ǻ

© 2025 ǻ

FCC Public Inspection Files:
· · ·
· · ·
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TAP’s investigation sparks change at ǻ’s health department

Medical Caduceus Symbol as Scales with backlight over Wall in dark room. 3d Rendering
Getty Images
/
/
Medical Caduceus Symbol as Scales with backlight over Wall in dark room. 3d Rendering

Officials at ǻ’s health department say they hope to update doctor disciplinary records across the state by the end of the year. A TAP investigation earlier this year found that out-of-state disciplinary information was missing from some doctor’s profiles on DPH’s site. Now, members of the Medical Examining Board are crediting The Accountability Project’s investigation for sparking the change.

“The investigative report was helpful in that it brought a problem to light that is now being fixed. So that's good,” said board chairperson Kathryn Emmett. “It’s unfortunate it existed, but I'm glad it's in the process of being fixed.”

After being contacted earlier this year by ǻ, DPH acknowledged it had failed to update some physician profiles. It said the task of automatically forwarding all out-of-state discipline reports to the unit that updates those records was “inadvertently lost in the mix of reassigning tasks following a series of staffing changes.”

“That was kind of a damning story, and very well documented in June,” board member Michele Jacklin said, referring to the investigation. “And I think that certainly should be a concern of ours about what's being done now to update the files and make sure that ǻ residents can have faith that when they look up … the records of ǻ physicians, that they are up to date.”

This is a prime example of why ǻ launched The Accountability Project. If we had not started asking the tough questions, who knows when the missing information would have been updated. Our job is to hold the powerful accountable and to spark change and that’s exactly what happened here. While the acknowledgment from board members is nice, it’s really the change that keeps us digging for more stories.

Walter Smith Randolph is ǻ’s Investigative Editor. In 2021, Walter launched The Accountability Project, CT Public’s investigative reporting initiative. Since then, the team’s reporting has led to policy changes across the state. Additionally, The Accountability Project’s work has been honored with a National Edward R. Murrow award from RTDNA, two regional Murrow awards, a national Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists, three regional EMMY nominations and a dozen CT SPJ awards.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — ǻ.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from ǻ, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de ǻ, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — ǻ.