Recent News

'It keeps us safe': An NYC bathroom set up to stem overdoses (AP)

— At an unassuming storefront on a busy Brooklyn street, people sign up to use a bathroom outfitted to try to curb an overdose crisis.

Waiting his turn, a man named Robert is frank about why he's there, instead of one of the stairwells, parks, rooftops or porches where he has used heroin in the past.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wenopioids

Mosquito Populations Increase Due to Wetter Spring (WJZ)

A wetter than normal spring produced a lot of mosquito larvae, which are now taking wing to feed on us.

The real health risks are diseases carried by mosquitoes. According to Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen, some of these include encephalitis that causes severe brain infections, dengue fever, West Nile that can cause many severe effects, including severe bleeding, and even liver, kidney and total body failure and death.

Read or watch the entire piece.

Leana Wen

Mayor Pugh and Health Commissioner Dr. Wen Announce Expansion of Telehealth Intervention Program for Older Adults

BALTIMORE, MD (July 12, 2018) — Today, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen announced the expansion of the Telehealth Intervention Program for Seniors (TIPS) in the city’s northwest Park Heights community. 

Support available to help people age well, and stay in their home longer (The Daily Record)

Staff in subacute care at the Keswick Multi-Care Center weren’t sure if an older woman was going to recover after she was sent to them from a local hospital.

Two years later, that same woman was able to move from long-term care into her own apartment. After another year, she is now a regular visiting Keswick Community Health programs every day, taking classes, making art and even participating in a walking club.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wen

City expands telemedicine program for older adults in Park Heights (Baltimore Sun)

Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana S. Wen announced Thursday the expansion of the Telehealth Intervention Program for Seniors.

The program, which originated in New York, has operated out of the Zeta Center for Healthy and Active Aging since April and has 100 people enrolled.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wen

Baltimore Citywide Engagement of Emergency Departments to Combat the Opioid Epidemic (AJPH)

In their editorial, Dr. Wen and Dr. Shelly Choo focus on the collaboration between the Health Department and the City’s 12 emergency departments to fight the opioid crisis, and highlights specific programs created to facilitate opioid addiction interventions from the ED, including discharging patients with naloxone, connecting patients to peer recovery coaches, and providing access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) from the ED. 

Read the editorial

Leana Wenopioids

Baltimore hospitals to be classified based on ability to treat opioid addiction, overdoses (Baltimore Business Journal)

Baltimore City Health Department will classify local hospitals based on their readiness to treat patients suffering from opioid addiction or overdose.

 

City sets standards for scoring hospitals on how well they can treat opioid addiction (Baltimore Fishbowl)

Baltimore now has a scoring system in place for highlighting the hospitals best equipped to serve people addicted to pain medication. 

Baltimore City Officials Release Standards for Treating Overdose and Opioid Use in Hospital Settings

BALTIMORE (July 5, 2018) - Today, the Baltimore City Health Department released the finalized standards of the Levels of Care for Baltimore City Hospitals Responding to the Opioid Epidemic. 

Note From the Commissioner: Fighting for the Health of Our Residents

In July 2017, the Baltimore City Health Department received notice that our five-year grantfrom the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for teen pregnancy prevention would be cut two years short. This was a $3.5 million reduction that would eliminate evidence-based, science-based reproductive health education curriculum for 20,000 middle and high-school students. Despite many requests, we received no explanation for the grant termination.

Leana Wen

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