Patty Wight
Patty is a graduate of the University of Vermont and a multiple award-winning reporter for Maine Public Radio. Her specialty is health coverage: from policy stories to patient stories, physical health to mental health and anything in between. Patty joined Maine Public Radio in 2012 after producing stories as a freelancer for NPR programs such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She got hooked on radio at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine, and hasn’t looked back ever since.
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The recent deaths of two Maine children from abuse have called into question whether the state — which had knowledge of the cases — handled them properly.
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Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, won't promote opioids to doctors anymore. In Maine, physicians say the change should have happened long ago. -
She voted for the Senate GOP tax plan despite its repeal of individual mandate because leadership promised a vote on her reinsurance bill and on legislation to restore some payments to insurers.
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Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed Medicaid expansion several times before, so advocates took the measure to the ballot box. Now the governor is placing financial conditions on moving ahead. -
Maine is among a handful of states putting limits on the painkiller dose that doctors can prescribe a patient. Some doctors and patients say the law is helping, while others say it goes too far. -
GOP legislators say Maine's "invisible high-risk pool" was a good model for how to insure people who have pre-existing conditions. Critics say Maine's program was much better funded than the GOP plan. -
Many young adults struggle with the transition to adulthood, finding it difficult to do things like manage their money and pay bills on time. This new school in Maine is here to help. -
Community Health Options is dropping elective abortion coverage in 2017. The insurer says the move will save money. Advocates for abortion rights say it's a step backward for women's health. -
Expensive versions of prescription opioids that are tougher to cut, crush and inject are less likely to be abused, legislators hope. But some doctors call the bill well-meant, but ill-advised. -
Offering classes on healthy cooking for low-income residents is just one of the ways that Franklin County has beaten the odds on cardiovascular disease for this aging, rural population.