Courtenay Harris Bond
Courtenay Harris Bond is the staff writer covering health for PhillyVoice. She enjoys writing about behavioral health, maternal health and inequities in the healthcare system, as well as human rights and criminal justice. A veteran daily newspaper reporter, Courtenay has also written for national outlets, including KFF Health News, Undark Magazine and Filter. She was a 2018 Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism and has master's degrees from Columbia Journalism School and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.
September 9, 2026
Health News
The wait times at Pa. hospitals' emergency departments are among the longest in the country
Pennsylvania hospitals have the ninth-longest emergency room wait times in the United States, according to an analysis of new federal data. Patients wait an average of 3 hours and 30 minutes from the time they enter the emergency department to the time they are discharged.September 8, 2026
Health News
Penn Medicine nurse recognized for helping people in addiction recovery navigate medical challenges
Madison Schmus, a Penn Medicine nurse who specializes in addition treatment, is one of three nurses that Independence Blue Cross has recognized this year with its annual Sunshine Award.September 7, 2026
Mental Health
Can weighted blankets help ease anxiety and stress?
Weighted blankets may help ease anxiety in hospitalized patients, a new study suggests. Wider research on the efficacy of weighted blankets for anxiety and insomnia is limited. But there is no real danger in trying them, experts say.September 3, 2026
Fitness
These Philly walking groups help people boost their fitness and mental health, and they welcome others to join
Walking groups gather several times each week at 25 Philadelphia parks as part of a free program dubbed WE WALK PHL. Walkers credit the program with helping them improve their fitness and mental health, and also with providing community.September 3, 2026
Adult Health
Brain fog can cause cognitive issues but, unlike dementia, it doesn't get progressively worse
Brain fog can cause cognitive impairment, but it doesn't get progressively worse like dementia. But it can be difficult to distinguish between the two, especially for older women, who are at much higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than men.September 3, 2026
Illness
GLP-1 meds cause more hair loss than other drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes, Penn study finds
GLP-1 medications cause more hair loss than other types of type 2 diabetes drugs, according to a University of Pennsylvania study based on the data of more than 50,000 people.September 2, 2026
Prevention
Who should get flu, COVID or RSV shots this fall? Here's what medical groups recommend
Vaccines for influenza, COVID-19 and RSV can help prevent hospitalizations and deaths from severe respiratory illnesses. A group of medical organizations has released recommendations on who should get vaccinated this fall.August 27, 2026
Prevention
With measles cases in Pennsylvania rising, Philly pushes to increase school vaccination rates
With Pennsylvania facing a measles outbreak, Philadelphia health leaders are trying to boost school vaccination rates by holding free clinics at schools with particularly low rates. Last year, only about 40% of kindergarten classes in Philly had measles vaccine rates needed for herd immunity.August 26, 2026
Illness
Breakthrough pancreatic cancer drug approved by the FDA
Rasonque, a pancreatic cancer drug approved by the FDA on Wednesday, doubled the life expectancy of patients with advanced forms of the disease during clinical trials.August 26, 2026
Health News
Rheumatoid arthritis drug also may help people with hair loss caused by severe alopecia
Alopecia areata can cause severe hair loss on the head and elsewhere on the body. Upadacitinib, a rheumatoid arthritis drug branded as Rinvoq, generated 80% scalp coverage in 55% of the people receiving the medication in a clinical trial.Just In
- Artist selling 'Bird Gang' T-shirts to raise money to repaint 35-foot pigeon mural
- The mental health of high school students continues to improve from the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Ferris wheel at Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City to be torn down
- Report: Eagles signing former Pro Bowl cornerback
- Three Philly-area universities are among top 100 in U.S. News & World Report's 2027 rankings
- Fantasy football best waiver wire pickups for Week 3
- Manayunk will go from drag story time to ‘Rocky Horror’ during an all-day LGBTQ+ celebration
- A waterfront pumpkin patch with 10,000 pumpkins, a smashing zone and scarecrow archery is returning to Philly
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