Becker's Hospital Review: Providence To Close California Urgent Care Center
Renton, Wash.-based Providence has shared plans to close one of its Santa Rosa, Calif., urgent care locations, effective Feb. 7. Among the reasons cited for the closure were poor condition of equipment and the building, physician and advanced practice provider staffing challenges, unplanned closures, and inconsistent operating hours and service levels, according to a Nov. 11 statement shared with Becker's from a Providence spokesperson. (Ashley, 11/12)

Times of San Diego: Sharp HealthCare Employees Set For Vote After Tentatively Agreeing To New Contract
Sharp HealthCare and the union representing thousands of its health care employees have reached tentative agreement on a three-year contract. Tuesday’s announcement comes a week after 92% of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West members voted to authorize a five-day strike. (11/12)

Becker's Hospital Review: Nurses Push Back On Healthcare Tech
Nurses nationwide are raising concerns over the rapid adoption of AI and virtual nursing in healthcare, arguing that these technologies could compromise patient safety. In 2024, nurse-led protests spotlighted these concerns. In April, the California Nurses Association staged a demonstration at Kaiser Permanente's San Francisco Medical Center, advocating for nurses and union members to be involved in "every step" of the decision-making process around AI and other data-driven technologies in healthcare. (Diaz, 11/12)

Becker's Hospital Review: Hippocratic AI Forms Visionary Advisory Board
[Palo Alto-based] Hippocratic AI, the pioneering company behind the first safety-focused large language model for healthcare, is set to reshape the healthcare landscape with the guidance of its newly established Healthcare Advisory Board.This board, comprising seven industry leaders, brings expertise across health systems, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and insurance to help Hippocratic AI address complex healthcare challenges and fulfill its vision of healthcare abundance through generative AI. (Dyrda, 11/12)

Modern Healthcare: AMA Calls For Tougher Oversight Of Nonprofit Hospitals
The American Medical Association will lobby Congress to enforce greater oversight on how nonprofit hospitals comply with the community benefit requirements that accompany their tax-free status after adopting a new policy during its semiannual meeting. The 700-member AMA House of Delegates met in Orlando, Florida, from Friday through Tuesday to consider hundreds of policy recommendations, including some related to nonprofit hospitals and health insurance prior authorizations. (Early, 11/12)

Becker's Hospital Review: The Cybersecurity Risk Of Healthcare AI: 6 Things To Know
With the rise in artificial intelligence use, healthcare organizations block more AI activity than most other industries. Here are six things to know about AI and cybersecurity, according to a 2024 report from [San Jose-based] cybersecurity company Zscaler that analyzed its cloud activity. (Bruce, 11/12)

Modern Healthcare: New Physical, Occupational Therapy Rule May Ease Hospital Burden
A policy change enabling physical and occupational therapy practitioners to treat Medicare beneficiaries with less oversight could benefit health systems and other providers. Tucked inside the Physician Fee Schedule final rule for 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services relaxed supervision requirements for physical and occupational therapist assistants from “direct” to “general.” (Early, 11/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: Medicare Premiums Are Going Up In 2025. Here’s What To Know
Medicare costs will soon go up. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Friday the new premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for plans in 2025. These new amounts are determined in accordance with provisions of the Social Security Act. (Roy, 11/12)

KVPR: Trump Would Like To Bring Back Mental Institutions, But Experts Are Skeptical
Donald Trump has promised a law-and-order approach to policy of all kinds — including the question of how to help people struggling with mental illness, substance use disorder and homelessness. In a short video on his campaign website, Trump says cities in the U.S. have been surrendered to people who are unhoused, "drug addicted," and "dangerously deranged." To the American public, he promises, "we will use every tool, lever, authority to get the homeless off our streets." His plan includes banning "urban camping," returning people to "mental institutions where they belong," and relocating people to government-sanctioned tent cities. (Riddle, 11/13)

Bloomberg: ‘Make America Healthy Again’: RFK Jr. Wins Over Fans by Stoking Food Toxin Fear
“Make America Great Again” has long been a signature phrase at Donald Trump’s rally speeches. Its recent offshoot, “Make America Healthy Again” or MAHA, is now spreading on social media as fitness influencers and parents embrace a push by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to clean up US food production. (Mufarech, 11/12)

The New York Times: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s FDA Wish List: Raw Milk, Stem Cells, Heavy Metals
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been unflinching in his attacks on the Food and Drug Administration in recent weeks, saying he wants to fire agency experts who have taken action against treatments that have sometimes harmed people or that teeter on the fringe of accepted health care practice. ... Some of Mr. Kennedy’s priorities are relatively standard, such as focusing on the health effects associated with ultraprocessed foods. Yet others threaten to undermine F.D.A. authority to rein in inappropriate medical treatments or to warn about products that can damage the public health. (Jewett, 11/12)

The Washington Post: RFK Jr. Claims Canadian Froot Loops Have 3 Ingredients. They Have 17.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is fiercely critical of the federal government’s handling of child health, including rising childhood obesity rates, has wrongly claimed that Froot Loops sold in Canada have just a few ingredients, compared with those sold in the United States. “Why do we have Froot Loops in this country that have 18 or 19 ingredients, and you go to Canada and it’s got two or three?” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Vaughn Hillyard last week while criticizing the Food and Drug Administration. Kennedy, known for his debunked medical claims, was wrong about the numbers of ingredients in Canadian and American Froot Loops, which are similar: 17 and 16, respectively. The biggest difference is the dyes, which in the American version are known as Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Blue 1. Canadian authorities limit the use of those dyes. (Brasch and Lee, 11/12)

The Wall Street Journal: The Siblings Behind RFK Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Campaign
hey are pushing for healthier school meals, sustainable agricultural practices and banning some food colorings—and they are about to shape President-elect Donald Trump’s health agenda. Meet Calley Means and Dr. Casey Means, the brother-sister duo who have built a wellness empire by questioning some traditional medical expertise and vaccine mandates, but who have also tapped ideas more recognizable to the political left to fuel the Trump-aligned Make America Healthy Again movement. Means, a former food-industry lobbyist, and his sister, Casey, a Stanford-educated surgeon, have pushed for a radical overhaul of the country’s food and health systems, driven by a deep distrust of the pharmaceutical and food industries. They have also espoused some disputed medical theories. (Peterson and Whyte, 11/13)

Stat: FDA Commissioner Suggests RFK Jr. And Trump Might Compromise An Agency ‘At Peak Performance’
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said he’s unsure about the future of the agency under the incoming Trump administration and “disappointed” about the election’s outcome. “I think we just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Califf said at a conference hosted by the nonprofit Friends of Cancer Research on Tuesday. “The gist of this administration, from everything that’s been said, is that they want to change a lot of things, and how it gets changed depends on who gets appointed into key positions.” (Lawrence, 11/12)

The Washington Post: Trump Taps Musk, Ramaswamy To Oversee ‘Drastic’ Changes To U.S. Government
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is appointing business executives Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new commission on cutting government spending and regulation, handing an enormous portfolio to the tech billionaire who gave political and financial support to his presidential bid. In a statement, Trump said that his billionaire ally and his former Republican primary rival will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, an idea championed by Musk. Trump said the department would operate outside of government to drive “drastic change,” while partnering with the White House and its budget office to provide recommendations to slash regulations, cut staff and overhaul federal operations. Musk has adopted the nickname “DOGE” for the commission, a reference to a meme-based cryptocurrency he also touted. (Stein and Dwoskin, 11/12)

Fox News: Elon Musk Says The Department Of Government Efficiency's Actions Will Be Online 
Elon Musk said that the department will take suggestions and concerns from everyday Americans regarding how the government spends money. "Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" Musk said in part in the X post. Musk also said all the department's actions "will be posted online for maximum transparency." (Pritchett, 11/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Names Fox News Host Pete Hegseth To Head Pentagon
President-elect Donald Trump has named Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran and Fox News host, as his choice for secretary of defense. ... Hegseth, 44, is a National Guard veteran from Minnesota who has been a commentator on Fox News for the past decade. He once led an advocacy group that sought to privatize healthcare provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, leading Trump to consider him as VA secretary during his first term. (Ward and Salama, 11/12)

Military.com: VA Set To Add Leukemia, Multiple Myeloma To List Of Conditions Linked To Burn Pits 
The Department of Veterans Affairs has started the process to designate multiple myeloma and acute and chronic leukemias as linked to military service in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and elsewhere, a change that will give affected veterans quicker access to disability compensation. During his last Veterans Day address as commander in chief, President Joe Biden announced the update to the list of diseases presumed to be related to exposure to burn pits and other airborne pollutants according to the PACT Act. (Kime, 11/12)

Newsweek: Experts Raise Project 2025 Warnings About Veteran Care 
Project 2025, a mandate for conservative leadership created by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank in Washington, D.C., includes plans for restructuring the Department of Veterans Affairs—such as increasing "robust political control" of the VA, removing abortion access for VA health care recipients and reviewing the VA's protocols for disability aid. Michael Embrich, a former member of the Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans, has been vocal about his fears surrounding the manifesto, saying in July that Project 2025's policy proposals to overhaul the VA—the largest health care provider for veterans—is the "worst-case scenario" for veterans in the U.S. (Clark, 11/11)

Axios: Vets' Private Health Program Puts Patients On Hold
A federal program serving 2.8 million veterans isn't delivering on key promises. The big picture: The Veterans Community Care Program was set up to help veterans secure appointments with providers near their homes when they can't receive care from a Department of Veterans Affairs facility. ... Veterans are waiting more than two weeks on average from the time a referral is made to even schedule an appointment through the community care program, according to audits by the Government Accountability Office. They're supposed to have mental health appointments within 30 days. (Bettelheim, 11/11)

Military Times: VA Plans To Drop Co-Pays For All Telehealth Services
Veterans Affairs leaders plan to eliminate all co-pays for telehealth services and award grants for telehealth clinics in rural areas, part of ongoing efforts to expand virtual care options within the medical care system. In an announcement Monday, department officials said the moves could help “lower costs and expand access to care for all those who served.” Both proposals will have to go through a months-long rulemaking process before either could be put into effect. (Shane III, 11/12)

Medical Xpress: Veterans Study Finds Virtual Mental Health Care Can Significantly Reduce Suicide
Boston University School of Public Health research suggests that virtual mental health care may significantly reduce suicide-related events (SREs) among veterans recently released from service. For every 1% increase in virtual mental health visits, there was a 2.5% decrease in SREs. (Jackson, 11/11)

Axios: Kraft Heinz Pulls Lunchables From School Meals Program
Kraft Heinz said Tuesday it's pulling Lunchables meals from the National School Lunch Program due to flagging demand. The Chicago-based food giant said in a media statement that its decision was not related to a study by U.S. consumer watchdog group Consumer Reports that found Lunchables meal kits for low-income children contained relatively high levels of sodium, lead and cadmium. (Falconer, 11/13)

EdSource: Bay Area District Settles Suit Alleging Inequitable Education Practices 
A Bay Area school district has settled a lawsuit claiming that Black students and English learners were denied a proper education and were disproportionately suspended, expelled or funneled into special education classrooms offering poor instruction. Pittsburg Unified School District in Contra Costa County reached the settlement on Oct. 23 in a suit filed in 2021 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. (Gellegos, 11/12)

The Washington Post: Trump Pledged To Close The Education Department. What Would That Mean?
Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to “return” responsibility for education to the states. In fact, education has long been the responsibility of state and local governments, which provide 90 percent of the funding and set most of the rules. The department does not dictate curriculum or have a hand in most school policies. But the federal agency plays an important role. It administers federal grant programs, including the $18.4 billion Title I program that provides supplemental funding to high-poverty K-12 schools, as well as the $15.5 billion program that helps cover the cost of education for students with disabilities. (Meckler and Timsit, 11/12)

KQED: SF Officials Launch Media Campaign Promoting Addiction Treatment And Recovery Services
San Francisco health officials on Tuesday launched a new media campaign to promote its ongoing drug treatment and recovery services as part of a larger effort to reduce overdose deaths and substance-use disorders. The initiative, dubbed Living Proof, features videos and ads highlighting the stories of San Franciscans who have been in recovery for years after long struggles with substance abuse. (Zada, 11/12)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Buckelew Programs, Gallagher Development Seek Up To $20 Million In Opioid Settlement Funds For Treatment, Sober Living Homes
Hoping to jump-start the expected allocation of $43 million in opioid settlement funds, Buckelew Programs and the Gallaher Companies are proposing a series of substance abuse treatment centers and sober living homes that could eventually serve up to 400 people in Sonoma County. (Callahan, 11/12)

The New York Times: At Long Last, The Surge In S.T.I.S May Be Leveling Off 
After decades of unrelenting increases, rates of sexually transmitted infections in the United States are showing hints of a downturn. Diagnoses of gonorrhea dipped in nearly all age groups last year, compared with 2022, and new cases of syphilis and chlamydia remained about the same, according to data released on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results are not yet cause for celebration. (Mandavilli, 11/12)

NBC News: Decrease In Syphilis Diagnoses Among Gay Men Most Likely Linked To Preventive Antibiotic Use
And importantly, diagnoses of primary and secondary syphilis — the most infectious stages of the infection — dropped 10% last year, to 53,000 cases. The decline was driven by a 13% drop in such syphilis diagnoses among gay and bisexual men, who are about 2% of the adult population but have historically accounted for nearly half of such cases. The half-dozen other infectious disease experts who spoke with NBC News about the CDC report said they believed the sudden turnaround in syphilis diagnoses among gay and bisexual men was likely to be an early signal of such men’s eager adoption of a new, proven protocol in which the oral antibiotic doxycycline is used for STI prevention. (Ryan, 11/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: Dispose Of Black Plastic Items: Study Finds Toxic Flame Retardants
Do you have a black plastic serving spoon kicking around in a kitchen drawer? Toy cars with black plastic undercarriages lying around your living room? A black plastic hairbrush on your bathroom counter? Throw them in the trash — as soon as possible, scientists say. (Roy, 11/13)

Bay Area News Group: California Insurance Department Accused Of Hiding Information On Life Insurance Complaints
A Bay Area consumer-advocacy group claims California’s Department of Insurance is violating state public-records law by refusing to hand over important data on consumer complaints about life insurance. The Pleasant Hill-based non-profit Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center called the department’s purported violation of the California Public Records Act “inexcusable.” (Baron, 11/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Tech Industry Group Sues Over California Social Media Addiction Law
An industry group representing large technology companies is suing the state of California after the legislature passed a law this session aiming to cut into social media addiction among young people, the latest salvo in a legal battle in California and nationwide centered on kids' online safety and privacy. Authored by Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act — SB976 —  targets unnamed “addictive internet-based service or application” including websites and apps that offer “addictive feeds” as a core part of their service. (DiFeliciantonio, 11/12)

Bay Area News Group: Eleven Sheriff's Deputies And Medical Professionals Charged In Alameda County Jail Death
Eleven people at the Santa Rita Jail — including Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies and medical staffers — have been charged with felonies in connection with the death of a man who was allegedly neglected for days before he died in his cell, court records show. (Gartrell and Rodgers, 11/13)