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Alissa Zhu

@alissazhu.bsky.social
442 followers 101 following 18 posts

Reporter at The Baltimore Banner. tips: alissa.zhu(at)thebaltimorebanner.com. past: NYT Local Investigations Fellowship, Clarion Ledger, Springfield News-Leader

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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
The story of PHA Healthcare didn't end when Maryland closed the program. Though patients got new providers, many continued living in the same buildings, operated by the same people. Treatment was still over Zoom, lead by the very same overseas counselors. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/pu...
thebaltimorebanner.com
Maryland closed PHA Healthcare. For some patients, little has changed.
Patients of PHA Healthcare, a treatment program in Baltimore, were housed in drug-ridden buildings where many overdosed, an investigation reported last year. Some are still there.
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Dylan Segelbaum @dylansegelbaum.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Maryland ended treatment at a troubled provider. For some, little has changed, @alissazhu.bsky.social reports. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)
thebaltimorebanner.com
Maryland closed PHA Healthcare. For some patients, little has changed.
Patients of PHA Healthcare, a treatment program in Baltimore, were housed in drug-ridden buildings where many overdosed, an investigation reported last year. Some are still there.
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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
WE WON A PULITZER! A big first for @thebaltimorebanner.com & @nytimes.com Local Investigations Fellowship. Thank you to so many, especially those who trusted us with their stories, however painful or risky it may have been for them to share, because they knew it could make a difference.
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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
“Just because he got high doesn’t mean his life doesn’t matter,” said the sister of Rodney Myers, one of 13 people whose deaths were connected to PHA Healthcare, a drug treatment program. “He was somebody, he was special to me. He was my hero.” www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/pu...
thebaltimorebanner.com
They died in PHA Healthcare drug treatment. Their families still want answers.
One mother of a former federal contractor who died while in PHA Healthcare’s housing said authorities should close the program permanently and punish its operators.
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Dylan Segelbaum @dylansegelbaum.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
By @alissazhu.bsky.social: Their loved ones died while in drug treatment at PHA Healthcare. They still want answers. (📸: @jessicagallagher.bsky.social) (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)
thebaltimorebanner.com
They died in PHA Healthcare drug treatment. Their families still want answers.
One mother of a former federal contractor who died while in PHA Healthcare’s housing said authorities should close the program permanently and punish its operators.
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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Scam Medicaid once, shame on you. Scam Medicaid twice...? This is the first case to come out of the state's crackdown on fraud among addiction and mental health providers. More than 100 more have been referred to investigators, health officials say www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/pu...
thebaltimorebanner.com
State crackdown on Medicaid fraud kicks off with first guilty plea
A Maryland woman pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid of millions for mental health services she never provided.
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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
A Baltimore lawmaker read our story about PHA Healthcare and is now calling for better oversight of addiction treatment to prevent patient relapse and death www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...
thebaltimorebanner.com
Banner investigation prompts new addiction treatment oversight bill
A Baltimore Democrat is pushing a new bill to improve state oversight of drug addiction treatment centers.
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Ben Conarck @conarck.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
New: Discoveries of handmade weapons in Maryland prisons/Baltimore jails rose by 375% — an "extremely unusual" spike, report finds. Prisoners are using the state's aging facilities to source raw materials (e.g. broken windows), corrections secretary says. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...
thebaltimorebanner.com
Maryland prisons are awash in handmade weapons. Contraband recoveries more than tripled
The state corrections department recorded a discovery rate for weapons in its facilities at about 13 per 100 average daily population.
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Kimi Yoshino @kyoshino.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Very proud of our team for winning a Polk Award today for Local Reporting on the city's overdose crisis. This is a big moment for @thebaltimorebanner.com — which has not even been publishing for 3 years — and signals that we have the talent and ambition to execute journalism at the highest level.
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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
It is an extraordinary honor to receive a George Polk Award in Local Reporting for our coverage of Baltimore's overdose crisis, published by @thebaltimorebanner.com and @nytimes.com Local Investigations Fellowship. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/lo...
thebaltimorebanner.com
The Banner wins Polk Award for coverage of Baltimore’s overdose crisis
Baltimore Banner reporters Alissa Zhu, Jessica Gallagher and Nick Thieme have won the organization’s first George Polk Award for their local investigative work.
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Ariel Zambelich @azambelich.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
So proud of @alissazhu.bsky.social & @jessicagallagher.bsky.social for the incredible reporting they put into this story. The 3rd investigative piece after a year+ of work, they dug deep into an addiction recovery program here in Baltimore: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/pu...
thebaltimorebanner.com
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.
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Greg Morton @invisibae.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
People enter drug treatment at their most vulnerable, seeking help. In Baltimore, the Country's overdose capitol, a provider took that responsibility and created an environment where patients routinely relapsed and died. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/pu...
thebaltimorebanner.com
They entered treatment. Drugs, overdoses and deaths followed.
Baltimore addiction programs draw patients with free housing while collecting millions. Some say one company offered little help.
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Alissa Zhu @alissazhu.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
In the past year of reporting on overdoses in Baltimore, a treatment program kept coming up. We looked into it: At least 13 deaths deaths since 2022. This year a mom died, then her baby starved. It operated in the shadows & got paid millions by the state. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/pu...
thebaltimorebanner.com
They entered treatment. Drugs, overdoses and deaths followed.
Baltimore addiction programs draw patients with free housing while collecting millions. Some say one company offered little help.
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