Healthy Communities Online

This year’s flu season continues to be unusually dangerous and widespread. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report a 7.7 percent increase in people seeing their health care provider with influenza-like-illness, the same percentage observed during the peak week of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. The Influenza A (H3N2) virus is hitting Connecticut hard, with flu widespread throughout the state.  A high percentage of patients are going to their primary care providers or the ER with flu symptoms, and…

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Community health centers across the country provide health care to millions of patients, focusing on under-served populations where and when they need it most. As of today, Congress has gone against bipartisan tradition and failed to re-authorize funding for health centers. But what does that mean on the ground? Here’s the story of Joelle Isidor, a CHC employee who spends her days making sure one of Connecticut’s most vulnerable populations has access to high quality care. If Congress doesn’t act, Joelle’s…

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with health journalist and author Mary Otto about her book, “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America” which she explores the huge gap in access to dental care in this country. She examines the sometimes deadly consequences for those lacking access to care, and solutions that could help alleviate the nation’s unmet oral health needs.