Kate Wells
ReporterKate Wells is a Peabody Award-winning journalist currently covering public health. She was a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist for her abortion coverage. Wells previously co-hosted Believed, a nine-part podcast series drawing millions of downloads and numerous awards. She and co-host Lindsey Smith received the prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists.
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Health officials are urging vaccinations as measles cases climb, including four in a widening outbreak in Montcalm County. But officials said they couldn’t release further details. -
The 1-year-old boy contracted the virus from a 1-year-old girl in the county, who exposed kids at her daycare to measles earlier this month. Both children had received their first dose of the measles vaccine, and health officials say that's likely why they experienced only mild symptoms. -
The state is experiencing its first measles outbreak since 2019 in Montcalm County, where three individuals have contracted the virus. An outbreak is defined as three or more connected cases. -
County health officials say they've contacted the families of all 50 or so kids who attend a local daycare center, where they may have been exposed to measles. They're still determining how many of those children are unvaccinated, but about 83% of Ingham County kids between the ages of 19-35 months are vaccinated. -
In the last five years, the state’s poison control center received about 1,500 reports of kids under the age of six being exposed to cannabis products. The center’s data suggests more than 400 were hospitalized, and more than 100 reported cases required critical care. -
A judge issued an order Thursday blocking the HHS cuts that cost Michigan $380 million, but some local health officials are still “in a holding pattern” for now. -
Planned Parenthood of Michigan is closing clinics in Marquette, Petoskey, and Jackson, and consolidating two Ann Arbor centers into one. It’s also cutting 10% of staff. -
Michigan’s AG says the state will join others in suing the Trump administration for “abruptly and illegally terminating” billions in public health funding nationally. -
According to DOGE's website, the state health department lost more than $390 million in federal HHS grants this week. But state health officials haven't confirmed it, and DOGE has overinflated cuts in the past. -
Families can get $1,500 cash in pregnancy and $500 a month for the baby's first six months, no strings attached. Nearly 800 Pontiac moms are expected to enroll in the first few years.
