Rachel Cassandra
Health and Wellness ReporterRachel Cassandra is the health and wellness reporter and producer. As a reporter, she covers statewide health and mental health news. A few of her areas of focus include addiction and the opioid epidemic, food and health care insecurity, rural health care, mental health care and stories of how communities thrive. She also occasionally produces shows for LineOne: Your Health Connection. She’s worked in Alaska Public Media’s newsroom since May 2023.
Before working for AKPM, Rachel was a reporter in Petersburg for KFSK. She also interned for Sitka’s radio station, KCAW. She worked for many years as a freelance journalist, reporting for a range of publications including KQED, Mindsite News, The Atlantic, Atmos and VICE. She graduated from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.
When Rachel is not reporting, she might be running, hiking, crafting, illustrating, reading, playing board games or playing with her two cats — Indigo and Persephone.
You can reach Rachel at rcassandra@alaskapublic.org.
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If it becomes law, kids will have the right to a hearing within seven days to determine whether the acute psychiatric placement is necessary. -
The move is part of sweeping CDC funding cuts, impacting COVID-era grants. They were intended to strengthen the state public health system against future public health emergencies. -
Critics worry therapists will encourage children to identify as transgender, despite research to the contrary. -
Experts say Medicaid cuts would drive more Alaskans to emergency care, increase healthcare costs for all, and could harm the state economy. -
The lawsuit claims that DOC failed to respond to Lewis Jordan Jr.’s calls for help until bacterial meningitis led to his coma and death. -
AI is already being used at Providence facilities to help triage patient messages, and it could play a role in managing chronic disease in the future. -
Cases have increased dramatically the last three weeks and flu-like illnesses made up about 5% of emergency room visits last week. -
26% of high schoolers reported vaping in the last thirty days in 2019. By 2023, only about 17% report having vaped recently, according to the Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey. -
Ice rescue instructor Luc Mehl says the community is lucky the calving did not happen over a weekend, and he hopes Alaskans can learn lessons from the event. -
Some trans Alaskans have lost health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care. And the barrage of pointed executive orders is causing stress, anxiety and fear for many.
