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.
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
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.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
A Michigan doctor goes to Facebook over dying, unvaccinated COVID patients
A Beaumont doctor takes to social media after repeated encounters with patients who were in COVID denial or demanded unproven medications, while refusing vaccines. Compassion fatigue can take a toll.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Despite protests, 98% of Henry Ford Hospital workers get COVID vaccinations
Vaccine mandates remain deeply divisive. But most workers ultimately got their shots and kept their jobs at Henry Ford.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan labs fear COVID test shortages. Will new mandates add to strain?
COVID testing supplies already face supply chain challenges in Michigan. Some labs say the rise in delta variant cases combined with new testing mandates for people who reject vaccines may lead to critical delays.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Required COVID vaccines put Michigan hospital worker hesitancy to the test
Hospitals lauded federal vaccine requirements that cover virtually all Michigan healthcare workers as a win for patient safety. But workers’ unions warned the regulations could force a worker exodus from an already short-staffed industry.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
2 million Michigan workers may be impacted by Biden’s vaccine mandate
More than 6,000 businesses employing about half of the state’s workers are likely affected by the president’s rule requiring vaccines or weekly tests for companies with more than 100 workers.