Defying a long-held taboo, Peter Lichtenberg asked older Michiganders to open their bank accounts to him. What he found were sobering links between early memory loss and everyday budget decisions.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Some opioid settlement funds may sit untouched in Michigan. Here’s why
Proposed payouts in Kroger opioid settlement money vary from over $2 million for Wayne County — to $10.39 for Union Charter Township. The latest calculations reveal the complexity of what seems a windfall for the state in tackling the drug crisis.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s McLaren Health Care confirms cyberattack, asks for ‘patience’
McLaren Health Care on Wednesday confirmed that the ‘disruption to our information technology system’ it reported Tuesday was ‘the result of a criminal cyber attack.’
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Worn-out caregiver? Not alone. 1 in 3 Michigan women aged 50+ care for others
Women shoulder more of the responsibility of caregiving both nationally and in Michigan, according to a new poll. Half of caregivers don’t know about the longtime resource that could help them.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Rite Aid closures in Michigan gain speed; 123 stores added since mid-June
Bankruptcy documents lay out Rite Aid’s shift to Michigan stores in its efforts to downsize.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Desperate for child social workers, Michigan tries new tack: $20K for college
Social work students who promise to work in child welfare can get $5,000 a semester — up to $20,000 — under a new state program aimed at luring new child welfare workers. Unlike tuition loan forgiveness programs to recruit workers, the student decides how to spend the money.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan Medicine latest health care system to be hit by cyberattack
Information for nearly 57,000 patients may have been exposed when hackers were able to remotely access email accounts of three health system employees.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
COVID is up again in Michigan. Good luck finding more info (or free tests)
COVID appears on a steady increase again, but health officials stopped collecting data as it grew increasingly imprecise.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Global technology outage impacts flights, health care systems in Michigan
Numerous flights at Detroit Metro Airport have been delayed and computers at Corewell Health, the state’s largest health care system, were impacted by Friday’s global software glitch.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s latest and last abortion report: Abortion increases 3.7%
Abortions increased for the seventh straight year in 2023. Out-of-state abortions accounted for 9% of procedures. A new law means Michigan won’t publish abortion stats after this year.