Becker's Hospital Review: Wildfires, Winter Storms Strain US Blood Supply
Inclement weather across many parts of the U.S. has taken a toll on the nation's blood supply this month. The recent wildfires in Los Angeles County, combined with a severe winter weather and frigid temperatures across much of the U.S., have caused thousands of blood donations to go uncollected in recent weeks, the American Red Cross said Jan. 24. (Bean, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: Authorities Caution Against Sifting Through Debris At Fire-Ravaged Properties
With residents anxious to return to their fire-ravaged properties, authorities are warning of the dangers of sifting through the toxic wreckage — especially without protective gear. Hazardous items in the fire zones can include batteries, ammunition, propane tanks, pesticides, and cleaning products that can become unsafe when exposed to heat and fire. Harmful chemicals can be present in the ash in charred neighborhoods, according to experts. (Tchekmedyian, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: New Recovery Center To Open In Altadena To Aid Eaton Fire Victims
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it will open a new recovery center in Altadena for those who incurred damage from the Eaton fire. The Altadena Disaster Recovery Center will open Monday at 540 W. Woodbury Road and will operate from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Representatives from state and federal agencies will be present to assist anyone who experienced damage to a primary home, personal property loss or other emergency related to the wildfires. The current recovery center, at the Pasadena City College Community Education Center, will cease operations after Friday. (Smith, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Fires Jolt Child-Care Industry; Families, Providers Sent Scrambling
Hundreds of child-care providers affected by the L.A. fires have been forced to shut their facilities and dozens of sites were destroyed, leaving scores of working families scrambling for care and dealing a blow to an already fragile sector in the region. As of Thursday, 37 child-care facilities were reported destroyed in the fires; 21 were child-care centers, and 16 were family child-care homes. An additional 284 were non-operational because of ash, debris, power outages or a lack of potable water, according the California Department of Social Services. (Sequeira and Gold, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: 'This Is The Home We Have Left': Fire Victims Face Deadline To Leave RV Park
A couple that escaped the Eaton fire in their recreational vehicle faces a deadline to leave an L.A. County-owned RV park this week because of rules prohibiting long-term stays. Several other fire victims are likely in the same situation. County supervisors could vote Tuesday to lift the restriction. (Dillon, 1/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Fires At Homeless Encampments Are Under The Spotlight As San Diego Fights To Keep Blazes At Bay
The nights have recently been frigid for the thousands of people countywide who live outside. Federal data show that temperatures in January have twice dropped into the 30s, conditions that can be life threatening: The first homeless person to die last year was a 65-year-old with hypothermia in Balboa Park. Yet an easy antidote to the chill — build a fire — has perhaps never been more dangerous. (Nelson, 1/27)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: ‘Will My Mom Be Deported?’: Fear Among Immigrant Families In Sonoma, Napa Raises School Attendance Concerns
California’s laws, such as its 2017 sanctuary state legislation, aim to protect immigrants by limiting cooperation with federal authorities. Ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, California Attorney General Rob Bonta reminded schools of their duties to safeguard students’ information. (Mehta, 1/25)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Schools, Families Fear Potential ICE Activity Under Trump Law
When rumors spread earlier this month that immigration enforcement activity had been reported in an East San Jose neighborhood, parents living in the country illegally panicked, wondering if it was safe to step on school grounds. (Gibbs and Zambrano, 1/27)

Los Angeles Times: Growing Need For Caregivers Could Collide With Immigration Crackdown
President Trump’s plans to overhaul immigration could reduce the ranks of workers who care for elderly and disabled people at home and in long-term care facilities as California and the country grapple with the needs of an aging population, healthcare experts and immigrant advocates say. Trump has pledged to carry out the biggest deportation effort in U.S. history. On his first day in office he signed executive orders to suspend refugee admissions for months, require asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as their cases were adjudicated, and roll back humanitarian programs that had granted temporary legal status and work authorization to more than 1.5 million people. (Alpert Reyes, 1/26)

Los Angeles Times: Immigration Made Homeless Numbers Worse Than They Actually Were In 2024
A surge in immigration that peaked just as last year’s homeless count was taken accounted for the bulk of its historic rise reported in December, grossly inflating the picture of homelessness in America. Because the local agencies taking the count across the country do not ask for immigration status, homeless numbers ballooned in a handful of states that took in tens of thousands of immigrants, and those states, in turn, pushed the national number to an unprecedented high of nearly 772,000. (Smith, 1/27)

The Texas Tribune: Senate Probe Finds Poor Medical Care At CBP Facilities
Poor medical care that preceded the 2023 death of an 8-year-old girl at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Harlingen “was not aberrant but consistent” with other incidents of inadequate medical care received by vulnerable migrants in federal custody, a U.S. Senate panel concluded in a report released Friday. (Serrano, 1/24)

NPR: Senate Confirms Kristi Noem As Trump's Secretary Of Homeland Security
Noem will be in charge of executing one of President Trump's biggest priorities in his second term: cracking down on immigration. Following Saturday's confirmation vote, Noem officially resigned as South Dakota governor, according to a statement. Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden succeeds her in the state's top post. (1/25)

CNN: Trump Administration Withdraws Proposed Menthol Ban 
The Trump administration has withdrawn the proposed rule that would ban menthol in cigarettes and flavored cigars according to the regulatory docket. A menthol ban is something that the US Food and Drug Administration under the Biden administration had said was a “top priority.” (Christensen, 1/24)

AP: Trump Eliminates Help For Black, Latino Communities Hit By Pollution
For four years, the Environmental Protection Agency made environmental justice one of its biggest priorities, working to improve health conditions in heavily-polluted communities often made up largely of Black, Latino and low-income Americans. Now that short-lived era is over. President Donald Trump in his first week eliminated a team of White House advisors whose job it was to ensure the entire federal government helped communities located near heavy industry, ports and roadways. (Phillis and St. John, 1/26)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Makes Big Play For Its Share Of $6 Billion State Grant Program For Mental Health Care
San Diego County organizations have collectively made a big play to receive millions in grants to be awarded in the first $3.3 billion round of mental health care funding approved with the passage of Proposition 1 nearly one year ago. (Sisson, 1/27)

Times of San Diego: Mobile Crisis Response Teams Mark 4 Years Of Tackling Mental Health Challenges Across San Diego
San Diego County’s Mobile Crisis Response Teams are celebrating four years of offering vital support to residents facing mental health and substance abuse emergencies. Since their launch as a pilot program in January 2021, the teams were designed to connect people with trained mental health professionals to de-escalate behavioral health crises without the need of local law enforcement. (Neumeyer, 1/26)

The Mercury News: Half Moon Bay Shooting Survivors To Get New Homes. Other Farmworkers Aren't So Lucky
Questions still remain about whether protections for farmworkers around California are any stronger. (Talerico and Chavez, 1/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Thousands March In SF Against Abortion, Pin Hopes On Trump
Thousands of abortion opponents, inspired by the reelection of President Donald Trump and recent court actions restricting the procedure, united Saturday in San Francisco for the 21st annual Walk for Life West Coast. The peaceful gathering, which has attracted thousands of women, men and children annually since 2005, began with an afternoon rally at Civic Center Plaza, followed by a march down Market Street to the Embarcadero. (Ellis, 1/25)

The New York Times: Trump Reinstates Longstanding Republican Anti-Abortion Policy
President Trump on Friday reinstated a longstanding Republican anti-abortion policy known as the “Mexico City Rule,” which bars federal funding from going to any overseas nongovernmental organization that performs or promotes abortions. The move came after he addressed thousands of abortion opponents in Washington on Friday to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which created a national right to abortion and which the court overturned in 2022. (Gay Stolberg, 1/24)

Newsweek: What Is The Mexico City Policy? Trump's Abortion Policy Change Explained
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday reinstating and significantly expanding the "Mexico City Policy." The policy cuts off U.S. aid to any foreign organization that provides abortion services, counseling, or advocacy, marking the most extensive version of these restrictions since its creation in 1984. Newsweek contacted a Trump spokesperson via email on Saturday for comment. (Adeosun, 1/25)

The Washington Post: Justice Dept. To Cut Back Prosecution Of Abortion Clinic Protest Cases
The Justice Department said Friday it will scale back Biden-era efforts to prosecute demonstrators who interfere with patient access to reproductive health clinics. ... In a memo, the department’s new chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, said cases brought under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, would now only be allowed under “extraordinary circumstances” or in cases involving “significant aggravating factors” such as “death, serious bodily harm, or serious property damage.” (Roebuck and Stein, 1/24)

The Hill: Johnson Touts ‘New Era’ Of Abortion Opposition Under Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Friday abortion opponents are “entering a new era” with President Trump and Vice President Vance in the White House. Speaking at the March for Life, Johnson praised the new administration for anti-abortion actions taken in the first week, including pardoning nearly two dozen anti-abortion activists. (Weixel, 1/24)

AP: As Hegseth Takes Charge At The Pentagon, Here’s What Changes Could Be In Store
When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth starts his first official day on Monday morning, he will face a daunting array of issues to tackle — from global conflicts and border security to transgender and reproductive care in the military. (Baldor and Copp, 1/26)

Times of San Diego: San Diego LGBTQ Advocates Prepare For Action After Trump Executive Orders On Gender
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding gender, the San Diego-based non-profit, the Human Dignity Foundation, released a statement doubling down on its commitment to serve the LGBTQ+ community. ... RaeLynn Fuson, director of public relations for the foundation, said that the main concern looking ahead to these next four years will be to protect the immediate safety of LGBTQ+ individuals. “We are concerned about an uprising or an emboldening, really, of individuals who align with the president’s rhetoric, taking matters into their own hands." (Balc, 1/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Study Finds Microdosing Buprenorphine Fails Most Fentanyl Users
A new study from researchers at UC San Francisco has found that a treatment approach designed to help people addicted to fentanyl, using low doses of buprenorphine, is not working as expected. The microdosing method, called low-dose initiation (LDI), aimed to reduce withdrawal symptoms and make it easier for people to switch from fentanyl to buprenorphine, a drug that helps treat opioid addiction. (Vaziri, 1/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: Keck Medicine Of USC CHRO Talks Gen Z Recruitment
As Generation Z professionals increasingly enter the healthcare workforce, Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of University of Southern California is leveraging innovative strategies to attract and retain this tech-savvy and purpose-driven generation. With Gen Z already comprising 8% of the system's workforce, Ekta Vyas, PhD, chief human resources officer, Keck Medicine of USC, connected with Becker's to share how the system uses targeted social media outreach and specialized training programs in tailoring its approach to meet the needs of younger employees. (Ashley, 1/24)

Modern Healthcare: Change Healthcare Data Breach Affected 190M
A ransomware attack against Change Healthcare last year exposed data on a record-breaking 190 million people, parent company UnitedHealth Group reported Friday. That's 90 million more people than the company, which operates Change Healthcare through its Optum subsidiary, disclosed to federal regulators in October. It also amounts to 55% of the U.S. population. A cyberattack against Anthem (now Elevance Health) in 2015, which affected nearly 80 million people, was the previous record holder in the healthcare sector. (Berryman, 1/24)