Becker's Hospital Review: California Hospital To Lay Off 62
AHMC's San Gabriel (Calif.) Valley Medical Center is laying off 62 employees, according to regulatory documents filed with the state March 13.The layoffs are effective May 13. The 273-bed hospital employs more than 500 physicians and 1,000 employees, according to its website. (Emerson, 3/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Physician Asks State To Conduct 'Impact Assessment' On Obstetrics Closure At Scripps Health Hospital
A South Bay physician has asked the California Department of Public Health to conduct an "impact assessment" of Scripps Health's recent decision to close the labor and delivery unit at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista (Calif.) Hospital and transfer obstetrics services 12 miles north to its Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego campus. (Carbajal, 3/18)

Sacramento Business Journal: Sutter Health Releases Positive 2023 Financial Report
Sutter Health generated $1.17 billion in net income last year, turning its financial performance around from a loss in 2022. (Hamann, 3/18)

CalMatters: 'I Couldn't Find A Nurse:' L.A. Family Sues Hospital Over Life-Altering Injuries 
An emergency trip to the hospital turned disastrous for a Los Angeles-area family when Joshua Saeta’s condition deteriorated, leaving him permanently incapacitated. In a lawsuit, the family says nurses later told them the hospital was dangerously understaffed. (Hwang, 3/19)

The Mercury News: Advocates Get Backing To Grow TRUST Program In San Jose
A push to create an additional community-based response team for mental-health emergencies in San Jose has gotten a co-sign from three city councilmembers ahead of the council’s major budget hearing Tuesday. The Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, or TRUST, fields three-person teams consisting of a medic, behavioral-health professional and a peer-support advocate to respond to nonviolent psychiatric emergencies throughout Santa Clara County, which oversees the program. (Salonga, 3/18)

Modern Healthcare: Private Equity’s Role Divides Physicians, Lobbying Groups
As more physicians leave their private practices behind, tension is growing over their choice of potential partners — particularly private equity, which is increasingly drawing federal and state scrutiny. Fewer physicians — only 46.7% in 2022 compared with 60.1% in 2012 — work in practices wholly owned by doctors amid struggles to manage reimbursement cuts, regulation and rising expenses. As a result, more physicians are joining health systems, private equity-backed management services organizations and insurers. (Kacik, 3/18)

Los Angeles Blade: Pride In Mental Health Act To Aid At-Risk LGBTQ Youth Introduced
U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act on Thursday, legislation that would strengthen resources in mental health and crisis intervention for at-risk LGBTQ youth.“ Accessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,” said Butler, who is the first Black LGBTQ senator. “Barriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.” (Kane, 3/18)

Capitol Weekly: Larissa May: Cyberbullying, SB 1504 And Digital Wellness 
Our guest today, Larissa May, has become one of the leading voices in California and across the country in the quest for young people to have a healthier relationship with social media and the digital world in general. May came to this work through her own traumatic experiences as a young person overwhelmed by social media. May is the founder of #halfthestory, which works with schools, state and federal governments, and Fortune 500 companies to create new standards for digital use and to educate young people on the dangers inherent to obsessing over social media. (3/18)

Voice Of San Diego: 4 Reasons Why Homeless Hospital Patients End Up Back On The Street 
San Diegans have long spotted seemingly fragile homeless residents still wearing hospital wristbands, socks and gowns on city streets.  These homeless patients have continued to land back on the streets in the years since a state law mandated that hospitals prioritize shelter placements for them.  (Halverstadt, 3/18)

Modesto Bee: 1 In 4 Of The State’s Homeless Are Black. A New UC Study Seeks To Change That
Over a quarter of homeless individuals in California are Black, almost four times higher than the state’s Black population, according to a report by the University of California, San Francisco, Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. In Stanislaus County, the difference is a little lower — about 3.5 times. The February report “Toward Equity: Understanding Black Californians’ Experiences of Homelessness” lays out the systemic causes that have left so many unhoused, detailing the crisis of homelessness among the minority group. (Bisharyan and Smith, 3/18)

Los Angeles Times: The End Of Skid Row's Cheap Hotels? L.A. Leaders Want To Replace Homeless Housing
Thirty years ago, when the Produce Hotel fell into disrepair, a newly formed nonprofit, the Skid Row Housing Trust, acquired and rehabilitated the turn-of-the-century building, restoring the brick facade and preserving 100 rooms for formerly homeless residents. This story was repeated hotel after run-down hotel in the 1980s and ‘90s as homelessness advocates and civic leaders poured money and energy into saving the old single-room occupancy hotels in Skid Row — first built for itinerant railroad and agricultural workers — fearing that their collapse would force thousands onto the streets. (Dillon and Smith, 3/19)

CBS News: East Bay Doctor Gets Prison, Ordered To Give Up License For Distributing Opioids 
An East Bay internal medicine doctor has been sentenced to federal prison and ordered to give up her medical license after admitting to illegally distributing powerful opioids, prosecutors said Monday. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of California, a judge sentenced 59-year-old Parto Karimi of Alamo was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on Friday. Karimi pleaded guilty in July to one count of distributing hydrocodone outside the scope of a professional practice. (Fang, 3/18)

Stat: Leading Voice In Opioid Treatment Defends Methadone Clinic System 
Nobody has made more of an impact on methadone treatment than Mark Parrino. For decades, he’s served as the founder and president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, a nationwide advocacy group representing methadone clinics. Before AATOD, he ran a statewide advocacy group in New York, having made the jump to politics and policy after working as a clinic director and, before that, as an addiction counselor. (Facher, 3/19)

Stat: Private Equity Moves Into The Methadone Clinic Monopoly 
Private equity firms have acquired stakes in nearly one-third of all methadone clinics in recent years, gaining outsize control of the U.S. addiction treatment industry even as the country’s opioid epidemic has developed into a full-fledged public health crisis. (Facher, 3/19)

CIDRAP: CDC Measles Alert Urges MMR Vaccine For Youngest International Travelers 
Amid rising measles cases internationally and in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today issued an alert to health providers urging them to ensure that children as young as 6 months old receive the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine before traveling internationally. (Schnirring, 3/18)

USA Today: Flu, Norovirus Replace COVID-19 As Prominent Viruses For Spring Season
Spring may be around the corner but the flu – specifically, influenza B – is surging. While samples of influenza A have decreased since the winter-time peak, influenza B has been detected in 96% of samples, so far, in March compared with 66% of samples in February, according to WastewaterSCAN data. (Rodriguez, 3/18)

The 19th: COVID Isn’t Over For Disabled And Older Adults
Four years into the COVID-19 pandemic, few Americans are especially concerned about catching the disease. A recent poll from Pew found that only 20 percent of Americans consider the virus to be a major health threat. Only 10 percent are concerned about becoming very ill or hospitalized. Less than a third have received an updated COVID-19 vaccine. Pew did not ask how many people still wear masks. But for many with disabilities and chronic illnesses, it is impossible to move on. (Luterman, 3/18)

Stat: SCOTUS Questions Limit To Govt Efforts To Fight Misinformation
Most of the Supreme Court’s justices on Monday seemed to question states’ arguments that the Biden administration coerced social media giants to regulate Covid-19 content and thereby violated Americans’ freedom of speech. (Owermohle, 3/18)

NBC News: Medication Abortions Rose In Year After Dobbs Decision, Report Finds
Medication abortions rose in the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to a report published Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports access to abortion. In 2023, the first full calendar year since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, there were about 642,700 medication abortions, accounting for about 63% of all abortions in the country, up from 492,210 medication abortions, or 53%, in 2020, according to the report. (Lovelace Jr., 3/19)

CNN: OTC Birth Control: Consumers Can Start Ordering Opill Online Today 
The rollout is underway for Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill approved in the United States, and online sales began Monday morning. Consumers can start ordering Opill online Monday, and orders will be fulfilled within a day or two, Sara Young, senior vice president and chief consumer officer at Perrigo, said in an email. So far, the product will be available at Opill.com and Amazon. (Howard, 3/18)

Military.com: Military Medical Examiner Kept Organs For Years And Failed To Properly Notify Families, Watchdog Finds
The Pentagon's internal watchdog has found that the Armed Forces Medical Examiner mismanaged the collection and handling of organs from at least 184 deceased troops -- and hundreds of others -- that were collected as samples as part of the autopsy process. According to a report released Monday, officials with the medical examiner's office failed to set up "consistent processes or policies for organ retention and disposition" that led to families either not knowing that organs had been taken or not having their wishes for those remains honored. (Toropin, 3/18)

Capital & Main: A California Program To Get Produce To Low-Income Families Is A Hit. Now It Is Running Out Of Money.
Macaria Palacios lives in Compton, where she regularly shops at Mother’s Nutritional Center, a small grocery store dedicated to serving low-income households enrolled in food assistance programs. She buys apples, broccoli, nopales (edible cactus) and spinach through a state program that provides an instant rebate from the purchase of fruits and vegetables. The program allows her to stretch her money and use the fresh produce to manage her diabetes without taking medicine.“Ayuda mucha que no tiene comprar,” she said in Spanish, explaining the program helps many who otherwise could not afford fresh fruits and vegetables. (Sanchez-Tello, 3/18)

The Oaklandside: How Disability Rights Advocates Are Making East Bay Parks More Accessible
California’s state and regional parks were created to be enjoyed by all, but ensuring everyone has equal access to outdoor recreation has been a struggle. According to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of 2021 U.S. Census data, around 42.5 million Americans, or 13% of the population, have some type of disability. Despite this, many people find it difficult to enjoy the outdoors because lots of parks are not easily accessible via transit, there aren’t enough amenities at a location, information on trail features is difficult to find or unavailable, and trails often are not designed to accommodate people with a range of disabilities. (Rhoades, 3/18)

Fresno Bee: Dog-Killing Parasite Found In California River. Here's Where And Signs Your Pet Might Have It
A potentially fatal dog worm lurks in California’s waters, waiting to attack your dog from the inside. A group of scientists from UC Riverside confirmed the presence of Heterobilharzia americana — a flatworm known as liver fluke — along the banks of the Colorado River in Southern California. (Taylor, 3/18)

The 19th: Biden Just Signed The Largest Executive Order Focused On Women's Health 
President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order directing the most comprehensive set of actions ever taken by the president’s office to expand and improve research on women’s health. In a statement, the president and First Lady Jill Biden also announced more than 20 new actions and commitments by a wide range of federal agencies for research on issues that emerge across a woman’s lifespan, from maternal health outcomes and mental health challenges to autoimmune diseases and menopause. (Gerson, 3/18)

The Washington Post: U.S. Fully Bans Asbestos, Which Kills 40,000 A Year
After three decades of attempts, the Environmental Protection Agency has banned the only form of asbestos still in use — part of a family of toxic minerals linked to lung cancer and other illnesses that cause about 40,000 U.S. deaths each year, the agency says. The EPA on Monday formally prohibited the import and use of chrysotile asbestos, the last type of asbestos that U.S. industries use. The ban comes 33 years after a federal judge blocked the agency’s initial attempt to ban the cancer-causing mineral. While the use of asbestos has declined since, it remains a significant health threat. (Phillips, 3/18)

NBC News: Intermittent Fasting Linked To Risk Of Cardiovascular Death
An analysis presented Monday at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions in Chicago challenges the notion that intermittent fasting is good for heart health. Instead, researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China found that people who restricted food consumption to less than eight hours per day had a 91% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease over a median period of eight years, relative to people who ate across 12 to 16 hours. (Bendix, 3/18)

CNN: Diet And Sugary Drinks May Boost Risk Of Atrial Fibrillation By Up To 20%, Study Says
 Drinking two liters or more per week of artificially sweetened beverages — the equivalent of a medium-sized fast-food diet soda a day — raised the risk of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation by 20% when compared to people who drank none, a new study found. (LaMotte, 3/18)

HealthDay: Household Foods Get Less Healthy As Babies Age Into Toddlers
Over the first few years of a child's life, foods found in a family's fridge and cupboards tends to get less healthy, new research shows. “We found significant changes in several food categories over time," said study lead author Jennifer Barton. "Food items such as non-whole grains, processed meats, savory snacks, candy and microwavable or quick-cook foods were more commonly available in the home at 48 months [of age] compared to 24 and 36 months." The study, which tracked foods in the homes of 468 mother-child pairs in Illinois, was published recently in the journal Public Health Nutrition. (3/18)

Axios: Why Nondiabetics Are Monitoring Their Blood Sugar Levels
One of the fastest-growing trends in health and wellness circles was once seen solely as the domain of diabetics: watching your blood sugar. The weight-loss drug boom and online health influencers' attention on regulating blood sugar are helping fuel interest in real-time glucose tracking among nondiabetic patients, even as doctors say the benefits are uncertain for this group. (Reed, 3/19)

The New York Times: Oprah Takes On Weight Stigma In The Ozempic Era In New Weight Loss Special 
Oprah Winfrey, a longtime figure in the national conversation about dieting and weight bias, devoted an hourlong prime-time special on Monday to the rise of weight loss drugs. Her goal, she said, was to “start releasing the stigma and the shame and the judgment” around weight and weight loss — starting with her own, she said. "For 25 years, making fun of my weight was national sport,” Ms. Winfrey said in the show, titled “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.” (Blum, 3/18)