‘Street Medicine Team’ Of Doctors Work To Improve Homeless Health Care
A nonprofit clinic is ramping up efforts to offer services to homeless people as Sacramento's anti-camping battle rages on. In other public health news, the Porter Ranch gas leak may be capped by next week, and a UCLA study finds problems with BMI designations.
The Sacramento Bee:
Amid Camping Debate, Sacramento’s Backpack Doctors Tackle Homeless Health Care
Abram Nunn approaches a trash-strewn homeless camp with caution, stepping gingerly between still-warm cook stoves, heaps of tattered blankets and makeshift teepees. A few lounging pit bulls snap to attention as the young physician assistant gives his usual greeting: “Medical team’s here! Anybody sick?” ... Nunn and the rest of the Elica Health street medicine team are used to it. They’ve been working for months to earn the trust of Sacramento’s outer-edge dwellers. ... Roughly 5,000 homeless people live in Sacramento in a given year, according to estimates from homeless advocates. The county, city and nonprofit groups provide about 1,000 beds, and those who don’t find shelter have to curl up in alleys, under bridges and in tents along the city’s two rivers. Hundreds more of the homeless have been stationed outside City Hall since December to protest a longstanding anti-camping ordinance that forbids people from sleeping in public spaces. (Caiola, 2/4)
The Associated Press:
Official: Massive LA-Area Gas Leak Could Be Capped In A Week
A California official outlined a plan Thursday to cap a massive Los Angeles-area gas leak by the end of next week. The final phase to intercept the ruptured Southern California Gas Co. well is expected to begin Monday, said Wade Crowfoot, an adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown. If all goes according to plan, it should to take contractors about five days to permanently seal the well that has been leaking since October. (Melley, 2/5)
The Los Angeles Times:
BMI Mislabels 54 Million Americans As 'Overweight' Or 'Obese,' Study Says
Good news for some in the high-BMI crowd: A new study from UCLA finds that some 54 million Americans who are labeled as obese or overweight according to their body mass index are, when you take a closer look, actually healthy. (Khan, 2/4)