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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'You’re my queen.' A Latina wife with dementia and the loving husband who cares for her
The U.S. population of Latino seniors is expected to more than double over the next 20 years, and Latinos are one of the groups most at risk of developing dementia. Services aren't keeping pace with the growing need.
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Where to get the updated Covid shot in King County
Updated Covid vaccines are expected to arrive in Washington state within days, now that the CDC has recommended them for everyone six months and older.
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There's meth on that: Study finds drug traces on Seattle transit rides
Researchers with the University of Washington looking at possible secondhand drug exposure on public transit found methamphetamine and fentanyl on surfaces and in the air on Seattle and Portland's buses and trains.
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Understanding 'familicide' after Seattle's murder-suicide in Wallingford
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More Washington kids get the measles vaccine, thanks to a rule change
More school kids in Washington state have been getting vaccinated against measles. That’s because, after measles outbreaks in 2019 — including a major one in the Portland/Vancouver area — legislators tightened who could opt out of the shots.
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Sad in the summer: Why some of us are grumpier these days
Everyone’s heard of winter depression, or SAD. But it turns out: Some people feel better in the winter and worse in the summer. It’s called summer SAD, or summer depression.
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Want to get outside? Go now, before the smoke returns to the Seattle area
Winds from the Pacific are currently clearing the smoke out of the Puget Sound region, and the air quality here is expected to be pretty good through Thursday midday. But the area could be in for more bad air quality by next weekend, when the winds might bring wildfire smoke from Canada down into the Seattle area.
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Seattle heat wave got you down? You’re not alone
Heat waves, like the one gripping the Seattle area this week, can take a toll on mental health.
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If you never got a Covid booster, get one now: experts say
Covid cases and hospitalizations are ticking up slightly in Washington state and King County, so people are wondering if they should run out and get another Covid shot.
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A wheelchair ramp, respite care: What WA's long-term care tax could realistically get you
When older people in the U.S. need long-term care in a nursing home or from a home health aide, most have to pay out of pocket or turn to family. In July, Washington became the first state to try to address the problem with a public long-term care benefit funded through a payroll tax.