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By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The state’s drug overdose crisis is persisting at record high levels, exacerbated by a “poisoned drug supply” that isn’t just affecting those who use opioids anymore.There were 2,323 confirmed and estimated fatal opioid-related overdoses...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — Like many of their peers, 15-year-old Kai Imperial-Jewett experienced “some pretty dark times” during the quarantine and isolation days of the pandemic.Even with supportive parents, as an only child and middle-schooler without any...

By MADDIE FABIAN

In response to the youth mental health crisis, as many experts have called it, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts has worked with over 25 organizations and many stakeholders on a regional roadmap designed to get youth the help they...

 By Emilee Klein

Before the pandemic, Dr. David Alpern, like many health care workers at the time, didn’t think twice about going to work with a runny nose or cough.But since symptoms of COVID-19 are indistinguishable from the common cold, the retired Cooley Dickinson...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — Local teenagers living in homes with alcohol addiction often find themselves less worried about their own well-being, and more concerned with a sibling, friend, or most often a parent.Some teens have lost a parent to separation, divorce...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Malfunctioning equipment responsible for sterilizing medical instruments and devices forced Cooley Dickinson Hospital to temporarily suspend both elective and emergency surgical operations on Nov. 6, though some of those procedures...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Patients would pay no more than $25 for certain name-brand medications to treat some chronic illnesses and face no costs whatsoever for similar generic options under the latest prescription drug legislation set to emerge in the Senate.Senate...

By MADDIE FABIAN

EASTHAMPTON — As the city’s new public health nurse, Christine Southworth will play an important role in keeping the community healthy through preventative and educational work.“I really love preventative medicine,” she said. “It’s a nice field of...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — Tova Reznicek, an Israeli-American living in Israel, has spent the last three weeks worried that a rocket will fall on her neighbors, friends, colleagues and herself.Her street has already been bombed, and on a morning call with the...

By SOPHIE HAUCK

HOLYOKE — Mel Hearne sustained a spinal cord injury in 2004 that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. For 17 years, she answered yes or no questions by raising her eyebrows for “yes,” and rolling her eyes back and forth for “no.”Today she “speaks”...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Students are still performing well below pre-pandemic levels on the latest batch of statewide standardized test results, though education department officials say the scores show that the “achievement slide” from COVID-19 “has halted and...

By BELLA LEVAVI

GREENFIELD — Community members and health care providers gathered Wednesday night to celebrate the launch of Baystate Health’s $70 million campaign, marking the largest fundraising goal in the hospital system’s history.“Baystate Health has been...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise throughout the Pioneer Valley over the past month, although not to the extent that they were a year ago, according to health officials. Data from Northampton Wastewater Treatment Plant shows a...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The city’s newly formed Division of Community Care held an opening ceremony for its new community space in Roundhouse Plaza on Friday, capping 2½ years of efforts by both city and local state officials to bring an alternative emergency...

By MADDIE FABIAN

In making a pitch for a new comprehensive health program for the country nearly 78 years ago, President Harry S. Truman said this to Congress: “With the help of federal funds, it should be possible to meet deficiencies in hospital and health...

By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — In a move that one Massachusetts social worker described as an “answered prayer,” the state will repay more than $140 million in student loans for almost 3,000 health care providers who serve communities in need.An estimated 2,935 primary...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Hundreds of aspiring nurse aides can start taking their certification exams in Spanish and Chinese next year, the start of a multilingual policy that advocates and lawmakers say will tackle a major workforce shortage in nursing homes and...

By MARY BYRNE

GREENFIELD — In an effort to put a friendly face to the medical community, physicians will be hosting “Walk with a Doc” on a biweekly basis, offering residents a chance to meet with doctors and learn more about contemporary health care issues. The...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

HOLYOKE — Politicians, hospital executives and local residents celebrated the new Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital on Monday, which is expected to provide some much-needed support for mental health services in the region when it opens in...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — Registered pharmacists in Massachusetts can now prescribe hormonal birth control under a bill passed in the state budget this week.The legislation, “An Act Relative to Hormonal Contraceptives,” which is co-sponsored by state Rep. Lindsay...