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Alissa Zhu

Alissa

Alissa Zhu reports on the drug overdose crisis in Baltimore as a New York Times Local Investigations fellow working in partnership with The Baltimore Banner. Previously, she was on the investigations team at the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi and covered local government for the News-Leader in her hometown of Springfield, Missouri.

The latest from Alissa Zhu

A wellness suite at Basilica Place, a Catholic Charities Senior Community in Baltimore, where residents will soon be able to receive addiction treatment services from a nurse and peer recovery specialist.
Baltimore seniors have died at shocking rates from drug overdoses. Help is on the way.
Hundreds have died in Baltimore’s senior apartment buildings with little intervention. New efforts could stem the tide.
More than 100 referrals have been sent to investigators inside the Maryland Department of Health, pictured here, and to a Medicaid fraud unit in the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
A woman stole from Maryland’s system to treat poor patients — again. This time, it was millions.
A Maryland woman pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid of millions for mental health services she never provided.
Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a Baltimore City Democrat, introduced a bill that calls for the Maryland Department of Health to submit reports this year and next on how it is improving regulation of addiction treatment programs and recovery residences.
Upset by ‘horrid conditions’ in drug treatment, Maryland lawmaker calls for more oversight
A Baltimore Democrat is pushing a new bill to improve state oversight of drug addiction treatment centers.
The Baltimore City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee approved more than $14 million to community organizations and city agencies to help tackle Baltimore’s overdose crisis.
In the shadow of political clashes, Baltimore makes progress on overdose strategy
The Baltimore City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee approved more than $14 million to community organizations and city agencies to help tackle Baltimore’s overdose crisis, which in recent years had become the worst ever in a major American city.
Emily Ariail preps DNA for protein purification in the lab at the Translational Tissue Engineering Center, adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital, on February 21, 2025.
Johns Hopkins bet big on federal funding. The losses could now be $200 million a year.
The Trump cost-cutting measures for health research would prompt layoffs, the Johns Hopkins University says.
Melissa McCarthy at The Reprieve, a residential treatment center in Carroll County that she and her business partner have been unable to open due to delays with the Maryland Department of Health.
Ready but unable to open: New treatment providers face hurdles in Maryland
The operators of The Reprieve are among many addiction and mental health treatment providers — both prospective and established — who have said delays in the state’s bureaucratic machinery are hindering their ability to help Marylanders in the midst of an overdose crisis.
PHA Healthcare offices during their Wrapped in Hope event in Baltimore, Friday, on December 13, 2024.
PHA Healthcare client: ‘I have nowhere to go’ as company fails to pay rent
A Maryland addiction treatment program that was ordered to cease and desist counseling services has stopped paying rent on at least three properties.
Finding a good drug treatment program in Maryland is tough. We can help.
If you’re looking for treatment, there are some things you should know, according to providers and the public officials who oversee them.
A Bmore POWER worker distributes Narcan at an intersection of Cumberland Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore on Thursday, August 3, 2023.
Overdose deaths dropped sharply last year in Maryland, Baltimore
Overdose deaths in Maryland fell “dramatically” last year, Gov. Wes Moore announced Tuesday.
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 30: Roses are played next to photographs of aircraft crash victims from The Skating Club of Boston displayed on January 30, 2025 in Norwood, Massachusetts. Six of the victims from the aircraft that collided in midair with a military helicopter while approaching Reagan National Airport were identified as members of the club.
‘We’re all devastated’: Maryland’s figure skaters reel from fatal plane crash
The ice skating community in Maryland and nationwide is reeling in the aftermath of a deadly mid-air collision involving a passenger jet carrying 64 people.
City Councilman Mark Conway is pushing for wider use of buprenorphine to help with the city’s overdose crisis.
Mayor, councilman at odds again over Baltimore’s opioid strategy
What Mark Conway says is groundbreaking and lifesaving, the mayor’s office says is irresponsible and simplistic.
PHA Healthcare's founder, Stephen Thomas, at his office in Baltimore, MD, December 13, 2024.
PHA Healthcare owner says treatment services have ended
The owner of PHA Healthcare said he has ended its treatment services, but clients are still living in the addiction treatment provider’s housing.
An apartment complex in West Baltimore that PHA Healthcare uses to house some clients in recovery in Baltimore on October 18, 2024.
PHA Healthcare says it will still house patients after state order to stop addiction treatment
PHA Healthcare has told some patients that they can continue to reside in its housing, according to Banner interviews with current clients.
Residents of the Baltimore region woke up to a fresh blanket of snow Saturday morning, and can expect dry and cold weather for the rest of the day.
About 1.5 to 2 inches of powder fell across Baltimore and surrounding counties overnight, with up to 3 inches accumulating in Baltimore County, near Bentley Springs, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Anna Stuck.
1-3 inches of snow hit Baltimore ahead of 30 mph winds, chilly weather: ‘Refreeze tonight’
Residents of the Baltimore region woke up to a fresh blanket of snow Saturday morning and can expect dry and cold weather for the rest of the day.
An apartment complex in West Baltimore that housed PHA Healthcare patients, photographed on Friday, January 10 2025
PHA Healthcare ordered to ‘cease and desist’ after Banner investigation
PHA Healthcare, a drug addiction treatment provider that enrolls hundreds of Medicaid patients in Maryland each year, has been ordered by the state health department to stop providing services to patients.
The Maryland Department of Health is located in the Herbert R. O'Conor State Office Building at 201 W. Preston Street in Baltimore.
Maryland extends pause on some new addiction, mental health programs to tackle Medicaid fraud
The moratorium, first announced in June, followed explosive growth of new providers, some of whom were described by officials as unscrupulous.
Amanda Vlakos was found dead of an overdose in September while enrolled in PHA Healthcare, a recovery program that offered free housing.
They entered treatment. Drugs, overdoses and deaths followed.
Baltimore addiction programs draw patients with free housing while collecting millions. Some say one program—PHA Healthcare—offered little help.
A parent completes her ballot while her children wait by her side at Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, Md. Voters across Howard, Anne Arundel and Harford counties approved several ballot measures Tuesday.
Howard County voters approve ballot measure to establish inspector general’s office
Howard County voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to create a new inspector general’s office.
Almost 6,000 people have died from overdoses in the last six years in Baltimore, the worst drug crisis ever seen in a major American city.
Baltimore’s lawsuit against opioid companies can proceed to trial, judge rules
Baltimore Circuit Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill said he's confident that the case will eventually reach the Maryland Supreme Court.
Members of the BRIDGES Coalition hold a demonstration in front of City Hall in Baltimore, Wednesday, July 10, 2024.
Baltimore reaches second opioid settlement with CVS on the eve of trial
The settlement brings the city’s total recoveries to $90 million.
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