News Coverage

"My First Time in a Strip Club" (New York Times) June 5, 2015

Jun 5th, 2015

The first time most guys go into a strip club, it’s party time. Alcohol pours. Dancers sell dreams. Groomsmen pick up the tab as lap dances go to the bachelor. A 21st birthday party ends with a crowded drunk selfie followed by some “tag me in that” pleas. My first time in a strip club was a little different. I wasn’t there for a drink or lap dance. I wasn’t with my boys. I was with Nathan Fields, a community health educator for the Baltimore Public Health Department, as he made his weekly rounds at strip clubs on East Baltimore Street, or “The Block,” as it’s known.

On-the-street efforts to stop the violence in Baltimore (WYPR) June 5, 2015

Jun 5th, 2015

Amid a spike in homicides since the Baltimore riots in April, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake earlier this week pointed to a bright spot in efforts to reduce violence in the city: Safe Streets,  an effort of the Baltimore City Health Department which hires mostly ex-offenders to stop violence in four Baltimore neighborhoods. We sit down with Greg Marshburn, an Outreach Supervisor for Safe Streets at its Mondawmin site in West Baltimore, and Dante Barksdale, an Outreach Coordinator for Safe Streets, to talk about stopping violence in Baltimore.

"Teen pregnancy in Baltimore" (WYPR) June 3, 2015

Jun 4th, 2015

Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen was a guest on WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks discussing violence prevention, Safe Streets, health disparities, substance addiction, the need for increased naloxone training, and teen pregnancy prevention issues.

"Baltimore mayor touts 'Safe Streets Zone' success" (WBAL-TV) June 2, 2015

Jun 3rd, 2015

Despite the continuing violence, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is celebrating crime reduction more than a year without a deadly shooting in a Safe Streets Zone. Rawlings-Blake called the success an important milestone for the city. The mayor said thanks to the Safe Streets team and the community for the hard work they've done in reducing violence. The last fatal shooting in Cherry Hill was April 22, 2014.

 

"Baltimore's Cherry Hill celebrates more than a year without a murder" (WMAR-TV)

Jun 3rd, 2015

It is a neighborhood those born and raised in say has a reputation they are always fighting to overcome. Now there is proof, they say, that fight is working. It has been more than 400 days since someone was killed in the streets of Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood. 

"Mental health resources available to children traumatized by Baltimore riots" (WMAR-ABC2) May 27, 2015

May 28th, 2015

As video of fires and looting played out on televisions across the country, many kids were living it. "Trauma in general at the level that we saw in our city has caused more concern for mental health across the board. These are scars that will follow people throughout their lives and it’s important for us to address it now,” Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen said.

"In Baltimore's bloody May, Safe Streets keeps peace" (Baltimore Sun) May 27, 2015

May 28th, 2015

I'm looking at some numbers and speaking with James Timpson, who runs the Safe Streets violence prevention program in Park Heights, and I'm wondering: Why aren't these guys in every high-crime corner of the city? If the mayor and police commissioner want to make some "adjustments" to curtail the shootings and killings in Baltimore, why not expand Safe Streets — and now?

"Hopkins studies student vision, learning" (Baltimore Sun) May 27, 2015

May 27th, 2015

Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore's new health commissioner, said the department has made significant improvements. In the last academic school year, the department increased its vision screening rate to 96 percent. But challenges remain with follow-through, Wen said. Less than 20 percent of students who screen positive for vision deficiencies end up getting glasses, she said. That leaves the health department and the school system trying to reach parents.

"We can save lives now" (Baltimore Sun) May 23, 2015

May 25th, 2015

Heroin is not a new problem to Baltimore. Like many cities across the U.S., we have struggled with the heroin epidemic for years. Heroin ties into the very fabric of our city and cannot be separated from the problems of violence, mass incarceration and rampant health disparities. Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen writes an Op Ed for the Baltimore Sun.

"A prescription for Baltimore’s health" (Washington Post) May 23, 2015

May 25th, 2015

The world has heard about Freddie Gray. I want to tell you about another young man whose life ended too soon. He was my patient in the emergency room at a D.C. hospital. He was 19 years old and had been shot five times in the chest and abdomen. Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen writes an Op-Ed for the Washington Post.

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