Hundreds of Americans continue to die every day from overdoses. More of those deaths now involve stimulants like cocaine and meth mixed with fentanyl. Men of color have been hit particularly hard.
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 inHealth, Local
Providence’s crackdown on homeless encampments complicates efforts to prevent overdoses
Outreach worker Amy Santiago had not seen her homeless client, Tracy, in more than a week. Not since a woman in the encampment where Tracy was living died of a drug overdose. “When you have emergency medical personnel and the police come into your encampment,’’ Santiago said, “it’s a frightening experience.” Santiago and her co-workers […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, Local
Lifespan will change its name to Brown University Health
Rhode Island’s largest hospital system is changing its name. Lifespan Health System, which operates Rhode Island Hospital, the principal teaching hospital for The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, will be renamed Brown University Health, the two nonprofits said in a joint statement released Thursday. The rebranding is part of expanded partnership agreements between […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Rhode Island has ‘more kids in psychiatric care that should be someplace else’
For years, Marty Sinnott warned Rhode Island lawmakers of trouble mounting in the state’s child welfare system. But the CEO of the Middletown-based nonprofit Child and Family Services of Newport County says nobody listened. Now, officials from the state Department of Children, Youth and Families are scrambling to remove kids from the troubled St. Mary’s […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Health care spending in Rhode Island takes a turn – for the better
Americans spend more per capita on health care than almost anyone else in the world. A new report released on Monday reveals the latest trends in Rhode Island’s health care spending. Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King talked with The Public’s Radio Health reporter Lynn Arditi about the findings. This transcript has been edited for clarity […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Rhode Island is using a new smartphone app to help people stay off drugs. But is it reaching those most in need?
They are college-educated professionals who own a three-story Victorian home in Providence, drive a BMW and regularly work out at a gym. Dominic and his fiancé, Samantha, are also struggling with drug addiction. (They asked that only his middle name and her first name be used because their employers don’t know they’re in drug treatment.) […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk, Stories
Brown University issues warning to student protesters
Brown University has set a deadline for Monday at 5 p.m. for about 180 students identified during ID checks at a Pro-Palestinian encampment on campus to either accept responsibility for their alleged violations of the code of student conduct or face an administrative hearing that could result in “separation” from the university, a university spokesman […]
Posted inHealth, Local
McKee names new Rhode Island interim health director
Governor Daniel J. McKee announced on Thursday the appointment of an infectious disease specialist who recently joined the Rhode Island Department of Health as its interim director until a permanent hire is finalized. Dr. Staci Fischer worked 15 years at Rhode Island Hospital and oversaw training for medical residents and fellows for Lifespan in her […]
Posted inHealth, Local
The Centurion Foundation’s purchase of Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals would rely on bond funding
Unionized employees turned out in force at a public hearing Tuesday to oppose the proposed sale of two Rhode Island community hospitals by Prospect Medical Holdings to an Atlanta-based nonprofit. Nurses, lab technicians, social workers and other staff of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence filled […]
Posted inHealth, Local
More people who use cocaine in Rhode Island are dying of overdoses
In an empty stairwell in Pawtucket, R.I., Jackson offered to show a reporter how he tries to reduce his risk of overdosing when he smokes crack cocaine. (Jackson agreed to speak to The Public’s Radio for this story on the condition that we use only his first name.) It had been several hours since his […]
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