Elena Rivera
Health ReporterElena Rivera is the health reporter at KERA.
Before joining KERA, Elena covered health in Southern Colorado for KRCC and Colorado Public Radio. Her stories covered pandemic mental health support, rural community health access issues and vaccine equity across the region. She also worked as a daily show producer with Georgia Public Broadcasting and a reporter and host with Blue Ridge Public Radio. She has won awards for arts and culture reporting, podcasting and team coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Colorado from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Elena got her start as a reporter and producer at KBIA, Mid-Missouri’s NPR station. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.
Outside of her public radio work, she serves as a mentor to emerging audio producers and reporters as the captain of the New Voices program with the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR).
-
COVID-19 cases have been steadily increasing since Thanksgiving, with more than 18,000 new cases this past week. On top of that, doctors are dealing with an influx of RSV and flu patients.
-
The Texas Department of State Health Services and Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee's report is finally out after months of delays.
-
One year after the COVID-19 omicron variant began its spread across Texas, doctors are concerned about the effects of 'long COVID' — even as case numbers and hospitalizations have declined.
-
Children’s hospitals around the country are grappling with an early peak of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
-
A new study from UT Austin shows the number of abortions performed in Texas dropped dramatically in the months following Senate Bill 8.
-
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, it’s put a spotlight on pregnancy prevention efforts, like sex education.
-
Nationally, Black people giving birth are three times more likely to die than their white counterparts, and twice as likely in Texas. That concerns reproductive justice advocates, who fear these outcomes will worsen now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, and people can’t access abortion services.
-
Texas leaders have targeted trans youth, their families and gender-affirming care practices for months. It’s exacerbated feelings of anxiety and fear in trans youth, who already experience higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide than their cis peers. Mental health practitioners can help navigate these feelings, but finding and accessing an affirming therapist in Texas can be a challenge.
-
The last time Texas updated its sex education curriculum, was in the '90s. Students will now learn about contraception and STIs — but not gender or consent. And the classes are all optional.
-
For many Texans, the memories of last year's devastating February storm are still vivid. A North Texas therapist provides tips on how to emotionally manage the next few snowy days.