In another sign that messaging around the pandemic has changed, 67 contact tracers hired in 2020 are being laid off.
Michigan Health Watch
In-depth reporting on the intersection between public policy and important health topics ‒ such as insurance coverage, hospital admissions, opioid abuse, access to care, medical research and the business of health care ‒ that impact nearly every Michigan resident.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Feds offer Michigan more free COVID tests. Here’s how to get yours.
With the latest effort, some Michigan households could stock up dozens of tests. Also still available: free COVID treatments for high-risk Michiganders, which covers a lot of residents.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
How programs in Kent County and Detroit are reducing Black infant mortality
Infant mortality rates have dropped significantly over the decades, but remain far higher in Michigan for Black infants. But small programs are improving outcomes by helping women manage stress, get to doctors, and even arrange transport when their cars won’t start.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
‘Implicit bias’ training deadline looms for 420,000 Michigan health workers
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the requirement in an effort to reduce health care disparities.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan prepares for more hospital beds, complications if Roe overturned
More pediatric beds, neonatal intensive care likely if abortion becomes illegal in Michigan, doctors say.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Abortion pills present new challenge for Michigan if Roe overturned
For more than two decades, women in early pregnancy have been able to induce an abortion, safely, with the abortion pill regimen. Will the impending loss of federal abortion protections change that?
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Joy among anti-abortion faithful as Michigan confronts a post-Roe world
To some, the likely end to nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections means losing a say over their own bodies. But others see an end to what they deem government-sanctioned crime. They all appeared to scarcely believe the enormity of the ruling.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Abortion in Michigan: State bucks trend; rate increases as access dwindles
Michigan has the fifth-highest rate in the nation, even though there are no clinics in most counties. Maps, charts explain who is getting the procedure and where.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Leaked Supreme Court draft would overturn Roe, upend Michigan abortion law
Politico published a leaked draft late Monday of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling by Justice Sam Alito that would overrule Roe v. Wade, finding that there is no right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution. Such a decision would have a huge impact in Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
FDA menthol cigarette ban hailed as triumph, especially for Black health
Michigan advocates and health experts say the ban could have a significant impact on improving public health, but particularly for African American smokers, who overwhelmingly favor menthol cigarettes. But some Black advocates warn of unintended consequences.