Axios San Francisco: California Announces New $16.3M Youth Suicide Prevention Campaign
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced $16.3 million in new grants last week to community-led youth suicide prevention projects amid a nationwide surge in reported teen mental health issues. The funding is part of a new media and outreach campaign launched by CDPH that aims to support youth disproportionately impacted by suicide, such as Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ populations. (Chen, 9/18)

Axios: San Diego Mayor Touts Bill Making It Easier To Force Mental Health Treatment
Mayor Todd Gloria is again touting a statewide effort to reform the behavioral health system by making it easier for the government to compel mental health treatment. The state Legislature last week passed SB 43, which expands the definition of when people in psychological distress are considered "gravely disabled" so they can be forced into treatment. The bill adds substance use disorder as a factor in that determination, and now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature. (Keatts, 9/18)

Los Angeles Times: Suspect In L.A. Deputy Killing Heard Voices, Had Attempted Suicide, Mother Says
Before he was arrested in the slaying of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, a 29-year-old Palmdale man suspected in the killing was diagnosed with schizophrenia, heard voices and twice tried suicide, his mother said Monday. (Hernandez, Solis and Castleman, 9/18)

CalMatters: CA Planned Parenthood Workers Unionize As Abortions Increase
Mia Neustein calls her work for Planned Parenthood in the Coachella Valley her “dream job.” She believes in the organization’s mission, and wants to be a part of it for years to come. But the pace of that work has increased substantially since last year, when the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion, leading some out-of-state patients to travel to Southern California for care. (Agrawal, 9/19)

Los Angeles Times: Why Highly Sought Nurses Are Moving To California
Nurses — those indispensable healthcare workers in desperately short supply nationwide — are streaming into California, a striking contrast to the recent flight of thousands of frustrated residents to other parts of the country. And in many ways, what’s drawing them to the state is not so different from why others are leaving, namely, the high cost of living and progressive policies. (Lee, 9/19)

Maryland Matters: Health Care Workers In Maryland, Virginia And D.C. Authorize Strike Against Kaiser Permanente, Joining Thousands Across The Nation
Some 3,800 union healthcare workers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are threatening to go on strike at the end of this month if the leadership at Kaiser Permanente and the union cannot agree to a new contract addressing staffing shortages and low pay for workers. The OPEIU Local 2 union has voted to join thousands of other Kaiser Permanente workers planning to strike on Sept. 30 over contract negotiations, including health care workers in Colorado, California, Oregon and Southwest Washington. (Brown, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Kaiser Names Regional President
Michelle Gaskill-Hames, RN, was appointed regional president of Kaiser Permanente for Southern California and Hawaii. Ms. Gaskill-Hames has held the role on an interim basis since April, according to a Sept. 18 news release. Previously, she served as COO and chief strategy, growth and experience officer for Kaiser in Southern California and Hawaii. She was appointed interim president after Julie Miller-Phipps announced her retirement. (Gooch, 9/18)

Fresno Bee: Sleep Center Owner In Fresno Pleads Guilty In Medicare Fraud Case, Federal Prosecutors Say
A Hanford man pleaded guilty in a Fresno courtroom Monday to a $1 million fraud scheme to steal money from Medicare, according to prosecutors. (Miller, 9/18)

Modern Healthcare: Joint Commission Adding Environmental Sustainability Certificate
Beginning Jan. 1, the voluntary program will certify hospitals that prioritize environmental sustainability as a strategic goal and allocate resources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative comes as the Joint Commission overhauls its accreditation standards to alleviate administrative burdens on healthcare organizations while making space for new strategic priorities. (Hartnett, 9/18)

CBS News: Study Finds Errors With ADHD Meds In Kids Has Increased Last Two Decades
A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics finds errors involving ADHD medications in kids have risen sharply over the past two decades. Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio studied national poison data from 2000 through 2021 and found that errors involving ADHD medications increased by almost 300% in people under 20 during that period. Two-thirds of the cases occurred in kids ages 6 to 12. The most common error was accidentally taking or being given mediation twice, followed by taking someone else's medication or taking the wrong medication. (Marshall, 9/18)

Voice of OC: Coalition Of North OC Churches Creates Low-Interest Loans To Curb Homelessness
Religious leaders in North Orange County are hoping a low-interest, mini-loan program will help lift families out of homelessness and prevent others from sleeping on the streets or in cars. And they’re hoping the efforts will ignite similar programs throughout the county. Deacon Tom Saenz of St. Juliana Falconieri church in Fullerton said existing payday loans – often called predatory loans – compound hardships families already face. “The goal is to not give a 400% loan to people in need,” Saenz said at Thursday’s kickoff event. (Custodio, 9/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Bankrupt Drugmaker Mallinckrodt Considers Sale Of Opioid Business 
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Mallinckrodt, one of America’s largest producers of prescription opioids, is in talks with its major investors about selling some or all of the company’s business units, potentially leading to its exit from the opioid business, according to people familiar with the discussions. (Saeedy, 9/18)

The Washington Post: How One Company Profited While Delaying Narcan’s Drugstore Debut
Five years after public health officials first asked for it, Narcan finally hit store shelves this month — a potentially pivotal moment in the fight to counter the country’s stubbornly high death toll from heroin, fentanyl and pain pills. Now, anyone can buy the opioid overdose reversal drug without a prescription. But it almost didn’t happen. Narcan’s maker, Emergent BioSolutions, for years refused to allow its blockbuster drug to be sold over the counter (known as OTC), frustrating health experts and workers on the epidemic’s front lines who saw making Narcan and other naloxone-based medicines easier to buy as a way to save lives. (Frankel, 9/18)

Voice of OC: OC Officials Reluctantly Contract With Elderly Services Provider Behind On Old Goals
Orange County officials publicly questioned last week if older adults would go hungry if they don’t spend federal COVID bailout dollars on a nonprofit that supports seniors – one that’s far behind its original goals. “It looks like it’s going to be a reluctant – I’ll speak for myself and Supervisor (Katrina) Foley at least – a reluctant aye,” OC Board of Supervisors Chair Don Wagner said at Tuesday’s meeting. (Elattar, 9/18)

The Bakersfield Californian: KCCD Accepts $3.4M For Apprenticeship Programs
The Kern Community College District board of Trustees accepted $3.4 million from the California Community Colleges’ Chancellor’s Office to “support the development” of apprenticeship programs in nursing, public health, industrial technology and business, according to a district news release. (9/18)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Alzheimer's Association To Host Fundraiser Walks To Support Dementia Research, Education And Support Programs 
The Alzheimer’s Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties is hosting its annual series of three fundraiser walks, starting with an event in North County this Saturday. (Mapp, 9/18)

Reuters: Pfizer Forecasts 24% COVID Vaccination Rate In US This Year
Pfizer expects 24% of the U.S. population, or about 82 million people, to receive COVID-19 shots this year, CFO David Denton said at a conference on Monday, reiterating the vaccine maker's estimates from earlier this year. (9/18)

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccination After Long COVID May Be Linked To Better Outcomes
A new observational study from Canadian researchers reveals that COVID vaccination after long COVID was tied to fewer symptoms, increased well-being, and less inflammation. The study, based on participants in Montreal, is published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Long COVID, or post-COVID condition (PCC), is a major emerging public health issue, as 10% to 30% of COVID-19 patients who are not hospitalized, and 50% to 70% hospitalized patients, experience an array of symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks after acute infection. (Soucheray, 9/18)

CIDRAP: Study: Original Pfizer COVID Vaccine 33% Effective Against Emergency, Urgent Care In Young Kids 
A new study in JAMA estimates that the original single-strain Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine conferred 33% protection against COVID-19 emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) visits for children younger than 5 years during Omicron variant predominance. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente and Pfizer conducted a test-negative case-control study among 24,261 patients aged 6 months to 4 years diagnosed as having an acute respiratory infection (ACI) and tested for SARS-CoV-2 at Kaiser Permanente Southern California from July 2022 to May 2023. Of all children, 48% were seen in the ED, 29% visited the UC, and 23% were outpatients. (Van Beusekom, 9/18)

NBC News: Vivek Ramaswamy Regrets Taking The Covid Vaccine. His Wife, A Surgeon, Does Not
Vivek Ramaswamy said he regrets taking the two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine he’s received. He also said at a recent campaign stop that he and his wife, surgeon Apoorva Ramaswamy, “disagree on things sometimes,” and that’s OK. One of those things is their feelings about the Covid-19 vaccine, Apoorva Ramaswamy told NBC News in an interview. Dr. Ramaswamy, who is a laryngologist at Ohio State University, said she has no regrets about taking the jabs to protect against Covid, putting her decision in terms of her responsibility to the patients she sees. (Tabet and Koretski, 9/18)

The Washington Post: Obesity As A Factor In Cardiac Deaths Tripled Over 20 Years
The number of U.S. adults who died of heart disease and whose death record cited obesity as a contributing factor was three times greater in 2020 than in 1999, according to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. (Searing, 9/18)

CNN: Proper Treatment For Hypertension Could Avert 76 Million Deaths Globally By 2050, WHO Says
The dangerous effects of high blood pressure are highlighted in a new report by the World Health Organization that identifies the condition as one of the world’s leading risk factors for death and disability. Published Tuesday, WHO’s first report on the global impact of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, offers recommendations on ways to combat the “silent killer.” (Musa, 9/19)

Consumer Reports: A Healthy Diet May Lower Dementia Risk — Even If You Start Late
Doing puzzles, playing memory-boosting games, taking classes and reading are activities that we often turn to for help keeping our brains sharp. But research is showing that what you eat, how often you exercise and the type of exercise you do can help lower your risk of dementia to a greater extent than previously thought. ... And living a healthy lifestyle can produce brain benefits no matter what your age. (Lee, 9/18)

NBC News: Morning Workouts May Be Better For Weight Loss, Study Finds
Is morning the best time of day to exercise? Research published Tuesday in the journal Obesity finds that early morning activity — between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. — could help with weight loss. “My cautious suggestion from this study is that if we choose to exercise in the early morning, before we eat, we can potentially lose more weight compared to exercise at other times of the day,” said lead researcher Tongyu Ma, a research assistant professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. (Sullivan, 9/19)