Rituals can help us ride out acute grief and connect us to the deceased. For those in mourning, 10 locations in Michigan offer one of the most familiar rituals of all — a phone call.
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
Michigan-based group reframes dementia: There's life after diagnosis
Words such as ‘dementia’ or ‘Alzheimer’s’ can conjure images of confusion and solitude. A growing group of people with dementia say there’s still a lot of living and laughter.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
New Medicaid benefit for some Michigan patients: Better food
Healthier meals for some low-income Michiganders are part of a “food as medicine” effort and theoretically cut overall health care costs, according to some experts.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
New for 2025: A cap on drug prices for nearly 2 million older Michiganders
Portions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which called for a reduction in drug prices, continue to click into place, including a $2,000 cap in 2025 for some Medicare beneficiaries. But there are limits.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
As holiday hugs and coughs await, only 1 in 4 Michiganders has taken flu shot
Michigan lags the national average for flu shots, with rates falling for the fourth year in a row this flu season
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
How older Michiganders landed in Medicaid plan aimed at family planning
A limited benefit plan that launched just more than a year ago covers Michiganders who are no longer eligible for Medicaid and would have otherwise lost coverage altogether
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Is your Michigan water fluoridated? Here’s what the research says about it
From brown teeth in Colorado to a national experiment in Grand Rapids, research once led to widespread acceptance of US fluoridated water. Decades later, some say it’s time to rethink that approach.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
The ‘day of death’: How a mystery drug, spate of ODs changed west Michigan
When nearly two dozen overdoses and seven deaths rocked Kalamazoo, police and health officials required a new level of cooperation. The response could teach other communities ravaged by the drug epidemic.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
How grieving survivors help shape Michigan drug policy
More than 25,000 Michiganders have died from drug overdoses. From shock and tears comes grit and resolve for change.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Team of scientific sleuths helps sound alert on Michigan's killer drugs
An after-work drink helped launch a one-of-a-kind rapid testing program that offers a lifesaving head start in Michigan’s drug fight.