Author

Sarah Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist from West Kentucky who's covered everything from crime to higher education. She spent nearly two years on the metro breaking news desk at The Courier Journal. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since. As the Kentucky Lantern's health reporter, she focuses on mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, children's welfare, COVID-19 and more.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Rotunda rally supports constitutional amendment legalizing cannabis

By: - January 3, 2023

Saying that legalization without decriminalization is “simply not an option,” state Rep. Nima Kulkarni on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment to ask Kentucky voters to weigh in on the cannabis debate. In addition to the amendent, which would legalize personal possession and use of marijuana in Kentucky, the Louisville Democrat also introduced legislation to codify […]

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Fall 2022 Vaccines Poll

New poll shows many Kentuckians believe COVID-19 is over

By: - December 13, 2022

Most Kentuckians will celebrate the holiday season regardless of COVID-19 levels, according to a new poll funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.? Many also believe the pandemic is now over.?These insights come from researchers with the University of Cincinnati’s Institute for Policy Research, who interviewed 855 Kentucky adults by telephone for the Vaccines […]

Props for therapy of patients with OCD.

OCD in Kentucky is a serious condition but remains misunderstood

By: - December 13, 2022

This story discusses suicide and self harm. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.? The signs that Alexa Quinter had obsessive compulsive disorder even as a child were there, but she wasn’t diagnosed until well into her 20s.? After witnessing an attempted […]

abortion

Awaiting Kentucky Supreme Court’s abortion ruling with ‘anxiousness’ and uncertainty

By: - December 7, 2022

A Kentuckian seeking an abortion now must travel to another state for it, with Illinois being the nearest where the procedure is accessible with few or no restrictions.? Virginia has some access as well, though less than Illinois.? This is true despite the defeat of the anti-abortion Amendment 2, which would have specified there’s no […]

Flu picking up in Kentucky after mild seasons during COVID-19

By: - December 7, 2022

More cases of flu are popping up in Kentucky after masking during the pandemic kept the last few seasons relatively mild.? The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department posted on social media Wednesday that “flu is hitting hard in Lexington” with more cases in the first two months of the season than in the last three years.? […]

Laura Browning, a Kentucky doula and midwife student.

Too many pregnant Kentuckians and their babies lack access to care. Midwives say they could help.

By: - December 6, 2022

During three of her four pregnancies, Laura Browning drove three hours round-trip past hospitals to get prenatal care from midwives in Lexington, the only place that offered what she needed.? She even made the trip while in labor with her first baby, feeling that “the care that I was receiving” from the midwives “was worth […]

Commentary

Introducing Kentucky Lantern’s health reporter

By: - December 6, 2022

Every time I write a Kentucky health story, I’m reminded of when I was 13 and my “GrandG” taught me to crochet. It took weeks for my fingers to find their way and steadily stitch together yarn that took the shapes of scarves, blankets, potholders.? Often, because I was new at it, my needle slipped […]

Eltuan Dawson, who is a member of the True Up Peer Network; Shontelle Davis (researcher for the report); Cynthia Schepers, peer coach coordinator with Kentucky Youth Advocates and True Up Kentucky; and Tamara Vest (participant of the report and a social work intern with KYA).

Residential foster care in Kentucky is physically, mentally unsafe, say some who have been there

By: - December 2, 2022

One young adult remembers taking a daily allergy pill upon entering a Kentucky residential foster care facility and leaving “on 13 medications within six months.” Another lost the privilege of calling their mother after a riot at their location.? These were among the experiences 46 young adults shared with Kentucky Youth Advocates’ researchers, who examined […]

What can Kentucky do to prepare for the next pandemic or epidemic? Experts weigh in.

By: - December 1, 2022

Even as Kentucky reels and recovers from COVID-19 in what some have touted as the “new normal,” experts say there are systemic steps we could take now to prepare for the next big health crisis.? Chief of all, experts told the Kentucky Lantern, is building trust between the general public and health officials, the shortage […]

Brian Bowen is a crisis counselor in West Kentucky with Project Recovery

As anniversary of deadly tornadoes nears, mental health experts are on alert

By: - November 30, 2022

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.? Army veteran and crisis counselor Brian Bowen fought in an Iraq war zone.? But even the devastation he saw in combat didn’t compare to the leveling of Mayfield after an EF4 […]

State should not withdraw safety net as disasters compound childhood trauma, advocates say

By: - November 30, 2022

In 2020, more than 1,000 Kentucky children were physically abused, more than 15,000 were neglected and almost 800 were sexually abused.? Experts say these numbers, which come from a new Kentucky Youth Advocates report on adverse childhood experiences, are only what’s reported. They’re likely worse.? Adverse childhood experiences, more commonly known as ACEs, refer to […]