Sam OgozalekHealth Reporter
I’m here to help you navigate the confounding, complex U.S. health care system — especially as it relates to mental and behavioral health — and to hold institutions accountable for your quality of care. Do you have a story to tell? Let’s talk. I’m from a rural town in upstate New York and attended Syracuse University, where I edited The Daily Orange, the school’s independent student newspaper. When I’m not working, I love to hike, especially in the Big Cypress. If you have trail recommendations, reach out any time.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/e8752064-23ee-44b9-b960-ed4e774104c3.png "Sam Ogozalek - Health Reporter")
![Nurse Jordan Dierksheide and Medical Assistant Cassandra Ross help administer a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to JoseMaria Mejia, 7, of Ruskin, during a vaccination event hosted by Enterprising Latinas at Wimauma Opportunity Center in Wimauma on Nov. 14, 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month recommended COVID-19 vaccines for kids under age 5, but some Florida parents are struggling to get young children vaccinated.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 562 316"/%3E "Nurse Jordan Dierksheide and Medical Assistant Cassandra Ross help administer a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to JoseMaria Mejia, 7, of Ruskin, during a vaccination event hosted by Enterprising Latinas at Wimauma Opportunity Center in Wimauma on Nov. 14, 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month recommended COVID-19 vaccines for kids under age 5, but some Florida parents are struggling to get young children vaccinated.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/MQ73ELQ4I5HG5C53HJQND7Y7Y4.JPG "Nurse Jordan Dierksheide and Medical Assistant Cassandra Ross help administer a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to JoseMaria Mejia, 7, of Ruskin, during a vaccination event hosted by Enterprising Latinas at Wimauma Opportunity Center in Wimauma on Nov. 14, 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month recommended COVID-19 vaccines for kids under age 5, but some Florida parents are struggling to get young children vaccinated.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JTKNSEGIIEI6TGNIIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Thomas Young, right, takes a call from someone in need of counseling at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay in 2019. The crisis center is now preparing for a flood of calls to the 988 suicide crisis line.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZU4IWG2RLDEGGDSHTAXZWSJOUY.jpg "President Joe Biden speaks Friday about abortion access during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/EIZWP7NOZZHLNATQM4PSYZ5O5E.jpg "Marvin Andujar, computer science and engineering professor and director of the Neuro-Machine Interaction Lab at the University of South Florida, explains how student Tyree Lewis can use brain-computer interface technology to paint images with his brain. Lewis is assisting with the project.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/TC4DKBLYFFBU3BC5FBPOXTKGVI.jpg "Emily Reed (derecha), de 33 años, de St. Petersburg, levanta un cartel durante una protesta por el aborto el sábado 2 de julio de 2022 en Tampa. \"Si mi histerectomía estuviera programada para tres meses después, no tendría esa opción\", dijo Reed.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/TVX4Y5744NDAVAERXYWQOI6TCY.jpg "One death and nearly two dozen hospitalizations are tied to a new listeria outbreak, health officials said Thursday. CDC officials say nearly all the 23 people known to have been infected in the outbreak either live in, or traveled to, Florida about a month before they got sick.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/5ELF5WC455HHDFRLA5E76YBSVI.JPG "Los funcionarios de salud están refiriendo a las familias a “centros de salud federalmente calificados”, clínicas generalmente administradas por organizaciones sin fines de lucro.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/HWDZKVHFMRGTZBCNMGNJ6Y55RY.JPG "Medical assistant Cassandra Ross administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to Natalie Rosales, 7, while nurse Jordan Dierksheide holds her arm, as Rosales looks at her mother, Elizabeth Rivera Alvarez, during a vaccination event hosted by Enterprising Latinas at Wimauma Opportunity Center in Wimauma on Nov. 14, 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended COVID-19 vaccines for kids 4 and under earlier this month.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GEVMSTHJ6VCVROCAGZOEBNIBAE.JPG "Shareeka Ford, an LPN with Stat Lab Mobile prepares to give Zachary Mayor, 7 his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a December vaccination clinic at Turkey Creek Middle School in Plant City. Children ages 4 and under are now eligible to get vaccinated and the rollout is set to start this week.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DNIDKIG2JI7NTUVCRNXY3I7R4Q.jpg "Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo encouraged the Florida Board of Medicine to review controversial state Department of Health guidance against treatment beyond counseling for the distress that children and teens feel when their gender identity doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/BKMT7YOWFNEWRNAHTWKSKJUMN4.jpg "Andrew Ghattas, left, watches as server Washington Garcia, center, carves a meat selection table side at Terra Gaucha in Tampa on Sept. 9, 2020. The restaurant took several COVID-19 precautions. A recent study found that Americans employed in blue collar, service or retail jobs died of COVID-19 at five times the rate of those in higher socioeconomic positions during the first year of the pandemic.")
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/V3NTBHZ3GFCZZHY5ORAFJ4STAM.JPG "Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins speaks on the death of Middleton High incoming freshman Hezekiah B. Walters at the school district office in Tampa, Florida on Monday, July 29, 2019. On June 11th Walters collapsed during football summer workouts at Middleton High School in Tampa. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died. (OCTAVIO JONES | Times)")
![El alguacil del condado de Hillsborough, Chad Chronister, habla durante una conferencia de prensa el lunes en Ybor City. El alguacil anunció los resultados en 85 arrestos en una operación llamada "Operation Trade Secrets". [CHRIS URSO | Times]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//cMTrRBL_xT0GDeNdTKwBQRGV4EQ=/200x112/filters:format(webP)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/ZIOEG6HLOII6TLFLIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "El alguacil del condado de Hillsborough, Chad Chronister, habla durante una conferencia de prensa el lunes en Ybor City. El alguacil anunció los resultados en 85 arrestos en una operación llamada \"Operation Trade Secrets\". [CHRIS URSO | Times]")
![Testigos vieron a caimanes arrastrando el cuerpo del Jarvis Deliford, de 16 años, a través del lago Maggiore, el 4 de julio. Una causa de muerte sigue bajo investigación y un cazador de caimanes contratado por el estado continúa monitoreando el lago. [ANGELIQUE HERRING | Times]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//TkmpR21t7oRPgh-P0ygAc14T2bs=/200x112/filters:format(webP)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/KRUUBMXLOMI6TLFLIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Testigos vieron a caimanes arrastrando el cuerpo del Jarvis Deliford, de 16 años, a través del lago Maggiore, el 4 de julio. Una causa de muerte sigue bajo investigación y un cazador de caimanes contratado por el estado continúa monitoreando el lago. [ANGELIQUE HERRING | Times]")
![Dinorah Rodriguez, 14, shown here on a web page set up by her family, was fatally shot in Brandon last week. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in the slaying. [gofundme.com]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//_HSaaPs9ElvRsFaCS-Rs33pEuGE=/200x112/filters:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/D47S4BGIJUI6TGNIIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Dinorah Rodriguez, 14, shown here on a web page set up by her family, was fatally shot in Brandon last week. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in the slaying. [gofundme.com]")
![Los oficiales están investigando un tiroteo dentro de un auto afuera de la tienda de Brandon Walgreen el lunes temprano. La mujer estaba en estado crítico. [Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Hillsborough]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//8GYyW9Hj-c9JVVGmjDrW_j7vHGw=/200x112/filters:format(webP)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/FIEK33XLOMI6TLFLIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Los oficiales están investigando un tiroteo dentro de un auto afuera de la tienda de Brandon Walgreen el lunes temprano. La mujer estaba en estado crítico. [Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Hillsborough]")
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