Eilís O'Neill
Reporter
About
Eilís is a reporter covering health. She focuses on health inequities, substance use and addiction, infectious diseases, mental health, and reproductive and maternal health.
Eilís came to KUOW in 2016. Before that, she worked as a freelance reporter, first in South America, and then in New York City. Her work has aired on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, APM’s Marketplace, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and other programs.
Eilís' work as part of a team covering Covid-19 outbreaks and vaccine hesitation in Washington won a regional Murrow award, as did a series about children who lost parents to Covid-19. Her series about the opioid crisis on the Olympic Peninsula won several regional Society for Professional Journalists awards as well as a national Public Media Journalists Association award.
Eilís grew up in Seattle and was a high school intern at KUOW, in the program that later became RadioActive. She has a Master's in Science, Health, and Environment Reporting from Columbia University. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English, Spanish
Pronouns: she/her
Stories
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Why the future of Seattle's Lake Washington Boulevard has sparked a heated debate
Many Seattle streets were closed to cars during the pandemic. As people returned to their previous driving habits, the city weighed whether to make those changes permanent. On Lake Washington Boulevard, that question got heated.
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More Washington state kids are exposed to lead than we know
Snohomish County’s public health department is trying to get more health-care providers to test their young patients for lead exposure.
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Will Washington's long-term care program survive the election?
Washington state’s long-term care insurance is the first of its kind in the country. Initiative 2124 will be on the ballot this fall and would give Washington state workers the ability to opt out of the program.
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How new flu, RSV vaccines could help protect more kids this year
Several advancements in vaccines could help families keep viruses at bay this year.
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Worst whooping cough outbreak in a decade has infected thousands
Whooping cough is spreading nationwide at the highest levels since 2014. There have been about 17,500 cases this year — more than four times as many compared to the same time last year — and four confirmed deaths. And experts are concerned that the outbreak could worsen in the fall and winter months.
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Washington offered state Medicaid to undocumented adults. Thousands still don't have coverage
Washington state has extended new health insurance options to undocumented immigrants, but thousands of people who are eligible are still waiting for coverage.
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King County gives away lockboxes to keep guns from being stolen, accidentally fired
King County public health officials hope homes in the area will be a little safer after the county gave away thousands of firearm lockboxes.
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Mayor Harrell wants to triple Seattle's spending on opioid treatment
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has unveiled his public health priorities for the 2025 budget. He proposes tripling the amount of money the city is spending on opioid treatment: from $5.33 million to $14.57 million.
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Seattle's free and subsidized preschool program still has room for 600 kids
Seattle has expanded its program offering free and subsidized preschool to hundreds of families each year, and there are about 600 open seats still available for this school year.
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'I didn’t know it existed.' Why young people are the least vaccinated in Seattle area
Seventy-one percent of King County residents never got the last booster. And young people are the least likely to get the vaccine: Only 18% of people ages 18 to 34 got last year’s shot.
