Posts by Annmarie Timmins
Throughout the pandemic, the hospital has been unable to use about 70 of its 111 beds because it has enough staff for only about 40, Hampstead Hospital Chief Operating Officer Kathleen Collins said. Sununu acknowledged the challenge.
Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday he supports removing Rep. Ken Weyler as chairman of the powerful Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee following Weyler’s continued dissemination of unproven and outlandish claims about the COVID-19 vaccine, including octopus-like creatures living in the vaccine and vaccinated parents having babies with “pitch black” eyes and premature aging.
As the state prepares to hire a recruiting firm to bring desperately needed health care workers to New Hampshire, some nursing students with safety concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine are leaving their nursing programs over vaccine mandates. A new state law prohibits most of their colleges from requiring a COVID-19 vaccine, but their clinical sites can – and most will have to under the new Biden administration vaccine mandate for health care settings.
Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday he is willing to bring back the recently rejected family planning contracts for another vote after learning two of the four Republican executive councilors who voted against the contracts cited insufficient information from the state Department of Health and Human Services as the reason for their vote.
We’re living in an “infodemic,” and we’ve been told to use data to make important safety decisions, such as when to mandate masks at school or return to work, or gather in large groups. But most of us are navigating by guesswork.
The study committee charged with developing a plan to close and replace the Sununu Youth Services Center will meet for the first time Tuesday, although it’s unclear whether members will have a consultant’s draft recommendations that were due in July.
New Hampshire is expanding its gambling options under two new state laws signed by Gov. Chris Sununu Tuesday. A third law will transfer background checks for charitable gaming licenses from the state Attorney General’s Office to the New Hampshire Lottery.
At Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting, the state Department of Health and Human Services will ask to increase its $434,500 contract with a Manchester marketing firm to $1.3 million to continue promoting COVID-19 vaccination through 2022.
Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday he had disbanded the group to start his own, saying it was time to “bring in fresh perspectives and ideas” as the state rethinks treatment for at-risk juveniles. He asked anyone interested in joining his new Juvenile Justice Reform Commission to submit a resume.
Recruitment, however, is about to become even more challenging. The state’s 10 community mental health centers are expanding services significantly under their new contracts with the state. The centers are exploring recruitment plans now and some are beginning to offer bonuses, Couture said. Even with cash incentives, the centers’ inability to match salaries provided by private providers remains.
The state’s 10 community mental health centers would be able to expand services significantly and offer statewide mobile crisis response under a contract going before the Executive Council Wednesday.
Just in time for cookouts and black flies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday fully vaccinated people can socialize and dine outdoors with a small group of friends without wearing a mask, even if those friends are unvaccinated.
State lawmakers and juvenile advocates have long wanted to close the Sununu Youth Services Center, believing a youth detention facility is the wrong place to hold and rehabilitate children. They also oppose spending the governor’s proposed $13 million a year for the approximately 17 children held there at any given time.
When learning went virtual, video visits with her students weren’t enough for West High School art teacher Richella Simard. So, she began pedaling to their homes – up to 15 miles – to say hi from the driveway.
In the last two months, the school district has made and delivered more than 200,000 breakfasts and lunches via school buses with the help of the Manchester Transit Authority and volunteers. Southern New Hampshire University is providing 7,000 meals on Saturdays, all paid for with donations that currently will cover meals through the end of May. But more support is needed for that program to continue.
Twelve of the city’s 22 schools have offered the 21st Century after-school and summer program for 17 years. Schools are chosen by the percentage of students on free and reduced lunch. Through STEM activities, card games, strategy puzzles, art and music lessons, sports, homework help, and even manners and kindness clubs, students develop their academic and social skills.