A Code Red Extreme Heat Alert will be in effect in Baltimore today. Dr. Leana Wen talks with WEAA’s Julius White about  tips to stay safe in beating the heat as well as food safety tips for your 4th of July Holiday picnics. 

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Chilled water bottles were in high demand Monday morning at the Northern Community Action Partnership Center. 

The building on York Road was doubling as a cooling center for neighbors seeking a reprieve from Monday’s oppressive heat. While most people there were clients waiting to see caseworkers about housing, energy assistance and other needs, others visited strictly to keep cool.

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Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 90s in Baltimore and feel like up to 107 degrees on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

The heat prompted a code red declaration from Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen through Tuesday, July 3.

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A Code Red Extreme Heat Alert has been issued for Sunday in Baltimore, as the heat index is expected to soar to more than 100 degrees.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said the heat index, which indicates how hot it feels to the human body, will be severe enough to pose a “substantial threat to the life or health of vulnerable Baltimore citizens.”

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In their op-ed, Dr. Leana Wen and State Health Officer and Commissioner of West Virginia Dr. Rahul Gupta, discuss the dire need for resources to combat the opioid epidemic in both urban and rural areas.

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As an emergency physician, I have treated older adults who arrive in the ER with horrific signs of physical abuse, including injuries that led to disability or death. I have also seen our elders who are mentally, emotionally, and sexually abused, and who are targets of financial crimes and exploitation.

The annual meeting of America’s Health Insurance Plans kicked off with a warning.

AHIP CEO Matt Eyles said that consolidation and rising healthcare costs are reaching a breaking point.

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As politicians and healthcare experts try to get a handle on healthcare costs and chronic disease, they may be overlooking some major factors. 

Much more can be done to reduce preventable diseases, including incentivizing personal responsibility and addressing socioeconomic disparity, panelists said at the 2018 AHIP Institute & Expo in San Diego. 

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In Baltimore, the health commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen, uses a need-based algorithm to decide which emergency rooms, needle-exchange vans, E.M.T.s and opioid outreach workers receive the city’s limited supply of naloxone — and which don’t. The drug, which reverses overdoses, has saved some 14,000 Baltimore residents since 2015. But its price has increased in recent years, by between 95 and 500 percent, depending on which version of the medication is being considered. Even with donations and discounts from drug makers, Dr. Wen says the city can’t afford all the naloxone it needs.

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Residents of Baltimore’s rich, white suburbs can expect to live a full 20 years longer than those who live in the city’s poor, majority-black neighborhoods, Olga Khazan writes in the magazine.

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