Rosemary Westwood
Public Health ReporterRosemary Westwood is the public and reproductive health reporter for WWNO/WRKF. She was previously a freelance writer specializing in gender and reproductive rights, a radio producer, columnist, magazine writer and podcast host.
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The health department also plans to review Medicaid patients’ driver’s licenses and use AI to reduce waste and fraud in health care spending, officials said. -
Organizations working to combat HIV in Louisiana are bracing for potential funding cuts and warning of a possible resurgence of the virus, after the Trump administration eliminated staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s office for HIV prevention. -
For 40 days every spring, Christians observe the season of repentance and fasting known as Lent. In New Orleans, the change from Mardi Gras to Lent is striking.
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The bill would criminalize efforts to pressure someone into having an abortion, whether or not the abortion was carried out. -
Louisiana’s Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham confirmed Thursday that two infants have died in the last six months amid an ongoing whooping cough outbreak in the state, and said vaccines are the best way to protect against infections. -
The cuts target mental health and substance use programs, including crisis services, according to Louisiana health officials. -
We’re looking to hear from Catholics and Presbyterians about how they’re spending Lent this year. Send Rosemary Westwood a voice memo to help her reporting. -
The Louisiana State Medical Society and eight other medical organizations are calling for an end to the politicization of vaccines in the wake of a new Louisiana Department of Health policy banning vaccine promotion and events. -
Louisiana’s top public health physician is described in multiple state communications as a family medicine physician, but he is not listed as board-certified in the specialty. -
The directive continues a dramatic shift in vaccine policy within the health department under the leadership of Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham and Deputy Surgeon General Dr. Wyche Coleman, both of whom have repeated vaccine misinformation.
