Eilis O'Neill
Reporter
About
Eilís (eye-LEASH) O'Neill fell in love with radio when she was a 14-year-old high school intern at KUOW, in the program that later became RadioActive. Since then, she's worked as a radio reporter in South America and New York City and was thrilled to return to her hometown radio station in 2017. Her work has appeared on The World, Marketplace, and NPR.
Eilís has a degree in English and Spanish from Oberlin College and a master’s degree in science, environment and health journalism from Columbia University.
Stories
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Investigation continues into Virginia Mason bacterial outbreak, link to patient deaths unclear
A bacterial outbreak at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle has sickened 31 patients since October. Seven of them have since died, but it’s unknown what caused those deaths — the infection or the diagnoses that brought them to the hospital in the first place.
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4 Virginia Mason patients dead amid bacterial outbreak. It's not clear that's what killed them
Over the past six months, 27 patients hospitalized at Virginia Mason Medical Center in downtown Seattle were infected with a bacteria that can cause pneumonia, meningitis, and wound or bloodstream infections. Four of those patients have since died.
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Washington state lawmakers pass protections for gender-affirming care
Washington state lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday that protects teen runaways seeking gender-affirming or reproductive health care. The bill is now headed to Gov. Jay Inslee's desk for a signature to make it official.
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King County has no walk-in mental health crisis centers. This levy aims to change that
Ballots are in the mail for a county levy that aims to change these circumstances by funding five behavioral health crisis centers, including one for children.
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Native, Black doulas say culturally specific birth care could help reduce high maternal death rates
In Washington state and nationwide, Black and Native American mothers and their babies are more likely to die during or after pregnancy than white moms and their babies. And the rates are getting worse. Now, some birth workers in the Seattle area are trying to turn things around with help from some new government funding.
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After a concussion, kids’ brains need a break: from sports, bright lights, and too much homework
Washington was the first state with a law regulating when and how students can return to sports after having a concussion. Brain-injury experts say, now, lawmakers should add guidelines for when students with a concussion can return to school full-time.
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Long Covid, long wait times: patients turned away from specialty clinics turn to primary care docs
Clinics specializing in long Covid treatment have long wait times — often six months or more. Now, long Covid experts are trying to increase access to care by training the primary care providers who work in those communities how to recognize and treat the condition.
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Most pregnancy-related deaths in WA are preventable, report finds
About 100 women died in Washington state as a result of their pregnancies between 2014 and 2020, according to a new report by the state health department. The vast majority — 80% — of those deaths were preventable, the report said.
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Post-Roe, WA is a health care ‘sanctuary’ — for both patients and providers
Since abortion became illegal or severely restricted in many states, some health care providers are moving to states like Washington, where they can legally terminate pregnancies. Others are staying put and trying to help their patients get to Washington when they need or want an abortion.
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Lead or formaldehyde in your makeup? WA lawmakers want to eliminate them
Some lipsticks and foundations sold in Washington state contain lead, and some body lotions and hair products contain formaldehyde, according to the state ecology department. Lawmakers in Washington state want to change that.