Author
Effort to digitize town reports close to completion
This story was updated on Aug. 23, 2022, at 3:05 p.m. to include comments from the state librarian. In 1891, the town of Acworth returned $3.96 to two residents who’d been charged too much in property taxes. Berlin reported 123 marriages, 443 births, and 202 deaths in 1916. And in 1940, the city of Concord […]
New Hampshire expands access to monkeypox vaccine
This story was updated Aug. 22, 2022 at 3:45 p.m. with additional information from the Department of Health and Human Services. The state is expanding access to the monkeypox vaccine to those at higher risk as a protection against contracting the disease. Until recently, the state limited the vaccine to those with confirmed cases because […]
Planned maternity ward closure draws AG’s attention, raises concerns among health care leaders
The Attorney General’s Office is not alone in voicing concerns this month with Frisbie Memorial Hospital’s plans to close its labor and delivery services due to cost. Its concerns relate to their 2020 merger agreement with HCA Healthcare to keep those services in place for at least five years. Health care and community leaders are […]
Sununu forms selection committee for next Health and Human Services commissioner
Gov. Chris Sununu has begun looking for a new Health and Human Services commissioner and has given those interested until Sept. 6 to apply. Commissioner Lori Shibinette, who was appointed three weeks before the pandemic hit, announced in July that she will step down in mid-December to spend more time with family after a grueling […]
Fiscal committee declines to approve plan to compensate YDC victims
After citing multiple concerns, lawmakers declined Wednesday to approve the Attorney General’s Office’s proposed plan for compensating hundreds of people sexually and physically abused while held at the former Youth Development Center. Instead, the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee asked Attorney General John Formella to come back after his office had addressed those concerns, which ranged […]
State says it has ‘very limited’ supply of monkeypox vaccine
This story was updated Aug. 10, 2022 at 11 a.m. to correct the state’s number of vaccine doses. While the number of confirmed monkeypox cases in New Hampshire grows but remains low at 15, the state Department of Health and Human Services says the state has very limited supply of vaccine. According to the Centers […]
State training program aims to help health care providers better understand military culture
It’s a simple question the state’s military leaders would like more health care providers to ask patients: Have you or a family member served in the military? They say the answer can inform treatment, and the question can make a patient feel seen and understood – both critical to successful treatment. Aiming to increase awareness […]
State can’t deliver new dental benefits to adults on Medicaid without more dentists
The state’s victory this year in finally getting lawmaker approval to provide nearly 85,000 adults on Medicaid basic dental benefits will be short-lived if it can’t find more dentists like Chris and Derek Blackwelder. The two are among the approximately 16 percent of New Hampshire dentists who take Medicaid, a percentage some oral health advocates […]
New NH law requires National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to be included on student ID cards
Student ID cards for sixth graders up to college students must now include the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, under a law signed by Gov. Chris Sununu Wednesday. There is no requirement, however, that the cards also include the state’s crisis line, which may be a better option for those in New Hampshire with out-of-state […]
Attorney who represented church abuse victims defends state’s YDC settlement plan
Attorneys on opposite sides of settling sexual abuse claims against the Catholic Church 20 years ago now fiercely disagree over the state’s proposed plan for settling claims from hundreds of people abused while at the former state Youth Detention Center. In a July 29 letter to Attorney General John Formella, attorney Chuck Douglas, who represented […]
3.5 percent of NH children under 5 have received at least one COVID vaccine dose, analysis finds
New Hampshire is 14th among all states for the number of children under 5 who’ve received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. It ranked Vermont and Massachusetts second and third, respectively. The data was released in late July, about a month after the Food and Drug Administration […]
Hurdles lie ahead for new state lawsuit and federal opioid strike force
The state has sued the makers and distributors of opioids. Now state and federal law enforcement leaders are targeting three other players in an opioid drug epidemic that killed nearly 360 in 2021: the three largest pharmacy chains that distributed the medication, physicians who overprescribed it, and pharmacists who filled suspiciously large prescriptions. History suggests […]