Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Listen: How Does Human Composting Work?
California Healthline’s Bernard J. Wolfson went on the air to explain a new California law that will allow people to have their bodies reduced to compost after death, an alternative to the traditional-but-toxic methods of cremation and burial. ( )
Big Impact For California With End Of Federal Covid Funding: The U.S. government has spent billions battling the covid-19 pandemic, but the Biden administration has announced that it expects to end the purchase and free distribution of everything from COVID tests to vaccines because cases are dropping and funding is drying up. The implications for California residents – and those in other states – are significant. Read more from Bay Area News Group.
Rural Areas Struggle With Lack Of Specialists: Shasta is part of California’s vast North State area, which has significantly worse healthcare access than the rest of California. The barriers to treatment are even higher when residents try to access care from specialist physicians. Read more from Shasta Scout.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Sacramento Bee:
California COVID-19 Cases Plateau, As New Variants Spread
Transmission numbers for COVID-19 appear to remain flat in California, as health officials express some concern about new groups of coronavirus subvariants that are increasing in prominence across the U.S. and other parts of the world. (McGough, 10/20)
KQED:
Kaiser Mental Health Workers Approve New Contract, Ending 10-Week Strike
Some 2,000 Kaiser Permanente mental health care employees in Northern California are returning to work after voting almost unanimously to ratify a new contract on Thursday, ending a grueling 10-week standoff over staffing shortages, wages and patient care. The four-year contract gives therapists nearly two hours of additional time per week to respond to patient emails, contact social service agencies and perform other administrative tasks. The deal also includes a commitment from Kaiser to hire more therapists, improve access to treatment for patients and increase initial consultation times for children. (Green, 10/21)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Kaiser Mental Health Workers Vote To End Two-Month Strike Protesting Staffing Shortages That Fueled Delays
A grueling, two-month labor walkout by scores of Kaiser Permanente mental health workers in Sonoma County has ended after the workers overwhelmingly approved a four-year contract, union officials announced late Thursday. (Espinoza, 10/21)
Bay Area News Group:
Kaiser Envisions Multiple Plans For New And Current San Jose Hospital
Kaiser Permanente is floating multiple options for wide-ranging changes at its south San Jose campus, featuring a big new hospital and a possible demolition or revamp of the existing hospital. (Avalos, 10/21)
KQED:
Prop. 29 Pits Dialysis Companies Against Labor Union For Third Time, Leaving Patients Stuck In Limbo Again
At 87, Joanne Frost is one of the estimated 80,000 Californians who get dialysis because of damaged kidneys. That means that three times a week, she goes to a clinic and gets hooked up to a machine that cleans waste material from her blood, the machine doing the work of what healthy kidneys would do. Each dialysis session, which lasts between three and four hours, leaves Frost feeling exhausted. (Gonzalez, 10/20)
San Bernadino Sun:
Attacking Fentanyl On All Fronts, Inland Empire Launches Public Awareness, Health Campaigns
The war against fentanyl is ramping up in the Inland Empire, with Riverside and San Bernardino counties both announcing public awareness campaigns or health advisories this week and collaborations with partner agenies to attack the deadly epidemic from all fronts. (Nelson, 10/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Ex-UCLA Gynecologist James Heaps Guilty Of Sexually Abusing Patients
A Los Angeles County jury on Thursday found former UCLA gynecologist Dr. James Heaps guilty of sexually abusing female patients during his tenure at the university. Heaps, 65, had been charged with 21 felony counts, but was found guilty of only five: three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. The assaults date from 2013 to 2017, the portion of his tenure that falls within the statute of limitations for which criminal charges could be brought. (Winton, 10/20)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
The Flu's Early. Why Aren't More People Getting Vaccinated?
The flu season’s heralded early arrival this year does not appear to have motivated San Diego County residents to get vaccinated. (Sisson, 10/20)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Positive Test On Black Swan Means Avian Flu Has Arrived In San Diego County
A dead black swan discovered at Lake San Marcos has tested positive for avian flu, the first case to be found in San Diego County, officials said. (Kucher, 10/20)
East Bay Times:
Court Shouldn't Meddle With California Meat, Eggs Standards
For years, the majority of calves raised for veal and hens raised to produce eggs suffered lives of similar deprivation. Medical research shows that such confinement threatens the health and safety of consumers by compromising the animals’ immune systems and facilitating the transmission of disease-causing pathogens from the slaughtered creatures to humans. (Laurence H Tribe, Chris Green and Kelsey Eberly, 10/12)
The Mercury News:
Opinion: New COVID Variants Have Arrived. How Worried Should You Be?
Some rather alarming headlines recently circulated about the newest members of the omicron family. “Nightmare COVID variant,” read one. “The most immune-evasive COVID variants yet.” Or, as one would-be pandemic influencer said in a tweet shared thousands of times: “MOTHER OF GOD… #COVID variants worse than CDC has been admitting.” (Lisa Jarvis, 10/21)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID, Hurricane Ian And Me — A Doctor Whose Friends Say I Have PTSD
It turns out being stalked by a hurricane feels just like the eve of the pandemic, when we knew a storm was coming but little else. Both are slow-moving disasters at the beginning. (Mark Morocco, 10/17)