Healthwatch with Dr. Leana Wen, the Health Commissioner of Baltimore City.  There’s good news for babies in Baltimore: the infant mortality rate fell to record low levels in 2015.  And there is an effort afoot to help those healthy babies grow into healthy teenagers.  We’ll look at the ways the city is implementing its new Youth Health and Wellness Strategy.  Plus, the future of Obamacare:  If President Elect Trump makes good on his promise to repeal and replace the ACA, what will that mean for local health departments struggling to address the needs of the uninsured, and the under-insured?  Even though rates for some plans are rising, is the ACA still a good deal for some people?

Listen to the segment here: http://wypr.org/post/healthwatch-dr-leana-wen-record-low-infant-mortality-youth-health-strategy-obamacare

Baltiomre Leaders Encourage Healthcare Enrollment at Maryland Health Connection College Enrollment Kickoff

Nov 16th, 2016

Dr. Wen Speaking at the Maryland Health Connection College Enrollment Kickoff.PNG

On Monday, Dr. Wen joined Representatives Elijah Cummings and Jonathan Sarbanes, Mayor-elect Catherine Pugh, Acting Executive Director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, Jonathan Kromm, and other community leaders at the College Open Enrollment Kickoff at the College Open Enrollment Kickoff.

“Young people. College Students. Every resident”—Dr. Wen called for everyone to sign-up today to get the coverage they need “to prevent small problems from becoming life-threatening illnesses.” She expressed her anxiety and concern as well as shared stories of the patients she has seen in the ER and how many of them were dying because they did not have access to affordable healthcare. Dr. Wen explained that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped thousands of Baltimore residents receive affordable coverage. Today, there are less than 40,000 uncovered adults without health insurance, down from over 81,000 uninsured in 2010.

Baltimore City Announces Beginning of Code Blue Season

Nov 15th, 2016

BALTIMORE, MD (November 15, 2016)—Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen today announced the start of Baltimore City’s Code Blue program for the coming winter. Code Blue is a multi-agency effort to reduce hypothermia deaths by protecting homeless individuals, seniors and other vulnerable populations from extreme cold weather.

Dr. Wen Speaks at Dream Girls Mentoring Program’s “Hollywood: A Night of Elegance”

Nov 15th, 2016

Dr. Wen at Dream Girls Mentoring Hollywood Elegance Event

On Saturday evening, Dr. Wen joined State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Associated Black Charities President and Chief Executive Officer Diane Bell McKoy, Raquel Lilly from Living Classrooms, and Sharayna Christmas from MUSE 360 to speak at the Dream Girls Mentoring Program event, “Hollywood Dreams: A Night of Elegance.”

BCHD Staff Trained over 100 Residents to Save a Life with Naloxone on Election Day!

Nov 10th, 2016

BCHD Election Day Overdose Naloxone Training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, BCHD staff and volunteers were in the community at five Baltimore City polling stations to teach residents waiting in line to vote how to use the life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, naloxone. Residents were also able to get their flu shot before or after casting their vote.

As Dr. Wen says, “Every interaction is a point of intervention,” which means that we take every opportunity to teach about opioid use and demonstrate what someone can do to help during an overdose. In 2015, Dr. Wen issued a standing order for naloxone to be available to any person in Baltimore who takes the training.

Dr. Wen Speaks at the Sixth Annual Lundberg Institute Lecture

Nov 8th, 2016

Dr. Leana Wen and Dr. George Lundberg at Sixth Annual Lundberg Institute Lecture

On Monday, Dr. Wen spoke at the Sixth Annual Lundberg Institute Lecture, “Public Health and Physician Activism: Lessons from Baltimore,” in San Francisco, California. The Lundberg Institute is a non-profit dedicated to creating a better patient-physician relationship by providing resources to promote evidence-informed health care that focus on patient centeredness. The Lundberg Institute intends for physicians to improve their skills in listening, oral and written communications, information technology, shared decision-making, and transparency in order to patients to receive the best care.

Living for the City-- Meet Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore's Superstar Health Commissioner (Baltimore Magazine)

Nov 7th, 2016

It's late August and Dr. Leana Wen is standing underneath the soaring dome of City Hall, a bank of cameras pointed at her as she leads a news conference to mark National Overdose Awareness Day.

As Baltimore’s health commissioner, substance abuse and addiction are among her top priorities, not to mention issues of national importance. Last year, more Baltimoreans died from overdoses (393) than from homicides (344). So she’s here—flanked by Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman John Sarbanes, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, Fire Chief Niles Ford, and others—to sound the alarm about the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic and tout the city’s innovative response to the crisis.

There’s much to tout. In October 2015, Wen became the first health commissioner in Maryland to issue a blanket prescription allowing all Baltimoreans to obtain naloxone, a medication that can reverse an in-progress opioid overdose. The bold move attracted national attention and helped earn her a spot on a panel with President Barack Obama at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in March.

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