California Healthline Highlights Recent Health-Related County Action
Supervisors in Orange, Sacramento, San Francisco and Stanislaus counties this week acted on health-related issues. Summaries appear below.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to delay for one month a decision on a proposal by Supervisor Lou Correa that would authorize $2.1 million over three years to expand health care coverage for uninsured children, the Orange County Register reports. The delay will allow county officials to consider additional information on the proposal (Santana, Orange County Register, 10/18).
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-2 to reject a proposal that would have allowed pharmacies to sell syringes without a prescription, the Sacramento Bee reports (Reese, Sacramento Bee, 10/19).
Under a state program that began in January, counties and cities can authorize over-the-counter sales of syringes (California Healthline, 6/16). The law permits adults to purchase as many as 10 syringes at a time, if the practice is approved by the local government (Reese, Sacramento Bee, 10/19).
KPBS' "KPBS News" on Wednesday reported on the county's rejection of OTC needle sales. The segment includes comments from Linda Lloyd, vice president of programs at the Alliance Healthcare Foundation (Goldberg, "KPBS News," KPBS, 10/19). The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday postponed for one week a vote on regulations of the county's 35 medical marijuana clubs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. After debating various amendments, the board decided to delay the vote until Oct. 25.
Supervisor agreed to add an amendment that would require medical marijuana clubs to be wheelchair accessible. In addition, the regulations would:
- Require medical marijuana clubs to obtain an operating permit from the Department of Public Health;
- Limit to one-half pound per patient per day the amount of marijuana that clubs would be permitted to dispense;
- Prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within 500 feet of schools;
- Prohibit clubs that allow on-site medical marijuana use from operating within 1,000 feet of schools; and
- Bar clubs from operating within residential areas or on the same parcel as substance abuse treatment programs.
After a public hearing Tuesday, Stanislaus County Supervisors voted unanimously to uphold a plan they approved on Sept. 13 to restructure services at county health clinics and decrease the board's annual allocations to the county Health Services Agency with the aim of reducing the agency's $8.8 million budget deficit, the Modesto Bee reports.
The board is required by law to hear public comments before finalizing plans to cut certain services (Carlson, Modesto Bee, 10/19).
The plan will be implemented over three years, beginning with elimination of mammography, dental and speech therapy services at county clinics starting Oct. 27. According to the Bee, the county will use new and existing contracts with health care providers to continue treatment of some patients who currently receive dental and mammography services (Carlson, Modesto Bee, 10/16).