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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'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.
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In Seattle area, 988 mental health hotline supports tens of thousands in crisis
When people call 988, they get immediate help — but from a trained crisis counselor instead of law enforcement or paramedics. So far, close to 100,000 people have called or texted 988 from Puget Sound-based area codes.
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Need anti-withdrawal meds? In King County, call this 24/7 hotline
People addicted to opioids in King County can call a new hotline and get a prescription right away for a drug that can help.
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King County offers free clinics to help kids catch up on their shots
Kids got behind on their vaccines during and after the pandemic. To try to turn things around, free clinics in many South King County locations will offer vaccines.
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Kaiser midwives no longer deliver babies in Seattle, even as demand increases
Kaiser Capitol Hill is a midwifery practice that will stop delivering babies in early 2025, shutting down an option for hundreds of moms who worked with this group every year. In recent years, families expecting babies have increasingly sought midwifery care; women often choose midwives when they want more time with their provider or are hoping to avoid medical interventions, like epidurals or C-sections.
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King County is getting its first walk-in mental health crisis center
A new walk-in crisis care center in Kirkland for people experiencing mental health emergencies will start accepting patients in early August.
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3 babies hospitalized in King County amid whooping cough outbreak
Whooping cough is on the rise in King County, in large part because kids got behind on their vaccines during the pandemic. So health officials are urging everyone — especially kids and pregnant people — to catch up on their shots.
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Get ready, Seattle. Summer '24 is about to bring the heat
Western Washington is bracing for potentially record-breaking heat this weekend. While that might sou
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Seattle plans to send more mental health specialists to 911 calls
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More people die on south Seattle streets, where wide streets encourage fast driving
