I am new to the health care beat in Michigan, and it's keeping me busy.  Within weeks of taking the assignment in January, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan converted from a charitable trust to a non-profit mutual liability insurance company, and our Republican Gov. Rick Snyder came out in favor of expanding Medicaid, gearing up for a battle with our GOP-dominated Legislature. Meanwhile Detroit has some of the greatest health challenges in the nation with entrenched poverty leading to some of the highest infant mortality and pre-mature birth rates in the country. I have my work cut out for me and I'm up for the challenge.

Articles

Alaina Gonville kisses her 3-month-old Brandon at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit. Brandon was born premature through an emergency C-section. (Max Ortiz / The Detroit News)

Reporting project on child deaths in Detroit garners award

Karen Bouffard and The Detroit News were awarded this week a 2015 Communication Award from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine for Bouffard’s series “Surviving through age 18 in Detroit,” which she reported as a 2013 National Health Journalism Fellow.

(Photo: Photos by Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News)

Health providers target Detroit's child asthma woes

A Detroit News analysis of Michigan Department of Community Health data found an average of five children die annually of asthma in the city, including nine in 2006 and eight in 2007. But promising projects are underway to combat childhood asthma in Detroit, such as home visits by asthma educators.

David Coates/The Detroit News

Detroit area nurses deliver help to new mothers

Like many Detroit mothers, ChaunTia Murray is young, single and caring for a baby with significant health problems. But in a city with high infant mortality and maternal death rates, she is involved in a program that could vastly improve the chances for Murray and her baby.

Kanitra Patterson, with her son Robert Jr., age 6, giving a pedicure at Highland Nails in Highland Park. Kanitra Patterson developed a serious heart condition while pregnant with Robert. Doctors said she faces a 50 percent risk of death if she developed that same condition during her current pregnancy. (David Coates / The Detroit News)

Detroit's maternal death rate triple the nation's

Detroit women are dying from pregnancy-related causes at a rate three times greater than for the nation. While it’s widely assumed that death in pregnancy or childbirth is an anachronism in a highly developed country, rates are actually creeping upward, in both Detroit and nationwide.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (Photo by Todd McInturf/The Detroit News)

Detroit program promises free prenatal care to cut preterm births

As The Detroit News has reported, Detroit has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation. A recently announced plan to reduce the city's high preterm birth rate will make prenatal care available to every pregnant woman in the Detroit, regardless of insurance coverage or financial status.

Alethia Carr joins other health officials to discuss lowering infant mortality rates in Detroit at the launch of a new initiative. (Bryan Mitchell / Special to The Detroit News)

Reports prompt new effort in Detroit to lower infant mortality

In the wake of sustained reporting on infant and child mortality from The Detroit News, the city has launched a new three-year initiative to combat the problem. A Detroit News study published in January found that Detroit is the most dangerous place in America to be a child.