Rick Mayer
Health News FloridaI’m the online producer for Health News Florida, a collaboration of public radio stations and NPR that delivers news about health care issues.
This is an important position at WUSF. In 2019, the typical U.S. family spent about 11 percent of its annual income on health care, so it stands to reason issues of cost, quality, access and innovation are consequential to all Floridians. Then COVID-19 came along, and the weight of these matters gained exponentially. I take our reporting on these topics quite seriously, as I’m sure you do, too.
Literally growing up in newsrooms and a little serendipity along the way prepared me well for the post. Here’s the abridged version: I’m a Tampa guy, graduating from H.B. Plant High and thrust into the world with my USF degree rolled tightly in hand. From there, it was three mostly sleepless decades as an editor at The Tampa Tribune, then developing and managing an online journal serving physician executives. There’s also my side job editing a statewide health magazine.
And being married to a longtime hospital nurse/case manager helps; dinner conversation often gives me a feel of what’s happening on the front lines. The good and not-so-good.
Of course, my time isn’t always spent flailing in the health news vortex. You’re actually more likely to find me breaking down the Bucs, Bulls or Bolts after a game, taking Oodle the poodle to the dog park or tinkering the backroom piano while vicariously reliving my former life as a musician. (Remember, kids: Parents of percussionists have plenty of patience. Plenty!)
Contact Rick on Twitter @rmayer2361 or by email at Mayer1@wusf.org.
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Case counts are as high as they’ve been since mid-February, part of a national surge arriving ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, as the school year wraps up and Americans prepare for summer vacations. -
Health officials says the risk of transmission remains low.
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Center for COVID Control, which closed its Florida sites in January after receiving complaints about questionable results, is accused of deceptively marketing testing services and violating Oregon’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act.
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The switch from weekly reports was made public Friday afternoon through a meme on the Twitter account on department Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern.
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The researchers say lockdowns had no noticeable effect on reducing COVID-related deaths and a "devastating effect" on economies and social ills.
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Subsidies from the president's coronavirus relief act and an extended enrollment period helped add 600,000 Floridians through the federal marketplace.
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The FDA says therapies from Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they don't work against omicron. Gov. Ron DeSantis says the action will "cost some Americans their lives."
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The tests, which had expired in late December, are earmarked for emergency management offices, county health departments, hospitals and long-term care facilities.
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In a letter sent to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Dr. Joseph Ladapo wrote that federal agencies should not be controlling COVID options. He asked that Florida be able to pursue unlimited acquisition of any treatment.
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The medical examiner reported that the Bucs' star had a blood-alcohol level of 0.28 at the time of his death. Researchers previously said he had stage 2 CTE.
