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Health

    Maryland child welfare agency backs bill to boost transparency on abuse deaths
    In a submitted letter, an agency official wrote that the bill aligns well with the Moore administration’s goal to prioritize transparency, honesty and openness. Last year, another agency official expressed concern about a similar bill.
    Del. Susan McComas, a Harford County Republican, at the Maryland State House in 2024.
    Penalties recommended for child welfare agency over missing data on foster kids, deaths
    Concerns about the reliability of the agency’s data emerged after The Banner questioned the growing number of child maltreatment fatalities in Maryland that had seemingly gone unnoticed by elected officials. Worry about the accuracy of human services data has widened since then.
    Maryland hospitals agreed to cost controls. Now they say they need more money.
    Hospitals say the system is on the verge of crisis, with access to care increasingly at stake.
    Hospitals in Maryland are participating in a statewide program to keep costs in check, but some officials say the system needs updating to maintain access for patients.
    Baltimore County seeks to expand Quick Response Team for overdoses
    Baltimore County residents are treated for nonfatal opioid overdoses more than 1,500 times a year, according to state data.
    From left, certified peer recovery specialist Roger Miller, paramedic first class Carlos Velez and emergency medical services Capt. Amanda Wensel stand in front of a transport van the county's Quick Response Team uses in its overdose response efforts.
    Letter: Trump order prohibiting gender-affirming care for youths is cruel, harmful
    President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting any hospital receiving federal funds from practicing gender-affirming care for youths callously disregards the needs of children who are both gender- and neurodiverse, a letter writer says.
    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States.
    Flu cases are the highest in years, and low vaccination rates may be to blame
    Maryland, along with the rest of the nation, is experiencing the worst flu season in years, leading to a high number of hospitalizations.
    FILE - A patient is given a flu vaccine at the L.A. Care and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plans' Community Resource Center where they were offering members and the public free flu and COVID-19 vaccines Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in Lynwood, Calif. As Americans head into the late 2022 holiday season, a rapidly intensifying flu season is straining hospitals already overburdened with patients sick from other respiratory infections.
    Mark Conway wants to talk about opioids. Should he?
    The councilman says he just wants to save lives. The mayor’s office says he’s an attention seeker playing political games.
    Councilman Mark Conway has called a hearing on the city opioid crisis.
    Maryland sues to stop Trump cuts that could cost universities millions
    U.S. attorneys general are suing to stop the Trump administration from cutting funding for costs related to research, a move putting hundreds of millions in funding in Maryland at stake.
    Johns Hopkins University stands to lose million in funding from NIH for the indirect costs of research under a new directive from the Trump administration.
    PHA Healthcare client: ‘I have nowhere to go’ as company fails to pay rent
    A Maryland addiction treatment program that was ordered to cease and desist counseling services has stopped paying rent on at least three properties.
    PHA Healthcare offices during their Wrapped in Hope event in Baltimore, Friday, on December 13, 2024.
    Maryland’s state health secretary to resign
    Maryland’s state health secretary, Dr. Laura Herrera Scott, is resigning her position at the end of this month, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday.
    Maryland Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott speaks about a state grant program that will send $120 million worth of grants to organizations that provide mental and behavioral health services for kids so they can partner with schools to bring treatment and other support into schools. The program was the focus of a press conference in Annapolis on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.
    Another Baltimore-based global aid group faces cuts: Catholic Relief Services
    Catholic Relief Services may be the next Baltimore-based humanitarian aid group to face major cuts as the Trump administration’s DOGE slashes USAID funding.
    The Catholic Relief Services headquarters in Baltimore on Thursday, February 6, 2025.
    Finding a good drug treatment program in Maryland is tough. We can help.
    If you’re looking for treatment, there are some things you should know, according to providers and the public officials who oversee them.
    Overdose deaths dropped sharply last year in Maryland, Baltimore
    Overdose deaths in Maryland fell “dramatically” last year, Gov. Wes Moore announced Tuesday.
    A Bmore POWER worker distributes Narcan at an intersection of Cumberland Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore on Thursday, August 3, 2023.
    Hundreds rally in Annapolis against Developmental Disabilities Administration cuts
    "We will not stand by while our community suffers at the hands of Governor Moore’s proposed funding cuts,” said Laura Howell, CEO of the Maryland Association of Community Services.
    Mat Rice, executive director of People on the Go Maryland, leads a crowd in chanting, "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! These budget cuts have got to go!" during a rally against proposed budget cuts for the state Developmental Disabilities Administration. The rally was held on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.
    Three state mortician board members resign amid scrutiny
    Days after Gov. Wes Moore ordered an independent review of the state board that oversees the funeral industry, three members of the board resigned, according to a state official.
    The governor's office has asked three members of the state body that oversees the funeral industry to resign.
    After bodies piled up at a crematory, Moore orders review of oversight agency
    Following the discovery of stockpiled bodies at a Southern Maryland crematory, Gov. Wes Moore is ordering an independent review of the state board that oversees the industry.
    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is ordering a review of the Maryland Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors after the board suspended the license of a crematory in Southern Maryland after finding it was not cremating the bodies entrusted to it.
    Backyard bird flock in Montgomery County tests positive for avian influenza
    A backyard bird flock in Montgomery County have preliminarily tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza, also known as the bird flu.
    Chickens graze at the Filbert Street Garden in Baltimore, Thursday, August 3, 2023.
    Overdoses plague a generation of Black men in Baltimore and cities across America
    An investigation of millions of death records in partnership with The New York Times, Big Local News and nine newsrooms across the country reveals the extent to which drug overdose deaths have affected one group of Black men in dozens of cities across America at nearly every stage of their adult lives.
    Ricky Austin, 52, first struggled with opioid addiction in his teens.
    Baltimore County’s got rats, too, but code enforcement is on their tails
    The push for county pest control began in 2016, when East Side residents flooded council chambers to ask for help reducing their rodents.
    Baltimore County's rats have settled in comfortably, spreading themselves across a wide diversity of terrains.
    What we know about Trump’s federal spending freeze and its impact on Marylanders
    What we know about President Donald Trump’s temporary pause on federal spending and its impact on Marylanders.
    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press as he prepares to depart the White House aboard Marine One on January 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. The president is traveling to North Carolina, California, Nevada and Florida over the weekend.
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