A state budget praised by both sides is causing widespread confusion and angst because of provisions that threatened funding for agencies that impose school mask mandates.
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
Whitmer administration’s top COVID doc says she steps away with no regrets
The most memorable moment in state government for Dr. Joneigh Khaldun? A loading dock in Ann Arbor.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Getting COVID tested in Michigan was supposed to be easier by now. It isn’t.
A surge in new cases means more demand for testing. But a shortage of home tests and health workers means a scramble for consumers who seek rapid tests to return to work or school, or simply find reassurance.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan top doc Khaldun leaves state COVID role for private sector
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, among the most visible faces of Michigan’s COVID-19 response, will leave the job next Thursday. Her departure comes as health officials across the state seek greater protection against threats from the public.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Pfizer COVID vaccine booster approved for Michiganders. Now what?
Mass vaccination clinics long ago folded up, and hospitals are short-staffed now. Getting a booster is for now likely easier at a local pharmacy or doctor’s office. We break down who is eligible for a Pfizer booster.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Sides drawn on plan to privatize Michigan mental-health system
Some argue the state should shift responsibility of managing care and costs to Michigan’s for-profit insurers; others say money motives of insurance companies would cut into care for the most vulnerable.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Another respiratory virus, RSV, is surging in Michigan children
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) usually peaks in a winter, but is hospitalizing very young children this summer. Some theorize that the restrictions that protected kids from COVID may limit their immune response to other viruses.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Pfizer: COVID vaccine gives ‘robust’ protection for children ages 5 to 11
Children aren’t usually the sickest COVID victims, though cases of child hospitalizations climbed this summer amid the delta variant. The positive clinical trial results provide hope to parents eager to get younger children vaccinated during the school year.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
FDA panel backs Pfizer COVID booster for people 65+ and with weak immunity
The Biden administration had pushed for boosters this fall for the general population, but an FDA scientific panel pushed back. Final approval is expected next week.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
ER’s nearly full, Beaumont asks patients to go elsewhere if possible
Beaumont Health in southeast Michigan on Wednesday became the latest health system to temporarily shut beds because of staffing shortages.