News

RI Health Director Defends Vaccine Rollout

On Friday, January 28, the regular weekly COVID-19 press conference conducted by Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the RI Department of Health (RI DoH), was unusually chaotic. In prepared remarks that were uncharacteristically defensive for the normally diplomatic Alexander-Scott, she avoided mentioning. but tacitly addressed, recent criticism in the media for what is widely seen […]

Read More

Ready for Reform — The Progressives Challenging State House Leadership: An interview with Representative Brianna Henries

“The pandemic had some crippling consequences; one of those consequences was that people were forced to see the shortcomings of their local and national government,” says State Representative Brianna Henries, describing the wave of progressive victories in the State House last year.Henries represents District 64 out of East Providence, an area that includes the city’s […]

Read More

Smooth Sailing Out of the Ocean State: Raimondo’s confirmation hearing for cabinet nomination took place today

Governor Gina Raimondo answered questions before the US Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation committee today in a confirmation hearing that could not have gone smoother for her nomination. The Ocean State governor answered questions from Democrats and Republicans serving on the committee that ranged from broadband access, to jobs programs to net neutrality. There was […]

Read More

Bills That Address the Pandemic Passed Out of Committee: Health and Human Services holds first 2021 meeting

The Rhode Island Senate Committee on Health and Human Services passed three bills out of committee on Thursday night in its first meeting of the year. The bills would extend coverage of telemedicine and provide coverage for it under RI Medicaid and enshrine certain ACA consumer protections and varying health insurance premium rates based on […]

Read More

Stay Positive and Test Negative: LG Dan McKee takes questions from the press

Lieutenant Governor and soon-to-be-Governor Dan McKee held his first official press event today, the first one since he became a governor-in-waiting where he was the star of the show. The setting was unusual for a group accustomed to “big” city politics in Providence, a Chelo’s over by the airport in Warwick, chosen for its small […]

Read More

Ready for Reform: The progressives challenging State House leadership — an interview with Senator Sam Bell

“Rhode Islanders are now standing up, running for office and fighting for the values that we’ve always had.” This is what State Senator Sam Bell believes underlies the wave of progressive wins for GeneralAssembly seats we saw this year in Rhode Island – a wave that has threatened the power of Senate Leadership, what Bell […]

Read More

One Day at a Time: Substance use spikes as the pandemic wears on

For those suffering from substance-use disorders, staying sober is a marathon. The last year was a perfect storm of external assaults on everyone to one degree or another. The traditional roadblocks to overcoming addiction — economic insecurity, inadequate healthcare, lack of emotional connection and the troubles of social isolation — all were exacerbated by COVID-19 […]

Read More

Get in the Zone: An explainer of RI’s Health Equity Zone initiative

You may have heard of this forward-thinking RI Department of Health initiative that is beginning to serve as a national model for community-driven health. But what is a Health Equity Zone, and how does it work? What Are Health Equity Zones?  Ana Novais, deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, defines Health Equity […]

Read More