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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When homeless people seek treatment or shelter, where do their pets go?
When people experiencing homelessness need to go into residential treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, finding a place for their pet to stay can be a big barrier.
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19K Seattle-area patients could face steep bills or be forced to find a new doctor
A dispute between the owner of the Polyclinic and a major insurance company could affect nearly 19,000 patients in Western Washington. It could leave them with a choice between higher medical bills or finding a new provider.
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How do you get a homeless young person into a clinic? Treat their pet
The New Horizons youth homeless shelter in Belltown has found an innovative way to bring more people in for health care – by offering care not just to them, but to their pets as well. This approach can help young people open up about their health needs and get treatment, a crucial first step towards finding a stable job and stable housing.
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New regulations to push WA homes away from fossil fuels in 2023
In an effort to meet the state’s climate goals, new regulations will push home construction in Washington toward all-electric heating and away from natural gas. Proponents of the change, which takes effect in July 2023, say it will also have public health benefits.
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What do students need to help them process the Ingraham High shooting?
In 2014, Susana Barbosa was a freshman at Marysville-Pilchuck High School when a student fatally shot four classmates and himself in the school cafeteria. “I was sitting about fifteen feet away, so I saw everything that happened,” Barbosa said.
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Abortion billboards going up around Washington state
Billboards that support people seeking an abortion will start appearing on both sides of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state.
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Washington's emergency order has ended, but you still have to wear masks in these places
Washington's statewide state of emergency order for the pandemic is over as of this morning, but some pandemic-era rules and precautions will remain.
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Activists call mayor's plan to return parking enforcement to police a 'huge betrayal'
When racial justice protestors called for cuts to the Seattle Police Department in the summer of 2020, the City Council responded by moving parking enforcement officers to the transportation department. The shift began in 2021 and did not go smoothly.
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Schoolyards aren’t just for recess — they can be for the whole community
A nonprofit, the Trust for Public Land, is stepping in to revitalize Jennie Reed’s schoolyard, along with four others in low-income South Tacoma neighborhoods with little or no park access. The goal isn’t just to give kids a better place to play at recess; it’s to transform the schoolyards into high-quality community parks.
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It's so hard to find Covid boosters in WA, experts worry people will give up
As the season for respiratory illnesses approaches, public health officials in Washington state are encouraging people to get updated Covid booster shots as soon as possible. But many locations are booked weeks out and residents say they’re struggling to find appointments.