Katherine's Writing Portfolio

 May 19, 2023 CHARLESTON, W.Va.   — A few organizations are coming together to provide training, education, and drug overdose medication all in one box, making response to drug overdoses easier than ever. A news conference was held Thursday at the office of West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute in Charleston as they announce their new project to bring Opioid Naloxone Emergency Boxes, or ONEbox to all 55 counties, and will specifically be dispersed to all public schools and federally qualified health centers in West Virginia. WVDII is partnering with Aetna Better Health of West Virginia, Vandalia Health Network, the University of Charleston and the West Virginia Primary Care Association to launch the effort. The boxes contain two doses of the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone, gloves, a CPR shield for rescue breathing, and a training video to explain how to administer the treatment. Assistant Professor at the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy, Lindsay Acree ...

  CHARLESTON, W.Va.   — Obesity in the U.S., especially here in the Mountain State is a growing yet troubling trend. That’s the concern of Dr. Robert Shin, Director of the Weight Loss clinic at Charleston Area Medical Center. Dr. Robert Shin However, he is certainly not alone in this concern as recently CAMC doctors and dieticians came together for a one-day seminar, Beyond the Scale– A Comprehensive Approach to Obesity, where they addressed the issue in depth as well as presented solutions to alleviate the situation. Shin said research continues to reveal the problem is only growing. “When we look at some of the data, especially the CDC, it hasn’t gotten any better,” Shin said. “In West Virginia, more than 40-percent of people are obese, and we’re talking about number one, number two in the country, and that number hasn’t gotten better for the last three decades.” At the conference, doctors presented everything from the current surgical procedures and medications to treat obe...

  BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – A day once known as Global Cat Day or National Feral Cat Day, many animal organizations are now encouraging a new name, National Community Cat Day. It encompasses all cats, whether stray, feral, or outdoor, throughout the community. The day is meant to bring awareness to the community cat populations and the risks that come with them. “We need to have people informed, that way when a cat population settles into your neighborhood you don’t immediately want to feed these cats because sometimes that causes the problem. To be able to get information out to people that may not have heard it before will help keep the communities down,” says Tori Meator, an Animal Rescue Coordinator for the Raleigh County Humane Society. Cats that roam the community face a lot more risks than your average indoor cat, but these neighborhood cats can also pose risks too, from spreading diseases and parasites to other cats to overpopulating at rapid, even habitat-endangering levels. “T...