Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health and an outspoken public health advocate during the pandemic, has been tapped by President Joe Biden to lead his administration’s COVID-19 response. Dr. Jha, 51, will join the Biden administration in Washington, D.C. as the COVID-19 response coordinator, the White House announced Thursday. […]
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.
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RI’s CharterCare hospitals performed elective surgeries while turning away patients from their ERs
During this winter’s COVID-19 surge, hospitals across Rhode Island and Massachusetts suspended all but the most urgent surgeries to free up staff and beds to care for the influx of patients. But not CharterCare Health Partners, which operates Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center. Even when their emergency departments were so […]
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Former Rhode Island firefighter who served on the state EMS advisory board faces felony firearms charge
Albert F. Peterson III, a retired North Providence fire captain who previously served on the board that helps oversee the state’s emergency medical services system, is facing a felony firearms charge after his arrest last week at a Providence strip club. On Feb. 23 shortly before 11:30 p.m. police responded to a report of an […]
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R.I. eases COVID-19 quarantine guidance for child care programs
Rhode Island will allow children who have been exposed to COVID-19 to attend child care programs as long as they are asymptomatic starting March 14, according to new guidelines announced Friday by Governor Dan McKee. The change, which incorporates the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is aimed at protecting health […]
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R.I. Attorney General blocks Lifespan-Care New England merger
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha has rejected a proposed merger of Rhode Island’s two largest hospital systems, saying that consolidating Lifespan and Care New England would create a single system with “extraordinary market power” in violation of state and federal antitrust laws. On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission released a redacted copy of […]
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What changed labor’s tune on Lifespan-Care New England merger?
Unionized health care workers who just weeks ago voiced fear and distrust about the proposed merger of Lifespan and Care New England now say they fully support a plan to combine Rhode Island’s two largest hospital systems. The labor union support is a major milestone for the deal, which needs state and federal regulatory approval. […]
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McKee to leave masking up to school districts starting March 4
Rhode Island will lift its statewide indoor mask and proof-of-vaccination requirements for businesses and other indoor public places beginning this Friday (2/11), Governor Daniel J. McKee said Wednesday. The governor also plans to end the statewide masking mandate in schools on March 4. That would leave it up to school districts to decide whether or […]
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Life On Hold: Hundreds of people in R.I have surgeries delayed
Harry and Lorraine Sterling have been enjoying a kind of extended honeymoon since they married four years ago. They found each other on an internet dating site for seniors. They are regular theatre-goers. And though they are both in their 80s they still love to travel. This winter, they planned to hitch their red Mini […]
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Rhode Island digs out from powerful winter storm
This weekend’s winter storm has left Southern New England, leaving behind deep blankets of snow across Rhode Island.
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Dr. James McDonald tapped as interim health director as McKee searches for permanent replacement
Dr. James McDonald, a state medical director who heads the board of licensure and discipline, will serve as interim director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, Governor Daniel J. McKee announced Thursday. McDonald, a pediatrician, will assume the day-to-day operations of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, who is stepping down from the directors’ post […]