The report underscores how a stubborn staffing shortage at the state’s sole maximum security psychiatric hospital can erode patient safety.
DPH
Posted inHealth
COVID-19 reopening relies on a safety net still being woven
There’s never a good time for a pandemic. But this one arrived when local health departments are hurting.
Posted inNews
As Connecticut hits COVID-19 peak, focus shifts to tracing and testing
Aggressive COVID-19 testing and contact tracing are the keys to easing restrictions on commerce that have left 439,000 residents unemployed.
Posted inHealth
Coronavirus brings logistical challenges for CT hospitals
Connecticut hospitals anticipate logistical challenges as they combat the coronavirus. But hospital and other health care leaders also told legislators Friday they’ve been preparing for months for the pandemic’s arrival in Connecticut, and efforts to mitigate its spread are well underway.
Posted inHealth
CT lawmakers pan Trump administration response to coronavirus
The federal government has scrambled to keep the coronavirus at bay, but Connecticut’s Democratic lawmakers say that’s not enough.
Posted inHealth
State receives $17 million from feds to address opioid crisis
Connecticut will receive a combined $17 million from two federal agencies to track opioid overdoses and expand access to treatment.
Posted inNews
Religious exemptions to vaccines rose by 25 percent in one year
The increase is the largest single-year jump in religious exemptions since the department began tracking the data a decade ago.
Posted inHealth
Lamont overrules DPH commissioner on school immunizations
Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision to release school-by-school immunization rates came a day after his public health commissioner announced she was not making the data public.
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State releases ‘startling’ data on unvaccinated children
Gov. Ned Lamont says the first-ever school-by-school assessment of immunization rates show pockets of non-compliance that are startling.
Posted inHealth
CT health officials set to release school-level data on unvaccinated children
The state Department of Public Health will release details Friday morning about how many children at each school in the state are vaccinated.
Posted inHealth
Number of CT high schoolers vaping doubled over two years
The number of Connecticut high school students who used vaping products, such as e-cigarettes, doubled from 2015 to 2017, according to a new study released by the state Department of Public Health.
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STDs reach record levels in CT, early data show
Connecticut and the rest of the nation last year experienced a record-high number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, which health officials fear may be becoming more resistant to antibiotic treatment.
Posted inHealth
State warns of increased West Nile virus risk, especially for elderly
While state experts are warning residents of an increased risk of West Nile virus infection right now, a UConn Health doctor is stressing that it’s rare for people infected with the virus to develop symptoms, let alone to develop a serious illness.
Posted inHealth
CT high school student behavior is less risky than national average
Connecticut high school students engaged less often in risky behaviors, like taking painkillers without a prescription, seriously considering suicide and texting or emailing while driving, when compared to their peers nationwide.
Posted inHealth
Senate passes bill increasing oversight to stem abuse at Whiting
More than a year after the repeated, cruel abuse of a Whiting Forensic patient was captured on videotape, the state Senate approved a bill that would create an independent task force to oversee the maximum security psychiatric facility and would make staff there and other state behavioral health facilities subject to fines or even criminal charges if they fail to report abuse.