Nearly three-quarters of the country reported declines in fatal opioid overdoses in the second half of last year, but in Rhode Island they increased 7 percent, according to a new report by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. The reason: More people 65 and older in Rhode Island died of opioid overdoses. Rhode Island is among […]
Lynn Arditi
Lynn joined The Public's Radio as health reporter in 2017 after more than three decades as a journalist, including 28 years at The Providence Journal. Her series "A 911 Emergency," a project of the 2019 ProPublica Local Reporting Network, won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award in the radio/podcast category in 2020.
A native of New York City, she graduated from Oberlin College and landed her first journalism job at The Center for Investigative Reporting (now known as Reveal) in Washington, D.C., where she did story development for 60 Minutes. When the T.V. market imploded in 1987, the D.C. office of CIR closed and within a year she moved to Massachusetts to take a reporting job at the former Holyoke Transcript-Telegram, a small daily newspaper.
A year later, she moved to Providence, R.I. to work at The Providence Journal. There, she worked for several years as a bureau reporter covering schools and local issues, before she began covering statewide beats including higher education, the economy, housing and health care. During those years, she also honed her skills in narrative journalism, and served as chairwoman of the newspaper’s writing committee. Her work has been recognized by New England Associated Press News Executives Association and the Society of American Business Editors & Writers.
Lynn is mom to two sons and lives in Barrington with her husband and their dog.
Posted inEducation, Local, Politics
Brown votes against divestment from companies with ties to Israel
Brown University will not divest from 10 companies that student activists said facilitated “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.” The Corporation of Brown University, the university’s governing body, voted Tuesday to support the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management (ACURM) against divestment, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. ACURM found […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Before the public outcry, South County Hospital cited for ‘deficiencies’
South County Hospital officials defending against accusations of mismanagement by a group of doctors have stressed that state and federal regulators recently found “no deficient practice” after a review at the hospital. But state and federal regulators last year cited the 100-bed hospital in Wakefield for several “deficiencies,” including one of the highest severity, according […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, Local
South County Hospital defends against outcry from doctors, patients
South County Hospital is losing money and some longtime clinicians – and its top administrators are at odds with a group of doctors about what ails the hospital and how to treat it. Patients and community members are joining a mounting public outcry over one of Rhode Island’s last remaining independently-operated community hospitals. And they’re […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Why not a tetanus shot? Navigating COVID misinformation in Providence
At a noisy summer block party in Providence one recent afternoon, community health worker Rosa Roman tried to interest a middle-aged handyman in a free tetanus shot. But he was scared. The man, who gave only his first name, Armando, 42, is from Puerto Rico. He said he spent the last 20 years living in […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Lifespan finalizes deal to buy two Massachusetts hospitals
Rhode Island’s largest hospital system, Lifespan, on Thursday said that it reached a deal to buy two Massachusetts hospitals from the distressed Steward Health Care for $175 million. The price for Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Mass. and Morton Hospital in Taunton, Mass., includes the land, building and improvements to the property as well […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Lifespan confirms plans to buy two Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts
Rhode Island’s largest hospital system, Lifespan, confirmed Friday that it’s finalizing a deal to buy two of the Massachusetts hospitals owned by the distressed Steward Health Care. Lifespan said in a statement that it’s “finalizing the terms of a bid” to purchase Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River and Morton Hospital in Taunton. The pair […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health, Housing, Local
City of Woonsocket faces civil rights claim for wrongful arrest
A homeless Liberian immigrant who spent 31 days locked up at the Adult Correctional Institutions for a crime he didn’t commit has notified the City of Woonsocket that he plans to sue for damages. A lawyer representing Mack Blackie, 36, filed a notice of claim with the city on Wednesday, that his client is seeking […]
Posted inHealth, Local
A community health center in Providence’s Olneyville neighborhood is closing
A community health center in one of Providence’s poorest neighborhoods is closing July 31, shutting down a source of primary care for more than 4,500 of some of the state’s most vulnerable patients. The operator of the Olneyville Health Center, the nonprofit Providence Community Health Centers, or PCHC, has cited a shortage of providers and […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Overdose deaths in R.I. fell for the first time in five years
Fatal drug overdoses in Rhode Island declined for the first time in five years, with similar dips in other New England states, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Health. Rhode Island overdose deaths last year fell about 7 percent. In Massachusetts, overdose deaths last year dropped 10 percent; Connecticut reported an […]