Health Care
-
OPINION: Targeting ‘DEI’ Initiatives Is Costing Life-Saving Programs and Research
Dr. Charity Oyedegi, a Duke University hematologist and researcher who focuses on sickle cell disease, had her five-year, $750,000 NIH grant to improve care for sickle cell disease canceled last year by Trump administration executive orders that targeted “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) initiatives. She is now using a patchwork…
Read More » -
New Report Highlights Hurdles to Iryna’s Law Implementation
A new preliminary report from a state-funded research group identifies “key pressure points that need to be addressed” to fully implement Iryna’s Law, which passed quickly late last year. The report also outlines initial recommendations for lawmakers to help address existing gaps in North Carolina’s mental health and criminal justice systems.…
Read More » -
Atrium Health to Launch Medical Drone Delivery Program in Charlotte
Advocate Health, parent company to Atrium Health, announced Thursday that the Charlotte market will serve as the launching pad for its new drone delivery network, with plans to make it the largest hospital-based program in the country. Beginning in the Charlotte market in 2027, Advocate Health will drone-deliver prescriptions, labs…
Read More » -
Sneak CLT Owner Jamil Whitlow Seeks Kidney Transplant Due to Rare Condition
In just over a month, Jamil Whitlow will mark the two-year anniversary of Sneak CLT, a popular cocktail lounge he opened in Elizabeth’s Pecan Point shopping center in April 2024. Having spent years in corporate America before entering the hospitality industry, the opening of his own establishment was the realization…
Read More » -
Health Officials Warn of Measles in Mecklenburg County
Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH) reported Monday that measles has been detected during routine wastewater surveillance in a sample from the Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Facility. While no cases have currently been identified in Mecklenburg, this recent detection implies that the viral illness is present among our population. An…
Read More » -
Inside North Carolina’s Expanding Peer Support Network
Thanos first stepped into the peer cafe across from the bus station in downtown Raleigh looking for his friend — and the promise of a free coffee. What keeps him coming back months later is a community of people and group sessions that have supported his substance use recovery. “Everybody in this…
Read More » -
Cat Williams, Local Artist and Disability Rights Advocate, Passes Away at 55
Catharine “Cat” Williams, a beloved artist, designer and disability rights advocate in Charlotte, passed away on Nov. 22 due to complications from a double-lung transplant she received in 2020. A lifelong cystic fibrosis patient who found her health worsening amidst a pandemic that made her even more vulnerable, the long-awaited…
Read More » -
Abortion Providers Stand on Unstable Ground Three Years After ‘Dobbs’
Shannon Bauerle was at A Preferred Women’s Health Center (APWHC) in southeast Charlotte on June 24, 2022 when the landmark decision to overturn the constitutional right abortion established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case was announced. APWHC operates as an abortion clinic six days a week, providing services to…
Read More » -
Light Rail Killing Exposes Gaps in NC’s Mental Health System
In early September, video of a man stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on a light rail car in Charlotte shocked the country. People from across the political spectrum demanded answers: How does a horrific, unprovoked attack occur between two strangers? What needs to change so something like…
Read More » -
Five Years Later, Pandemic Teens are Still Dealing with Trauma
It’s 2020. You’re 13 years old and in the seventh grade. Everyone is hooked on the nascent TikTok app and you’re dead set on learning the new “Renegade” dance. Charli D’Amelio is in, VSCO girls are out. You walk into your lunchroom one day to find that the main topic…
Read More » -
Health Department Warns of Increased Congenital Syphilis Risk
The county health department issued an urgent public health advisory on Wednesday warning pregnant people about the increased risk of congenital syphilis due to a nationwide shortage of the medication used to treat the disease during pregnancy coinciding in a rise in syphilis cases locally and nationwide. A Mecklenburg County…
Read More » -
Mental Health Professionals Highlight Climbing Rape Kit Backlog
A group of local health care professionals sent a letter to Mecklenburg County officials this week calling for transparency, accountability and action in addressing a growing rape kit testing backlog. Drafted by 21 members of Therapists for Change, a grassroots collective of Charlotte-area mental health professionals working toward social justice…
Read More » -
La Becky Roe Advocates for Autism Awareness Through Nonprofit Org
It’s said that when there isn’t a seat at the table, it’s up to you to make one. That’s what local autism advocate La Becky Roe did when she founded Let’s Talk About It, an organization that provides advocacy, education and support to folks living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD),…
Read More » -
OPINION: We Must Modernize NC’s Good Samaritan Law
It’s a phrase that has haunted our nation for the better part of the last 50+ years. The “war on drugs” started as a slogan but has evolved over the years to be shorthand for overly punitive and misguided measures designed to address the prevalence of drug use in our…
Read More » -
Skylar Schock Uses Comedy to Open a Door to Mental Health
There are any number of groups one might expect to find meeting in a church on a Saturday night — 12-step meetings, Bible study, book clubs, etc. A comedy show is likely to be low on that list. However, down the otherwise empty halls of Watershed Church in southeast Charlotte’s…
Read More » -
Report Makes Troubling Findings About Involuntary Commitment in NC
Disability Rights NC (DRNC) published a damning report this week examining North Carolina’s involuntary commitment (IVC) process — and offers recommendations on how to fix it. ”North Carolina’s IVC process is marked by systemic overuse, misuse and harm,” read a press release from the nonprofit legal agency that advocates for…
Read More »
