Citing race as the difference maker for many of the city's health problems, the Baltimore City Health Department has developed a plan to assess and address those disparities.

 As an emergency room physician in Washington, D.C., it didn’t take long for Leana Wen to notice a pattern: Patients making repeat visits to the ER, wheezing and coughing from asthma exacerbations or suffering from lead poisoning, conditions that most often afflict those living in low-income neighborhoods.

She helped soothe her patients’ immediate needs, but she was acutely aware she was only providing temporary relief, leaving the root causes unchecked — and a gap in the health of residents living in the city’s poorest ZIP codes versus those in the wealthiest. She wanted the opportunity to intervene earlier in those ER patients’ lives.

“If a child is lead poisoned to start with … it’s hurting that child’s chances before they begin,” she says.

Parents gearing up for the start of school have likely noticed that one important item for kids with severe food allergies has gotten a lot more expensive.

The Baltimore school system has applied for a federal grant that would funnel up to $2.3 million for mental health services to 13 schools in West Baltimore.