Recent News

Counting The Heavy Cost Of Care In The Age Of Opioids (NPR)

Oct 27th, 2017

The declaration of an opioid emergency by President Trump has put the focus on the need for treatment. And now some communities are asking who will pay. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports on the rising costs of treating the epidemic.

Listen to the entire segment.

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Wen to Nursing Students: Opioid Crisis ‘Horrendous’ (UMB News)

Oct 27th, 2017

Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc, FAAEM, was en route to speak at an endowed lecture at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) Oct.

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Baltimore residents, dying from opioid overdoses, hope to get promised help from the White House (Think Progress)

Oct 24th, 2017

Baltimore’s short on a lifesaving drug. Declaring the opioid crisis a national emergency can help.

Read the entire story.

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Panel Touts Success Integrating Primary Care, Population Health (AAFP)

Oct 23rd, 2017

By identifying specific public health problems and offering care to people the moment they need it, population health initiatives can work with primary care to improve health outcomes before patients go to their physician's office or the ER.

Evan Behrle, a special adviser for opioid policy with the Baltimore City Health Department, described a program that seeks to reduce the infant mortality rate by 40 percent within eight years.

Read the entire story.

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Five questions for President Trump’s big announcement on opioids (The Hill)

Oct 20th, 2017

This week, President Trump announced that he plans to formally declare a statement of emergency on the opioid epidemic. It’s about time. Experts, including the President’s own Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, have repeatedly called for the President to put the full weight of the federal government to stem the tide of this disease that is claiming hundreds of lives per day.

Read Dr. Wen's entire op-ed.

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Dr. Wen Discusses BCHD Efforts to Reduce Health Disparities on WBAL-TV

Oct 19th, 2017

Dr. Leana Wen appeared on WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore on Sunday, October 15 to discuss how BCHD is working to decrease health disparities in Baltimore.

For access to the complete interview, click here. 

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Public Health Heroes: Lead Poisoning Prevention Team

Oct 13th, 2017

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week begins October 22, but for BCHD’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) Team, the call to action comes every day of the year. Although preventable, lead poisoning and exposure remains a serious problem for Baltimore City residents. 

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CLPPP Team

Baltimore City schools remind parents about immunization requirements (WBAL TV)

Sep 27th, 2017

Thousands of Baltimore City parents are getting some extra time to get their school-aged children vaccinated. The extension comes just days after an important state deadline. In a near-packed lobby at the Baltimore City Health Department clinic on West North Avenue nurses are making sure children get the shots they need to stay in school, realizing there's a real risk in waiting.

Watch the full video.

Dr. Leana Wen Interviewed on Matter of Fact

Sep 26th, 2017

Dr. Leana Wen was interviewed by Soledad O'Brien on Matter of Fact on Sepember 13, 2017 about the opioid crisis. WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore televised the interview live. You can view it here.

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Cities turn to doulas to give black babies a better chance at survival (Washington Post)

Sep 25th, 2017

BALTIMORE — This city has opened a new front in its effort to give black newborns the same chances of surviving infancy as white ones: training doulas to assist expectant mothers during pregnancy, delivery and afterward.

The initiative is the latest salvo in the Baltimore City Health Department's seven-year-old effort to combat high mortality rates among black newborns.

Read the entire story.

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