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Good morning!
Welcome to The Maine Monitor’s new health newsletter. I’m Rose Lundy, senior public health reporter. Every two weeks, I’ll be in your inbox with original reporting, context for recent health news and a roundup of stories I’m watching.
To start, let me tell you a little about how I came to this beat: I moved from Washington state to Maine in May 2020 — right in the middle of the pandemic. I had been covering local government at a small-town daily newspaper, but this new role meant diving into public health reporting, which felt more urgent than ever. At a time when there was a lot of confusion over the many metrics being used to track COVID-19 cases, one of my first stories explained how to navigate and understand the numbers.
The pandemic highlighted gaps in our health care infrastructure, particularly when it comes to older adults — an issue that is especially pronounced in Maine, where we have the oldest population in the country.
One story made a deep impression on me: Frank Slason used to visit his wife of 64 years every day at her nursing home 15 minutes from the home they built together in Somerville. When her nursing home closed, in part due to pandemic-related staffing shortages, and she was moved to a facility 30 miles away, Slason was devastated. He still made the drive, but could visit only three times a week. Since then, even more homes have closed: in 2021 there were 93 nursing homes in Maine. Now there are 79.
As these homes have closed, more and more people have ended up in institutions that offer lower levels of care. In June 2022, I received an anonymous tip about two deaths at a residential care facility. That tip led me to embark on an 18-month investigation with ProPublica, where we dove into these facilities, which are increasingly caring for older Mainers with higher medical needs yet face less regulation and oversight than nursing homes, even in response to serious cases of abuse and neglect.
To report the story, I submitted more than a dozen records requests, analyzed 331 inspection documents and knocked on many doors in communities near facilities where serious incidents occurred. Just last month, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed major changes to staffing requirements in these facilities.
While much of my work has focused on aging issues and the long-term care industry, I’ve also reported on other public health challenges, including the underregulated medical cannabis industry and the growing strain on family caregivers. Over the past few years, I’ve come to appreciate the ways in which public health touches so many aspects of life – from housing and food security to heating costs and transportation.
There’s much more I’m eager to dig into, and while I’ve shared a lot about myself today, future newsletters will focus on stories that matter to you. Let me know what you think I should tackle — I’m all ears.
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