Lilo Stainton

3 days ago | newjerseyhills.com | Lilo Stainton

The Ridgewood health department could lose two full-time outreach workers and a part-time environmental health specialist — nearly 45% of its staff — because of a federal recall of COVID-era public health funding, according to public health leaders. In Burlington County, officials may be forced to return $1.1 million set aside to fund construction of a new health department building in Westhampton, a months-long project now weeks from completion, public health officials said.

4 days ago | njspotlightnews.org | Lilo Stainton

At Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, staff is preparing for the worst-case scenario that could be coming from a few miles away. Hudson Regional is the closest hospital to MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, where several of the soccer matches in next summer’s World Cup — the biggest sports tournament in the world — are set to be held. And 15 months out, Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, CEO of the 200-bed facility, said he has had little guidance from New Jersey health officials or event planners.

1 week ago | njspotlightnews.org | Lilo Stainton

New Jersey officials expect to begin construction this summer on the maternal and infant health center at the heart of a growing portfolio of programs to make childbirth safer, especially for women of color. The state Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority announced the facility’s groundbreaking in its first annual report, released with little fanfare in late March.

2 weeks ago | njspotlightnews.org | Lilo Stainton

New Jersey has lost its herd immunity — the threshold for protecting a community from rampant disease spread — against the measles virus, putting people at greater risk of an outbreak from a disease thought to be eradicated two decades ago. Dr. Kaitlan Baston, the state health commissioner, told New Jersey lawmakers that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic more than 95% of state residents had been immunized against measles, a level that provided sufficient community protection.

3 weeks ago | njspotlightnews.org | Lilo Stainton

Early in their effort to reduce racial disparities in maternal deaths, New Jersey officials dove deep into a decades-old dataset to find out why Black mothers were dying at far higher rates than white moms. Their findings led the state to direct $4.7 million a year to local organizations that could help pregnant women access prenatal care and connect new mothers with food, safe housing, mental health supports and other services.