The deaths and infections from COVID-19 in a long-term healthcare facility continue to pile up, leaving families in mourning after a super-spreader event about 100 miles away.
Barbara A. Walsh
Barbara is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked for newspapers in Ireland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Florida. While working at the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Walsh reported on first-degree killer William Horton Jr. and Massachusetts’ flawed prison-furlough system. The series changed in-state sentencing and furlough laws and won a 1988 Pulitzer Prize. During her career at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Barbara wrote in-depth series on several social issues in Maine. Many of her stories changed laws and earned national, state and regional awards. Barbara is also the author of an adult biography/memoir, August Gale: A Father and Daughter’s Journey into the Storm, and Sammy in the Sky, a children’s book illustrated by Jamie Wyeth. She lives on a lake in Maine with her two daughters, husband and Paco, a rescue dog from Puerto Rico. When she is not writing, taking pictures or walking Paco, she can be found sitting by the lake, comforted by its blue-green waters.
LATEST ARTICLES
The preacher and the outbreak
For the Sanford pastor at the center of the East Millinocket wedding, sin is ‘a pandemic worse than the coronavirus.’ Now his church has multiple COVID-19 cases.
Maine’s governor born for hard times, and hard decisions
From dealing with a debilitating spinal condition as a teen, to gender bias as an adult and a pandemic as Maine’s leader, Janet Mills proves she can rise above her critics – even the president.
A valiant father, husband and cancer fighter loses the battle to COVID-19
After battling pancreatic cancer for 18 months, Ken Clark fell ill with COVID-19. At a central Maine hospital, his family fought to be by his side during his final moments.
Zooming a final goodbye
Unable to be by their dying mother’s bedside due to coronavirus restrictions, a family gathers on Zoom to tell their mother they loved her.
Saying goodbye to Dad
A journalist can’t help but think of her father’s death as she writes and reports on dying during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Last Responders: Consoling the dying and grieving in the COVID-19 era
The coronavirus pandemic’s last responders – Maine’s priests, chaplains, funeral directors and hospice workers − say the highly infectious virus has upended how they do their jobs. Barred from entering most hospitals and long-term living facilities, chaplains and priests must offer comfort, consolation and prayers electronically. Families are robbed of a final goodbye, and those who are dying of COVID − or any other illness in a confined setting – must die with strangers while longing for the touch of a loved one.
A doctor who can’t stand on the sidelines
For the past month, Dr. Jennifer McConnell has volunteered at the coronavirus screening tent at MaineGeneral Health in Augusta. As the first line of defense against COVID-10, McConnell has screened over 200 people while providing much-needed information and comfort.
Reflection: A New Normal
As the virus sweeps across the globe, the U.S. and my home state of Maine, my anxiety spikes with each devastating report. Nearly 800 Italians die in 24 hours. Overwhelmed hospitals and medical workers without protective gear. Faulty tests, not enough tests; more than 4,000 Americans dead with a predicted 236,000 more to die.
Maine ranks 9th in number of children impacted by opioid crisis
Maine will need an estimated $2 billion by 2030 to treat and care for opioid-affected children.
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