Paige Pfleger

Reporter

Paige Pfleger is a reporter for WOSU. She's especially interested in the intersection of public health and criminal justice. Before joining the staff of WOSU, she worked in the newsrooms of NPR, Vox, Michigan Radio, WHYY and The Tennessean.

She spent three years in Philadelphia covering health, science, and gender, and her work has appeared nationally in The Washington Post, Marketplace, Atlas Obscura and more. As a freelancer, Paige traveled to Puerto Rico to cover how the island’s agricultural community dealt with damage from Hurricane Maria.

Ways to Connect

Nationwide Children's Seeks City Tax Breaks On For-Profit Gene Therapy Facility

By • Feb 3, 2020
Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus lights up for Pride Month.
Nationwide Children's Hospital

Nationwide Children’s Hospital is asking for tax abatements on a new for-profit gene therapy center. If granted, it would exempt the company from paying money to Columbus City Schools for 15 years. 

Ohio Police Departments Consider New Restraint Device

By • Jan 31, 2020
The BolaWrap is a handheld device that deploys an eight-foot rope to entangle a suspect.
BolaWrap

Some Ohio law enforcement agencies are considering adopting a new technology to restrain suspects. 

Ohio EPA Terminates Permit For Proposed Mine In Perry State Forest

By • Jan 31, 2020
Perry State Forest in southeast Ohio could be the site of a proposed strip mine, unless residents succeed in opposing the proposal.
Paige Pfleger / WOSU

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced it will cancel a wastewater discharge permit for a proposed coal mine in the Perry State Forest. 

Columbus Police Identify Officer Who Fatally Shot Robbery Suspect

By • Jan 27, 2020
Columbus Police Car
Adora Namigadde / WOSU

Columbus Police have released the names of a robbery suspect and the officer who fatally shot him over the weekend.

Some Push To Change State Laws That Require HIV Disclosure To Sexual Partners

By • Jan 22, 2020

In more than 30 states, it is illegal for someone with HIV to have sex without first disclosing their status. Some are now pushing to change that, arguing that the laws are actually endangering public health.

More than 1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, and their HIV status could conceivably put them behind bars. That's what happened to Michael Holder.

"I served 8 1/2 years in prison and three years after on parole," Holder says.

Columbus Launches Career Development Program For Recently Incarcerated People

By • Jan 16, 2020
Paige Pfleger / WOSU

Columbus city leaders celebrated the inaugural class of a new career development program to help recently incarcerated individuals find jobs.

Columbus Expanding Addiction Efforts To All Substances, Not Just Opioids

By • Jan 14, 2020
Columbus Public Health on Parsons Avenue.
Paige Pfleger / WOSU

Two people die each day from overdoses in Franklin County. Columbus Public Health on Tuesday released an updated strategic plan to tackle the addiction problem.

Columbus Releases 'Envision Hilltop' Plan To Transform Neighborhood

By • Jan 14, 2020
A city worker walks past vacant houses in the Hilltop neighborhood.
Paige Pfleger / WOSU

Columbus has released a comprehensive plan for the Hilltop neighborhood. The nearly 200-page document lays out the history of the area, recent data on everything from employment to schools and housing to crime, and a 27-point plan for its future. 

Franklin County Overdoses Went Up In 2019, Preliminary Data Show

By • Jan 13, 2020
OxyContin pills are arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vermont.
Toby Talbot / AP

Preliminary data from Franklin County Public Health show 380 Franklin County residents died of an overdose between January and September 2019. That is a 9% increase from the same period in 2018. 

Ohio State Suspends Three Fraternities For Hazing, Alcohol Violations

By • Jan 10, 2020
The Ohio State University

Three Ohio State University fraternities were suspended for violating rules on hazing and alcohol, the school said Friday.

HUD Awards Columbus $300,000 In Public Housing Grants

By • Jan 8, 2020
HUD administrator Joseph Galvan announces several grants for Central Ohio.
Paige Pfleger / WOSU

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday awarded several grants totaling nearly $300,000 to help connect people to housing in Columbus. 

Former Mount Carmel Nurses Fight Back: 'Our Goal Was To Stop The Pain'

By • Jan 6, 2020
A banner at the Mount Carmel West campus in Columbus on Jan. 30, 2019.
Gabe Rosenberg / WOSU

Former Mount Carmel employees and fired doctor William Husel have filed lawsuits against the hospital system over the last few weeks. In an exclusive interview with WOSU, three nurses defend their actions – and Husel’s – in providing what the hospital called "excessive and potentially fatal" doses of pain medications to patients. 

Columbus City Schools Considers Action Against Custodian Accused Of Sexual Abuse

By • Jan 3, 2020
Columbus City Schools District Office.
Nick Evans / WOSU

Columbus City Schools on Monday will consider the employment of a custodian accused of sexually abusing a child.

Breast Cancer Is Killing Amish Woman. This Bus Brings Help.

By • Jan 2, 2020

The Midwest is home to one of the largest Amish populations in the nation. And many of these settlements overlap with rural Appalachian counties, where access to healthcare is hard to come by. But a project in Ohio aims to help by bringing cancer screenings to Amish women. 

William Husel Sues Mount Carmel For Defamation, Breach Of Contract

By & • Dec 27, 2019
The campus of Mount Carmel West in Columbus on Jan. 30, 2019.
Gabe Rosenberg / WOSU

Fired doctor William Husel filed a lawsuit this week against Mount Carmel Health System, claiming that he has "suffered perhaps the most egregious case of defamation in Ohio's recent history."

Pages