Colorado Checkup: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Families of Transgender Youth No Longer View Colorado as a Haven for Gender-Affirming Care
Rae Ellen Bichell and Oona Zenda
Colorado was long considered a haven for gender-affirming care. But under this Trump administration, hospitals in the state have limited the treatments available for people under 19. Some services have been restored, but trans youth and their families say the state isn’t the rock they thought it was.
Deportation Fears Add to Mental Health Problems Confronting Colorado Resort Town Workers
Natalie Skowlund
The Latino communities who make up significant proportions of year-round populations in Colorado’s mountain towns already experience heightened mental health concerns. Now, deportation fears are increasing their stress.
Beyond Ivy League, RFK Jr.’s NIH Slashed Science Funding Across States That Backed Trump
Rae Ellen Bichell and Rachana Pradhan
A KFF Health News analysis underscores how the terminations have spared no part of the country, politically or geographically. Of the organizations that had grants cut in the first month, about 40% are in states President Donald Trump won in November.
Moms in Crisis, Jobs Lost: The Human Cost of Trump’s Addiction Funding Cuts
Aneri Pattani
In many cases, the money flowed to addiction recovery programs that help rebuild lives by driving people to medical appointments and court hearings, crafting résumés and training them for new jobs, finding them housing, and helping them build social connections unrelated to drugs.
Why Cameras Are Popping Up in Eldercare Facilities
Paula Span
Roughly 20 states now have laws permitting families to place cameras in the rooms of loved ones. Facility operators are often opposed.
More Psych Hospital Beds Are Needed for Kids, but Neighbors Say Not Here
Eric Berger
Amid a youth mental health crisis and a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds, residents of a St. Louis suburb opposed a plan to build a 77-bed pediatric mental health hospital. Resistance to such facilities has occurred in other communities as misconceptions about mental health spur fear.
Misinformation About Fentanyl Exposure Threatens To Undermine Overdose Response
Henry Larweh
Fentanyl overdoses occur from ingesting the synthetic opioid. But popular culture has misrepresented the risks to first responders.
Trump’s Immigration Tactics Obstruct Efforts To Avert Bird Flu Pandemic, Researchers Say
Amy Maxmen
Preventing and detecting bird flu infections among farmworkers is a key defense against a potential pandemic. Immigration raids and threats have undermined these efforts, researchers say.
Public Health Risks of Urban Wildfire Smoke Prompt Push for More Monitoring
Katharine Gammon
As the fires burned in Los Angeles, scientists and local air regulators deployed monitors to measure the levels of heavy metals, carcinogens, and other toxic substances released into the air when homes, buildings, and cars burned. They hope their efforts will inform ongoing cleanup efforts and protect the public in future fires.
Rural Hospitals Question Whether They Can Afford Medicare Advantage Contracts
Arielle Zionts
Some rural hospitals have canceled — or are considering ending — contracts with insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans, saying the private policies jeopardize their finances and impede patient care.
El temor a la deportación agrava los problemas de salud mental que enfrentan los trabajadores de los centros turísticos de Colorado
Natalie Skowlund
Las comunidades latinas, que constituyen una proporción significativa de la población residente permanente en estos pueblos de montaña, son particularmente vulnerables.
Tácticas migratorias de Trump obstaculizan esfuerzos para evitar una pandemia de gripe aviar, dicen investigadores
Amy Maxmen
Los trabajadores de las industrias láctea y avícola han representado la mayoría de los casos de gripe aviar en el país, y prevenir y detectar los casos entre ellos es clave para evitar una pandemia.