Shelley Facente

It's all about the (lack of) trust. What in the Health?! 11/23/25

What in the Health?! 11/23/25

It's not good, y'all. CDC is in serious trouble.

Read more below (and subscribe for free, so future messages go straight to your inbox!):
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

The fight over health premiums, explained. What in the Health?! November 6, 2025

What in the Health?! 11/6/25

Annoyed by the government shutdown, and wishing you knew what the fight was all about? I did 2 hours of research so you don’t have to:

open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Don't let your neighbors go hungry. What in the Health?! October 29, 2025

What in the Health?! 10/29/25

This administration is using the millions of people struggling to put food on their tables as a political wedge.

Read more here, including concrete steps YOU can take so we can help take care of each other, even when the gov't won't. open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

What they’re doing to federal workers is unnecessarily cruel. What in the Health?! October 12, 2025

What in the Health?! 10/12/25

The way being RIFd is experienced is, “You may think you’ve been doing something important with your life, but it doesn’t matter, and the people you’ve been caring about don’t matter, and YOU don’t matter, so go away.”

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Catching up, Part 2: ACIP and Vaccines What in the Health?! October 9, 2025

What in the Health?! 10/9/25

So what happens when you have a bunch of people who don’t seem very qualified, and aren’t very familiar with either the content or the process of the Big Important Meeting they’ve been selected to participate in?

Read more:
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Catching up, Part 1: The Senate Hearings What in the Health?! September 29, 2025

What in the Health?! 9/29/25

I don’t know how many of you watched the hearing where RFK Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on 9/4. There were multiple moments of 😵‍💫 and😲and 😳.

Read more:
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Three public health workers standing around a table smiling, while they work together to make 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for people in Atlanta without secure access to nutritious food.

What in the Health?! 9/16/25

Most of what I share through this Substack is pretty distressing...but this time I found myself making sandwiches in Atlanta with some colleagues from CDC, and it changed my outlook on the week. I hope it inspires you, too. ❤️

open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

6 items to catch you up on where we are, and what you can do about it. What in the Health?! September 1, 2025

What in the Health?! 9/1/15

WOW so much has been happening. Here are six points to help you stay on top of some of most important and useful things I found in the past week or two--plus some actions you can take today to help improve our health, including yours! open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

What in the Health?! CDC Chaos Edition. What in the Health?! August 28, 2025

What in the Health?! 8/28/25

Even if you don’t follow public health news, you probably saw that CDC is in chaos right now—unless you live under a rock these days, which let’s be real, would be understandable.

Let’s review yesterday’s bonkers timeline, shall we?
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Something important you can do NOW to support HHS workers, plus a warning about vaccine access. What in the Health?! August 26, 2025

What in the Health?! 8/26/25

Something important you can do NOW to support HHS workers (it will only take 2 minutes!), plus a warning about COVID-19 vaccine access.

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

This is a heartbreaking time in public health. What in the Health?! August 13, 2025

What in the Health?! 8/13/25

"Shortly before 5pm Friday, Patrick Joseph White went to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta and fired nearly 500 rounds at the buildings there. And yet, many people don’t even know this happened. The silence was—and has been—deafening."

open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Let’s be clear: RFK Jr. is halting scientific progress in the U.S. What in the Health?! 8/6/25

What in the Health?! 8/6/25

“Vaccine skeptics” want more research...to make sure that we’re only getting vaccines that are super safe and effective—with the benefits far outweighing any risks. A move like this takes away our ability to reach that goal."

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

The disarray of NIH, plus big updates on FDA and CDC. What in the Health?! August 4, 2025

What in the Health?! 8/4/25

Big things are happening at NIH, CDC, and the FDA. Monarez is finally in at CDC, and Prasad is already out at FDA. Some good, some bad, and a lot could be good or bad—only time will tell.

Read more and subscribe here: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Then they came for the unhoused people. What in the Health?! July 25, 2025

What in the Health?! 7/25/25

Yesterday another Executive Order dropped that was extremely distressing. It's called "Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets." Who doesn’t want that? Sounds great. Except it's not....

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Exposing health information, destroying food, and altering data: Good times. What in the Health?! July 19, 2025

This week, CMS signed an agreement to hand ICE data of 79M on Medicaid, including names, home addresses, and ethnicities.

Plus Trump is burning food, contraceptives, and vaccines rather than sending them abroad.

Does this concern you? It should...

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

How many people will die without USAID? And what about Gavi? What in the Health?! July 16, 2025

What in the Health?! 7/16/25

As of July 1, all that’s left of USAID is 15 administrators legally required to have a job. Before Trump took office the 2nd time, there were about 10K employees. Now there are 15.

What can you do about it? (It must be before Friday!)
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Part 2: Vaccine Chaos Reigns. What in the Health? July 14, 2025

What in the Health?! 7/14/2025

"Lynn Redwood—former leader of RFK Jr’s anti-vax advocacy group—presented on thimerosal in flu vaccines. The presentation had not been fact-checked by CDC. It had a ton of cherry-picked data and multiple fake citations. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter."

Read more:

Part 1: The Big Ugly Bill What in the Health?! July 12, 2025

What in the Health?! 7/12/25

Did you know that adults with Medicaid spend 27% less, on average, than adults with private insurance? Plus it's completely false that Medicaid beneficiaries frequently defraud the system.

Read more (and subscribe for free!): open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

New ACIP members, LGBTQ+ suicide prevention, and a huge legal victory restoring NIH grant funding. What in the Health?! 6/22/25

It's been a week. New ACIP members, LGBTQ+ suicide prevention, and a huge legal victory restoring NIH grant funding. Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

What in the Health?! 6/9/25

Today RFK Jr. abruptly fired all 17 members of ACIP. But something much more remarkable also happened today: More than 300 NIH employees signed an open letter to Director Jay Bhattacharya, dissenting from his leadership.

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

It's time to talk COVID vaccines. What in the Health!? 6/2/25

What in the Health?! 6/2/25

Are you confused about whether you'll be able to get a COVID vaccine this fall, if you want one? If so, you’re not alone. It’s confusing because this government and the communication from various leaders is a MESS.

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Medicaid cuts hurt all of us. What in the Health?! 5/28/25

What in the Health?! 5/28/25

"The main goal of this budget reconciliation bill is to make permanent some massive tax cuts...In this case, the tax cuts benefit the rich the most, and make up for it by taking from the poor."

Cuts to Medicaid hurt us all. Read more:
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Five things that will make you mad--and a list of things you can do about it. What in the Health?! 5/14/25

What in the Health?! 5/14/25

We are overdue for another update on the state of US public health. What comes below almost reads like The Onion, except The Onion is usually funny and this is not—this is real people’s lives and health at stake.

Read more on Substack:
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

The first 100 days...and beyond. What in the Health?! April 30, 2025

What in the Health?! 4/30/25

"On April 10, Wisconsin asked for help to address newly discovered lead poisoning in Milwaukee. The response from CDC? “I sincerely regret to inform you…we will be unable to support you with this.”

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

The war against research, equity, and data. What in the Health?! 4/25/25

I’ve been spending my days learning about systematic ways our society mistreats people with drug addictions, and spending my nights gathering information about the latest executive orders of this administration. The parallels have been unavoidable.

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

Updates from cruise ship inspections to Harvard. What in the Health?! April 14, 2025

"CDC’s team of cruise ship inspectors is funded through fees paid by cruise companies. It’s not about saving money, it’s about protecting big business through reducing oversight and regulation that can hurt their bottom line."

Read more here:
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOL’S JOKE. Spread the word of today’s dangerous actions! What in the Health?! 4/1/25

Today was absolutely disastrous for the health and welfare of Americans. 🚨Spread the word.📢 Don’t let this destruction fade into the background—our lives depend on it, literally. 🚨

Read more to see exactly what this means (spoiler alert: it's very bad news):
open.substack.com/pub/shelleyf...

But beyond jobs, historical knowledge, and projects stopped in their tracks, this will impact Americans' health. Viruses don't pause when government stops working. Bacteria doesn't pause. Worker safety doesn't pause. Chronic diseases don't pause.

Today, thousands of health workers at the CDC and FDA lost their jobs, effective immediately. People are literally finding out if they were fired at security when they try to badge in. It's cruel and unnecessary, which is the point.

The entire National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) team at SAMHSA was terminated today.

Do not listen to the platitudes of this administration when they say they care about drug overdose, addiction, mental health, or suicide.