Recent News

Baltimore's health commissioner is revamping the way we think about drug addiction—and so much more (City Paper)

Nov 2nd, 2016

It is a cold, wet, dreary Saturday morning on the first day of October. It's the kind of morning most people would rather spend stretched out in bed, or maybe sipping a cup of coffee and daydreaming about nothing much in particular. But at 9 a.m., inside the Baltimore War Memorial, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen is addressing a crowd of about 50 people at something called "Solutions Summit: Behavioral Health Forum." Organized by the nonprofit Open Society Institute, the event is a way for citizens to come together and work toward solutions to the city's lingering structural problems.

This morning, she's talking about addiction deaths, and how they have increased in part due to fentanyl, an opioid that can be added to any number of drugs. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is up to 100 times more powerful than morphine and 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin.

Wen speaks with passion and authority, and the room is silent as she makes her case about the urgency of this situation.

"The number of people dying…has increased by tenfold—not 10 percent—10 times in the last two years because this medication fentanyl has gotten mixed with heroin, with cocaine, and people don't know that it's there," Wen says. "There is so much work ahead of us but now we have to focus on saving lives."

BCHD Recognizes Children’s Health Month and Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

Oct 28th, 2016

October is National Children’s Health Month. This week, we continued to recognize and highlight efforts to promote health and wellness among our youngest residents.

On Monday, Chief of Staff Kristin Rzeczkowski joined Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) President and CEO Ruth Ann Norton and partners from across the state at Lakewood Community School to honor the beginning of Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. GHHI announced that its new mobile app will teach residents about hazards in their houses, such as lead poisoning, and how to keep their families healthy and safe.

We also joined U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator, Shawn M. Garvin at a press conference on Tuesday where they announced a new $6 million federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) for Johns Hopkins University to study the impact of childhood asthma and obesity in Baltimore City.

BCHD Office of Youth Violence Prevention highlight a public health approach to addressing teen dating violence at BPD DV event

Oct 28th, 2016

Last night, the Baltimore City Health Department's (BCHD) Office of Youth Violence Prevention's (OYVP) Dating Matters program joined the Baltimore City Police Department and other organizations focused on preventing domestic violence at the Shake and Bake Family Fun Center to promote awareness during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The event themed, "Shining a Light on Healthy Relationships" featured speakers William Kellibrew IV, director of OYVP, BCHD; Aisha Burgess, director of Dating Matters, (BCHD) Marilyn Mosby, Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City; Lyn Twyman, Baltimore City Police Department's Community Collaboration Division; and representatives from many other domestic violence organizations as far away as Greensboro, North Carolina.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Issues Statement in Response to Updated Infant Sleep Guidelines

Oct 25th, 2016

BALTIMORE, MD (October 25, 2016) – Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen issued the following statement in response to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ release of updated safe sleep guidelines for infants.

Adopting a Trauma-Informed Approach in Animal Services

Oct 21st, 2016

Working long hours and multiple shifts, Baltimore City's Animal Control officers and staff respond to the health and safety of some of Baltimore's most vulnerable residents -- animals. As the Baltimore City Health Department advances its mission to pursue health equity for all citizens and residents of Baltimore, the department has facilitated and supported trauma-informed trainings across multiple systems and settings. Adopting a trauma-informed approach means taking into account the prevalence of trauma in populations, recognizing and understanding the role that trauma plays in the lives of the individuals being served and engaged, responding by putting knowledge into practice and resisting re-traumatization. 

BCHD’s New TECHealth Civic Innovation Program Launches

Oct 20th, 2016

Baltimore City Health Department is launching the first cohort of TECHealth (Transforming Engineering for Civic Health), a program to engage members of Baltimore’s thriving technology and design community to solve pressing public health challenges in the city.

Following the completion of the three-month design and development phase, teams will present their projects to key health, innovation, and government stakeholders.

Teams will then be eligible for a micro-grant from Baltimore City’s TECHealth Innovation Fund to support further development. Qualifying teams will also be eligible for a spot in the Accelerate Baltimore program at Baltimore’s award winning incubator, ETC (Emerging Technology Centers). 

If you're interested in more information, visit the TECHealth website or contact Mike Fried.

Read more to learn about the seven projects participating in the first cohort!

Dr. Wen Speaks at Public Health 3.0 Conference

Oct 20th, 2016

On Monday afternoon, Dr. Wen joined Karen DeSalvo, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, John Auerbach, Director of Policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and health directors across the country in Washington, DC at the Public Health 3.0 conference.

BCHD Welcomes New Baltimore Corps Fellows

Oct 18th, 2016

Building off the amazing success we saw in the first year of the program, we are proud to welcome our second cohort of Baltimore Corps fellows to BCHD! Baltimore Corps fellows are integral team members who help support, improve, and even create new programs which help address public health issues to help build strong, healther communities. Check out their profiles.

Baltimore Is Attacking the Roots of Violence with Public Health Measures—and Saving Lives (Scientific American)

Oct 17th, 2016

In Baltimore, violence has become a near-daily occurrence. In 2015, for example, this city of more than 620,000 people saw 344 homicides.

Baltimore's success a model for region on heroin (Cincinati Enquirer)

Oct 16th, 2016

The surest way to achieve success is to model those who are already successful. That's why lawmakers and public health officials in Ohio and Kentucky should be paying close attention to how Baltimore is dealing with the problem of heroin and other illicit drugs.

In the Enquirer's series, "Lessons from Baltimore," reporter Terry DeMio details how that city, which has a heavily addicted population, is battling the opioid epidemic with a great degree of success. This editorial board has applauded the ongoing efforts and collaborations among regional health agencies to combat this deadly scourge, but we've also been clear that greater investment needs to be made in treatment and prevention. Admittedly, there are political and economic differences that make a direct comparison between Baltimore and Greater Cincinnati difficult, but nonetheless there are takeaways our region could learn from.

Pages