Aneri Pattani

Stories by Aneri Pattani

Gail Groves Scott, a public health policy advocate, attended a board meeting of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust in September 2023. She wants the board to allow the public to comment at meetings.

Public voices often ignored in states’ opioid settlement money decisions

by Ed Mahon for Spotlight PA, Aneri Pattani for KFF Health News, and Henry Larweh for KFF Health News

Aug. 27, 2024

Ian Kalinowski’s brother, Adam, died by suicide in 2014 while he was a client at a treatment center run by Addiction Specialists Inc., in Fayette County. An Allegheny County judge later said the business, two of its owners, and an ASI physician were negligent in caring for Adam.

Addiction treatment providers in Pennsylvania face little state scrutiny despite harm to clients

by Aneri Pattani of KHN and Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA

April 29, 2021

How we investigated Pennsylvania’s addiction treatment industry and found weak oversight of providers

by Aneri Pattani of KHN and Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA

April 29, 2021

Many people are also reluctant to seek treatment right now, fearing they’ll contract COVID-19.

‘You’ve got to do something’: Pa. rehabs buckle, begin to close under COVID-19 strain

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA and Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA

Aug. 26, 2020

State Sen. Judy Schwank asked the PASSHE board to add racial equity to every meeting agenda moving forward and to make it a key part of the system’s redesign.

After Spotlight PA report on campus racism, lawmaker tells state system to take action

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

Aug. 24, 2020

Early on in the pandemic, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine cited a decades-old law as a reason for withholding the number of COVID-19 tests the state was conducting and the number of cases in nursing homes. She later reversed course.

A decades-old law is shielding the Wolf administration from scrutiny of its coronavirus response

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

Aug. 19, 2020

Many rehab patients in Pennsylvania are forced to choose between going to treatment and risking getting the virus, or staying at home and struggling with substance use alone.

Inside some Pennsylvania rehabs, ‘it’s like COVID doesn’t exist’

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

Aug. 13, 2020

Ada Bailor, a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said the "campus doesn’t allow Black students to feel safe."

Pa.’s public universities recruit students of color but fail them on campus

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

Aug. 6, 2020

Bloomsburg University officials said they’re working on a number of initiatives to improve the campus climate, including additional bias training for staff and students,

Students of color offer solutions to make Pa. public universities more equitable

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

Aug. 6, 2020

Contact tracing has been a challenge for Pennsylvania throughout the pandemic.

Citing ‘overwhelming’ spread, Pa. moves to add staff, app to trace the coronavirus

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA and Sara Simon of Spotlight PA

July 24, 2020

Locating infected individuals, identifying their close contacts, and asking those contacts to quarantine limits the spread of the disease without imposing sweeping stay-at-home orders.

Politics, fear keep some COVID-positive people from disclosing contacts. What’s the solution?

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

June 26, 2020

With no treatment for the coronavirus and a vaccine still months — if not years — away, public health experts say there is only one way to prevent another society-wide shutdown: timely and robust contact tracing.

Parts of Pa. reopened without robust coronavirus contact tracing to keep residents safe

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA and Sarah Gantz of The Philadelphia Inquirer

June 16, 2020

The Wolf administration has been criticized for its slow response to the coronavirus in Pennsylvania nursing homes, and is only now mandating universal testing.

Thousands of deaths later, Pa. finally mandates universal testing in nursing homes, but not for another month

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

June 9, 2020

The stimulus checks are more crucial now than ever, as residents struggle to connect with the outside world amid a pandemic that is surging through their homes and leaving behind a path of destruction.

From confusion to threats, some Pa. nursing home residents aren’t getting their coronavirus stimulus checks

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

June 2, 2020

“I have heard that there were a small number of errors,” Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said Thursday.

Pa. health officials quietly alter erroneous nursing home case, death counts as providers cry foul

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

May 21, 2020

More than 3,000 residents of long-term care facilities have died, accounting for nearly 70% of the state’s coronavirus deaths.

Pa. sold nursing home testing plan as ‘universal’ and ‘radical’, but advocates say it’s optional and insufficient

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

May 19, 2020

Pennsylvania emergency response officials had a plan to protect nursing homes before the coronavirus swept across the state, but it was never fully implemented. Now, many say the state still isn't doing enough, and what it is doing might be too little, too late.

Pa. had early plan to protect nursing homes from the coronavirus, but never fully implemented it

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA and Rebecca Moss of Spotlight PA

May 9, 2020

Brenda Carll, a retired public health nurse, fought for years against cuts to Pennsylvania's community health system by governors and legislators from both parties.

How Pa. plans to keep track of the coronavirus after reopening to prevent another outbreak

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

May 1, 2020

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

For years, Pennsylvania lawmakers considered public health nurses expendable. Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, they are critical to the state's plan to reopen. But only a skeleton crew remains.

Pa. slashed the ranks of its contact tracing nurses. Now, they are pivotal to reopening, but only a fraction remain.

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

April 24, 2020

If someone shows symptoms, they’re given gloves, a face mask, and extra harm reduction supplies so they can self-quarantine, said Aaron Arnold, executive director of Prevention Point Pittsburgh.

Syringe exchanges deemed ‘life-sustaining’ during Pa. coronavirus shutdown, raising hopes for eventual legalization

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

March 30, 2020

Fred Baurer, medical director of the Kirkbride Center in Philadelphia, said, “We don’t have the ability to quarantine someone without endangering Philadelphia Inquirer or other patients."

Quarantining patients at Pa. drug treatment centers could pose risk, but many have nowhere else to go

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

March 24, 2020

“We are in an unprecedented circumstance,” said Jennifer Smith, secretary of the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

Pa. eases take-home restrictions on meds for people in opioid recovery to reduce clinic crowds

by Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA

March 19, 2020

An estimated 150,000 Medicaid recipients in Pennsylvania may no longer have access to their current medications under new state regulations taking effect in the new year.

Nearly 150,000 in Pa. could be forced to change medications beginning Jan. 1. Here’s why.

by Aneri Pattani

Dec. 26, 2019

Deb Beck, 69, has been one of the most influential people in Pennsylvania's battle against drug addiction. She's a go-to source for lawmakers drafting legislation, or looking to get help for a loved one. But critics have begun to wonder who she really represents.

She’s the force behind Pa.’s efforts to treat drug addiction. Critics say ‘there is more to the story.’

by Aneri Pattani

Dec. 12, 2019

The state's largest community college, HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, eliminated campus mental health counseling in September, causing a backlash among students and sowing confusion about how they could seek help.

Criticized for cutting campus mental health counseling, Pa.'s largest community college adds new services

by Aneri Pattani

Nov. 14, 2019

In September, HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, eliminated its campus mental health counseling across its five campuses and said it would refer students to off-campus providers.

Feeling suicidal, she turned to her college. But it had just cut campus mental health services.

by Aneri Pattani

Nov. 12, 2019

From left, Marshall Everett, Ed Peters, and Sabrina Herb protest the cuts to campus mental health services at HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, on Oct. 23, 2019.

Students blast Pa.'s largest community college for cutting campus mental health services while spending big on renovations

by Aneri Pattani

Oct. 31, 2019

The Harrisburg Area Community College — which serves more than 17,000 students on campuses in Harrisburg York, Lancaster, Lebanon and Gettysburg — has eliminated all on-campus mental health counseling, a move experts said was risky at a time of growing demand.

Pa.’s largest community college eliminates campus mental health counseling for 17K students

by Aneri Pattani

Oct. 16, 2019

A slice of life along Kensington Ave where the city is struggling with the opioid crisis. This picture shows people living with addiction along the 2700 block of the avenue as seen on Thursday, June 27, 2019. The Kensington section of Philadelphia is considered ground zero for the city’s opioid crisis.

We’re investigating the business of addiction treatment in Pa. Share your stories.

by Aneri Pattani

Oct. 2, 2019