Health Care
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OPINION: The Youth Suicide Epidemic Is a Preventable One
I hope that you never experience the pain of losing a child to suicide. And I hope that no other parent has to go through something like that twice. Unfortunately, that’s what happened to our family. My boys meant the world to me. Jackson loved animals, especially dogs, and he…
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Child Care Industry Advocates Fight for Survival After Loss of Federal Aid
Charlotte has evolved over the years, and industries have followed suit, growing and improving — except for the child care industry. That was Laterria Lassiter’s message when she addressed about 85 people during an NC Day Without Childcare demonstration at Pathway Preschool Center in east Charlotte’s Shannon Park neighborhood on…
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New Stats Show Widening Racial Disparities in Local Overdose Deaths
Despite recent reports of a sharp decline in drug overdose deaths throughout the United States, local health officials are concerned with an alarming disparity they’re seeing among racial groups falling victim to overdose deaths in Mecklenburg County. According to a Feb. 27 release from Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH), officials…
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UNC Charlotte Chemist Develops System to Remove PFAS From Water
Dr. Jordan Poler did not want to create an environmental problem by trying to solve one. More than a decade ago, the UNC Charlotte professor decided to focus on chemistry that could be both sustainable and have minimum impact on the environment. He believes he and his team of researchers…
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Public Health Officials Report Rise in Pneumonia, Whooping Cough Cases
Mecklenburg County Public Health warned local residents of a rise in Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in a public health alert on Wednesday. While detailed data and comparisons are not available because pneumonia is not a nationally or locally notifiable condition and reporting is limited, Mecklenburg County Public Health has increased pneumonia…
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Trans Youth Emergency Project Helps Families Seek Gender-Affirming Care
In observance of Trans Awareness Week, which runs from Nov. 13-19, the Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) is working to raise awareness for the organization’s Trans Youth Emergency Project, which helps hundreds of families every month identify and travel to providers of gender-affirming care. The project has taken on new…
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Republican Control in DC Could Derail Medicaid Expansion in NC
Health insurance coverage on which millions of Americans rely — Medicaid and plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — were scarcely mentioned during the presidential campaign but may face extensive changes in President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania last month, House Speaker Mike…
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Western NC Thirsts for Water in Wake of Hurricane Helene
The powerful remnants of Hurricane Helene that deluged western North Carolina with fierce winds and raging stormwaters left a wide swath of the state in desperate need of potable water. As of early Sunday afternoon, 145 water systems were either without power, suffering infrastructure damage or under boil-water alerts, depriving individuals, businesses…
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Gov. Cooper Aims to Relieve Medical Debt in North Carolina
Gov. Roy Cooper and the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) announced new actions on Monday that they hope will relieve residents of $4 billion in medical debt through the leveraging of state Medicaid funding. Pending approval by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (USCMMS)…
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Judge Rules in Favor of Disabled Foster Children in Lawsuit Against NC DHHS
A federal judge recently denied a motion from the NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to dismiss a class-action discrimination lawsuit that makes troubling claims against the department, according to a Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) April 11 press release. The complaint, filed in 2022, alleges DHHS confines…
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Cat Williams Advocates for Organ Donation After Double Lung Transplant
Two things are immediately apparent upon viewing the video, a close-up shot of Cat Williams speaking into the camera from her hospital room on Jan. 5, 2021: she is struggling greatly, but she is going to keep fighting. In the video, shot shortly after Williams’ double lung transplant, she fights…
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OPINION: Workers’ Compensation Should Cover CBD Oil
With hundreds of thousands of people dead and untold numbers of families destroyed in the wake of the opioid epidemic, cannabidiol (CBD) is proven as an “excellent alternative to an opioid in chronic pain” and is completely legal — yet it’s not clear if injured workers in North Carolina can access…
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Atrium and CMS to Launch Early College High School Program
Atrium Health and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Thursday announced plans to launch an early-college high school program to provide students with career paths in the health care industry, which currently faces a workforce shortage. The $250-million initiative is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ mission to address the health care workforce shortage and…
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Atrium Doctors Warn of Rapid Rise in Syphilis Cases Locally and Statewide
Atrium Health doctors warned North Carolinians of the significant increase in syphilis cases in a virtual press conference for media members across the state on Wednesday. While overall syphilis rates have been steadily climbing for 12 years, leading to a 631% increase in cases since 2012, the numbers have more…
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Atrium Health Increases Minimum Wage for Hourly Employees
Atrium Health increased the hourly minimum wage for all of employees in Charlotte and Winston-Salem over the weekend, transitioning to $17.50 per hour on Jan. 14, raising wages for 31,700 hourly workers including nursing aides, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians and environmental services technicians. Up from where it stood at $16.50…
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Atrium Health Announces New Restrictions, Mask Policies Amid Rise in Respiratory Viruses
Citing an increase in cases of COVID-19, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory viruses, Atrium Health today began implementing new restrictions on visitors and updates to its masking policy at its facilities. As announced in a release on Wednesday, visitors 12 years old and under will not be…
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