A Lansing woman with a history of breast cancer said she had to forego one of her cancer drugs in May. Two months later, she is trying to look ahead after learning of tumors returning to her body.
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
Help wanted: Report ranks Michigan health care jobs with the most need
A new Michigan Healthcare Workforce Index examined pay, expected growth, turnover, and necessary training to rank 36 health care job roles from the ‘healthiest’ — nurse practitioner — to the ‘unhealthiest’ — dental assistant.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
After battle, retreat for young people mulling suicide OK’d near Ann Arbor
After months of opposition from some neighbors, the parents of a young man who died by suicide won approval for a residential center on 75 wooded acres for struggling young adults. They say nature, and peer support, will help in the healing.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
New psychiatric unit in northern Michigan to address severe care gap
The 18-bed psychiatric unit in Cheboygan is scheduled to serve 22 northern Michigan counties this summer, where there is an acute shortage of mental health professionals.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan abortions for out-of-state patients jumped 66 percent last year
Doctors performed nearly 1,100 more abortions on patients from outside Michigan, as other states restricted the procedure. Even so, there was a drop in Michigan’s overall abortion rate, raising questions about whether all patients are being counted.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
More than 100K Michiganders may lose Medicaid by end of month
More than three years after the start of the pandemic, Medicaid recipients must once again prove eligibility to remain covered. More than 100,000 have yet to return paperwork for July, with millions more in potential peril over the months to come.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan health centers need medical staff. How one program is helping
A lack of medical and dental assistants in Michigan is limiting patient access to care. A $7.6 million training program offers a vision for how to help solve the state’s staffing woes.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Air quality warning pushed to Friday in Michigan; doctors urge outdoor limits
Millions of Michiganders will remain under an air quality advisory through Friday as smoky skies from Canadian wildfires hang on.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Thousands on Michigan Medicaid will keep coverage for at least another month
During the COVID pandemic, an unprecedented 3.1 million Michiganders were covered by Medicaid, the safety-net insurance program. The rule has expired, and Michigan is paring back its programs, with the first people losing coverage July 31.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
How a Michigan hospital is acting to save lives of Black pregnant women
Deaths of pregnant and new moms underscore a stark disparity: Black women are nearly three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women. Henry Ford Health in Detroit is trying a simple approach to narrow that gap.