Author: Rae Ellen Bichell
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Chasing Progress: Colorado aims to close Hispanic insurance gap
Hispanic residents have long been among the least likely to have health insurance — in Colorado and across the country — in part because of unauthorized immigrants. The state is expanding coverage to some of them, although the change runs up against lingering fears about the use of public benefits. Armando Peniche Rosales has a…
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Chasing progress: Grassroots effort to close Colorado’s infant mortality gap
As Britney Taylor toured the Mama Bird Maternity Wellness Spa in Aurora during its grand opening this spring, she reflected on the birth of her first child: a confusing and lonely experience that resulted in an unplanned caesarean section and an extended period of postpartum depression. But here local families and smiling doulas wandered amid…
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Silverton is about as vaccinated as it can get, but COVID still isn’t over there
Southwest Colorado’s San Juan County can boast that 99.9% of its eligible population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, putting it in the top 10 counties in the nation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If vaccines were the singular armor against covid’s spread, then on paper,…
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Need a COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 a Week
In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart. She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, and loved it, despite the mediocre pay typical for the region. But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed. She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up”…
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People proving the weakest link for COVID tracking apps
The app builders had planned for pranksters, ensuring that only people with verified COVID-19 cases could trigger an alert. They’d planned for heavy criticism about privacy, in many cases making the features as bare-bones as possible. But, as more states roll out smartphone contact-tracing technology, other challenges are emerging. Namely, human nature. The problem starts…