Recent News

Note from the Commissioner: Protecting our Vulnerable Populations

Jun 16th, 2017

In public health, it is our duty to protect the most vulnerable populations, from babies to seniors.

As an expecting mothe, I know that prenatal care is essential to a baby’s good health. This week, BCHD hosted a celebration for 11 graduates from the Nursing Family Partnership, a program that supports first-time expecting parents by pairing them with nurses who provide important resources and encouragement. Programs like NFP support women with essential education and empower mothers to build healthy families.

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Overdose deaths surging across Maryland

Jun 14th, 2017

State health officials said 2,089 people died of an overdose in 2016 in Maryland.

The deaths represent the largest year-over-year increase in overdose deaths ever recorded in Maryland history, state health officials said.


State health officials said almost 90 percent of the deaths were opioid-related.


Carin Miller, with Maryland Heroin Awareness Advocates, said these deaths are the latest sign of a health crisis in the state.
“We have a 68-year-old grandfather who is injecting heroin with his grandson,” Miller said. “We had an 86-year-old woman in Frederick County and the family went in and thought she had the flu and they said, ‘We're sorry your grandma is in withdrawal.’”

In Frederick County, 88 people died of overdoses last year, a 100 percent increase from 2015.

“The numbers are absolutely devastating,” Baltimore City Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Mendes said. “In Baltimore City we had 694 total overdoses in 2016.

Read the entire story.

Baltimore city schools respond to crisis with behavioral health programs

Jun 14th, 2017

Almost immediately after starting her job in 2015 as Baltimore’s health commissioner, Leana Wen took a series of walking tours around the city, listening to residents’ concerns.

Much of what she heard was expected, but what she was told by public school students surprised her.

“I thought they’d ask about smoking or STDs,” Wen recalled. “But what every single one of them talked about was mental health.

“They talked about what it was like to grow up in a house where they were the only one to get up in the morning. Everyone else was on drugs.

Read the entire article. 

Baltimore gears up to battle Zika

Jun 14th, 2017

Baltimore city council members have an update now on what the city is doing to help prevent the spread of Zika, the mosquito-borne illness.

Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, met with the city’s public safety committee at city hall Tuesday. Wen told the committee her office is prepared. She’s also reminding residents of what they can do to help stop Zika.

Kimberly Lodge said she pays close attention to the Zika warnings made by public officials. That includes keeping a close eye on her bird baths in the backyard of home in Roland Park.

Read the entire story. 

City health department launches online tool to encourage workplace wellness

Jun 13th, 2017

The Baltimore City Health Department is encouraging local employers to provide a healthier work environment, using a new online tool that allows companies to assess their workplace's wellness efforts.

The new tool allows area workers to participate in a questionnaire that focuses on nutrition, physical fitness, behavioral health and substance abuse in a work environment. Employees are asked questions such as whether their office offers educational programming about healthy eating, or accessible information on addiction treatment.

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Baltimore health department and businesses team up for healthy workplaces

Jun 13th, 2017

The Baltimore City Health Department launched a program Monday to encourage city employers to increase employee health.

Under the program, city businesses can earn a Workplace Wellness Designation if they meet certain criteria.

“We recognize the important role our business sector plays in a healthy Baltimore,” Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said. With rising health costs, “It’s more critical than ever to meet the needs of an employee population.”

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Baltimore health department offers firms a wellness designation

Jun 13th, 2017

The Baltimore City Health Department has launched a new program aimed at encouraging local companies to provide healthier work environments by offering them a Workplace Wellness designation.

Company leaders can use a questionnaire adapted from a scorecard generated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help them identify priorities, or gaps, in their health promotion programs in nutrition, physical fitness and emotional health.

The questionnaire offers gold, silver and bronze labels to companies that participate. So far, companies receiving a gold label include the Baltimore Ravens, BGE, CareFirst, M&T Bank, T. Rowe Price and Under Armour. Transamerica has been labeled silver and Ayers Saint Gross and RSM have been labeled bronze.

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Baltimore City Health Department Launches Workplace Wellness Designation

Jun 12th, 2017

BALTIMORE, MD (June 12, 2017) — Today, the Baltimore City Health Department announced its Workplace Wellness designation that encourages area employers to provide the healthiest professional setting possible. A new online tool will allow companies to assess their efforts to provide a healthy and fit work environment for all employees.

Deaths from drug, alcohol overdoses skyrocket in Maryland (Baltimore Sun)

Jun 9th, 2017

The number of people who died in Maryland from drug and alcohol related overdoses surged 66 percent in 2016, compared with 2015, exposing the magnitude of the growing opioid epidemic and the ineffectiveness of the increased resources aimed a stemming deaths. 

The 2,089 deaths last year represent an all-time high, triple the tally from 2010, according to the data released Thursday by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Last year's jump is the state's largest recorded annual increase.

"The numbers are terrible and they are extremely disappointing," said Dr. Leana Wen, health commissioner for Baltimore City, which accounted for about a third of all overdose deaths in the state.

The city saw 694 overdose deaths last year, more than twice the 318 homicides recorded by police.

The greatest number of deaths, both in the city and statewide, were attributed to the illegal opioids heroin and fentanyl, a cheap and powerful drug pouring in from overseas that is typically mixed into heroin without the user's knowledge.

Read the entire story.

Note from the Commissioner: Public health saves lives every day

Jun 9th, 2017

Baltimore never takes a backseat to public health. Public health saves lives every day, but because there is no face of prevention, it is often difficult to make the case for our core services that protect and promote health for our residents.

This past week, the dedicated team at BCHD presented our programs and services to the Baltimore City Council. I always say that I have the best job in the world, and I was very proud to represent the dedicated women and men of BCHD who are on the frontlines every day to work on maternal and child health, senior services, trauma and mental healthcare, violence prevention, HIV/AIDS and STD services, environmental health, and much more.

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