I-Team Blotter

Kaiser Report: CT Medicare Costs Sixth Highest In Nation

Barbara Nagy reports

Little Progress Made On Health Disparities, New Report Shows

Lisa Chedekel reports

Settlement: Depakote Maker Injects $6 Million Into State Coffers

C-HIT Staff reports

Nursing Homes Fined For Patient Death, Failure To Administer Drugs

C-HIT Staff reports

Two Connecticut Doctors Lose Licenses in New York State

LIsa Chedekel reports

Over 500 Docs And Nurses Providing Care In Medical Homes

Leonard Felson reports

Medical Board Reprimands Doctor, Physician Assistant

C-HIT Staff reports

Smaller Hospitals Struggle With Deficits

Lisa Chedekel reports

Nursing Homes Fined For Choking Death, Weight Loss

C-HIT Staff reports

Breast Cancer Gene Patent Case Heads Back To Appeals Court

Barbara Puffer reports

Medical Board Revokes Doctor’s License

Theresa Sullivan Barger reports

Three CT Nursing Homes Make 2012 ‘Honor Roll’

Lisa Chedekel reports

Yale, St. Raphael’s Detail Plans For Merger

Lisa Chedekel reports

Three Nursing Homes Face Fines For Patient Injuries

C-HIT Staff reports

Medical Board Fines, Restricts Doc’s Surgical License

Theresa Sullivan Barger reports

Contributors

Our Writers

Lisa Chedekel, senior writer and co-founder of C-HIT, is an award-winning investigative reporter who wrote for the Hartford Courant for 15 years, covering a wide range of beats, from politics to healthcare. In 1999, she was among a team of reporters awarded the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting. In 2002, she was among a handful of U.S. journalists who visited Saudi Arabia in the year after 9/11 to report on the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. More recently, she co-authored a series on mental health in the military that won a George Polk Award, the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, and was a 2007 finalist for the Pulitzer in Investigative Reporting. Before writing for The Courant, she was a staff writer and columnist for the New Haven Register. You can contact Lisa at chedekel at c-hit.org

Colleen Shaddox is a freelance writer who frequently covers health and medicine. Her work has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, BBC, Miller-McCune, The Christian Science Monitor and may other venues. Her writing has won awards from the National Newspaper Association, Catholic Press Association and University of Missouri.  Contact Colleen at shaddox at c-hit.org

Magaly Olivero, is a longtime freelance health writer, whose work has appeared in numerous regional and national publications, including Newsweek, Working Woman, Better Homes & Garden, the New Haven Register, the Hartford Courant and many others. Magaly can be reached at molivero at optonline.net.

Peggy McCarthy is a freelance reporter and writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and a variety of other newspapers, magazines and radio stations.  She taught journalism at the University of Connecticut and was a State Capitol reporter for the Bridgeport Post and Telegram. E-mail Peggy at mccarthy at c-hit.org

Tom Puleo is an adjunct professor of Communication at Central Connecticut State University and a former veteran Hartford Courant reporter who won several sate and regional awards for his coverage of state prisons, politics, and sports. Contact Tom at trpuleo at c-hit.org.

Kate Farrish spent 23 years at The Hartford Courant, where she worked as a higher education writer, bureau chief and city editor and won state and national awards. She was the 2010 Connecticut election stringer coordinator for the Associated Press and has taught news writing at the University of Connecticut since 2009.

Jennifer Kaylin has worked for many years as a reporter and editor at a variety of newspapers and magazines. She was an Emmy-winning investigative producer at WTNH-TV, the ABC affiliate in New Haven, and provided coverage from New York City of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Most recently she worked as the Web editor at the Yale University School of Medicine.

Theresa Sullivan Barger, who spent nearly 20 years as a staff writer for The Hartford Courant, is an award-winning freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Yankee, Yale Public Health, The Conference Board, CFO.com, NSBE Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer and other magazines, newspapers and websites. Contact her at Theresa@TheresaSulllivanBarger.com.

Barbara Puffer is a college professor and award-winning writer and communications consultant.  She began her career as a Hartford Times and New Haven Register reporter.  An accredited business communicator, she spent 25 years in corporate communications.  She has been writing and consulting since 1998 for clients in industry, health care, insurance,  and non-profit organizations.  An adjunct associate professor and communications course chairperson for University of Maryland University College since 2002, she received the 2011 Faculty Recognition Award. Contact her at barbara@pufferpr.com

Our Interns
Maggie Lohmiller of Foxborough, Mass., is a Quinnipiac University graduate student who is pursuing a career in investigative journalism and was a C-HIT intern during the fall semester. She’s been an avid writer of both non-fiction and fictional works since she was young.

Briana Dudas of Trumbull is a Quinnipiac University student.  She graduates in May and hopes to pursue a career in journalism.

Michael Billera of Staten Island, New York, is a Quinnipiac University graduate student and was a C-HIT intern during the fall semester.  He received his B.A. in three years from Quinnipiac in Film, Video and Interactive Media.

Our Designers

Jordan Valentine is a freelance web developer, designer and illustrator based in Somerville, MA.  A portfolio of her work is
available at www.jordanvalentine.com.

Kyle Summer owns Smartpill Design in New Haven. With a BS in Graphic Design and after more than fifteen years of experience in both the creative and technical aspects of Graphic Design and Marketing, Smartpill Design was formed in early 2004 and has since been serving businesses, non-profit organizations, hyper-local news organizations, individuals, and creative agencies with a wide range of web and print-related services.

Peter Richmond is the founder of GeekLight LLC , a technology consulting and services company based in Boston. Peter is a veteran technology professional with over 15 years of experience in systems integration, software and website development, and data migration and management. For more information, contact info (at) geeklight (dot) com.

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Eye on Veterans

VA Program Designed To Help Vets And Their Caregivers

Brianna and Andrew Pavlak go grocery shopping on weeknights when there are fewer shoppers because Andrew, a National Guard veteran, gets nervous in crowds. Peggy McCarthy reports.

New Report: Hundreds More Veterans Discharged Illegally

The Department of Defense has illegally discharged hundreds of veterans since 2008 for alleged personality disorder, skirting requirements intended to reduce such diagnoses and depriving veterans of benefits, according to an analysis of data by the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA).Lisa Chedekel reports.

VA Seeing Spike In Homeless Vets With Families

Andy and Miriam Miranda don’t fit the historical profile of homeless veterans. Former teachers with master’s degrees who have a six-year-old son, they have lost a house to foreclosure and were evicted from an apartment for falling behind on rent.Peggy McCarthy reports.

New Report Cites Rise In Army Suicide Rate, Sex Crimes

Troops who have deployed to war zones two or more times have a higher risk of committing suicide than those who have deployed once or never deployed, a new Army report shows. Lisa Chedekel reports.

Help For Military Kids: New Programs, Outreach

Government, business, social service and military leaders are working together on strategies to ensure that the nearly 10,000 children of active-duty military in Connecticut get help and support when they need it, particularly children of members of the National Guard and Reserves. Peggy McCarthy reports.

Health Reform Watch