Becker's Hospital Review: Stanford Nurses Approve Contract With 12% Raise Over 3 Years
Nurses represented by the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement have approved new labor contracts with Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, both based in Palo Alto. In total, 75% of the more than 6,000 union members voted in favor of the agreement, according to an April 6 news release. (Gooch, 4/9)

San Diego Union-Tribune: El Cajon Care Facilities To Face $565 Fee For Every 911 Lift-Assist Call
Care facilities in El Cajon that call 911 to get assistance lifting a client who has fallen, but is not injured, will face a $565 fee under a new rule the City Council is pursuing. (Warth, 4/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: What Healthcare Leaders Can Learn From The Military, Per Keck's CEO
While culture is often discussed in leadership conversations, it may not be fully embraced across the healthcare industry, according to Rod Hanners, CEO of Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles. Yet, he said, culture drives everything from business success to patient satisfaction. ... Becker’s connected with Mr. Hanners to gain insights on his priorities as a health system CEO and how his background has shaped his approach to leadership. (Kuchno, 4/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: AI Streamlines Pharmacy Work At 2 California Systems
At some health systems and hospitals, AI technology is taking the burden of nonclinical, tedious tasks off the hands of pharmacy workers, according to an April 8 article on the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ website. For example, a large language model platform developed by San Francisco-based UCSF Health helps sort incoming faxes, read invoices and discover documentation and billing opportunities. (Twenter, 4/9)

Los Angeles Times: UCLA Researchers Decry Trump Administration Funding Cuts At Protest
Ushered down the street by sympathetic drivers honking their car horns, hundreds of protesters from UCLA marched through Westwood on Tuesday as part of a national day of demonstration against the Trump administration’s cuts to National Institutes of Health research funding. The “Kill the Cuts” gatherings, organized by a coalition of labor unions, unfolded at 37 sites across the country. They were meant to draw attention to President Trump’s decision to halt billions of dollars in funding from the NIH. As with other institutions of higher education, the University of California has relied on these and other federal funds to power research on cancer, diabetes and many other diseases. (Miller and Kaleem, 4/9)

CalMatters: Trump Cuts UC Health Research In DEI Purge
A California neurologist who’s among the nation’s top researchers on dementia has been swept up in President Donald Trump’s purging of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, adding to the growing cadre of research science terminated because of the administration’s edicts. In this case, the National Institutes of Health sent Dr. Charles DeCarli of UC Davis a letter in late March telling him that his nearly $36 million research project was being canceled on the grounds that it perpetuated a “DEI” agenda. With that notification, gone are about $10 million in remaining money for a project that included 28 clinical and research sites across the country and 1,700 participants with mild cognitive impairments. (Zinshteyn, 4/10)

EdSource: As University Of California Searches For New President, Trump’s Policies Make The Position More Difficult
The presidency of the University of California has long been considered one of the more challenging positions in American higher education. It requires overseeing nearly 300,000 students, 10 campuses, $8 billion a year of premier research, six medical centers and three federally funded national energy laboratories. Now, UC’s board of regents is looking for the next person to fill the role and replace President Michael V. Drake, who plans to step down at the end of the academic year. But in the months since the search began, the job has only grown more complicated and pressured as a result of Donald Trump’s election and his policies affecting funding, racial diversity, student protests and many other aspects of higher education. (Burke, 4/10)

Stat: National Public Health Group Calls On Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To Resign, Citing 'Complete Disregard For Science'
A national public health organization is calling for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign the federal post he assumed just weeks ago, citing “implicit and explicit bias and complete disregard for science.” (Cooney, 4/9)

CBS News: RFK Jr. Says He's "Not Familiar" With All Health Program Cuts In Exclusive Interview
Since his appointment in February, Kennedy has facilitated sweeping cuts affecting a wide range of programs and employees. When asked by CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook if he personally approved the more than $11 billion proposed in cuts to local and state programs that address infectious disease, mental health, addiction and childhood vaccination, Kennedy said, "No I'm not familiar with those cuts. We'd have to go … the cuts were mainly DEI cuts, which the president ordered." (Hoffman, Kuzmarov and Sugerman, 4/9)

AP: FDA Reverses Course On Telework After Layoffs And Resignations Threaten Basic Operations
Weeks after ordering Food and Drug Administration employees back into the office, the agency is reversing course, allowing some of its most prized staffers to work remotely amid worries that recent layoffs and resignations could jeopardize basic functions, like approving new medicines. An internal email obtained by The Associated Press states that FDA leadership are “allowing review staff and supervisors to resume telework” at least two days a week. The policy shift was confirmed by three FDA staffers who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal agency matters. (Perrone, 4/10)

CBS News: CDC Faces Backlash For Cutting Sickle Cell, Adult Disability Programs
Nearly half of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's staff working on developmental disabilities and birth defects was laid off this month, multiple officials tell CBS News, wiping out teams working on research about adults with cognitive disabilities and sickle cell disease. Work likely to be halted by the cuts includes the collection of data for studying Americans with sickle cell, a painful blood disorder that predominantly affects Black families, as well as supporting testing for its more dangerous complications. (Tin, 4/9)

Stat: Government Shuts CDC Office Focused On Alcohol-Related Harms And Prevention
A small office that produced data on alcohol-related deaths and harms, and worked on policies to reduce them, has been shuttered by the Trump administration. Those involved with the work say it was the only group in the federal government focused on preventing excessive drinking and the many problems associated with it, including chronic diseases. (Cueto, 4/9)

The War Horse: Trump Budget Cuts To Defense Department Could Hurt Tech Innovation
Some of the U.S. military’s most defining technologies have nothing to do with missiles, tanks, guns, and other deadly weaponry.  While important in war, these innovations — from duct tape and blood banks to GPS — ultimately play a far larger role on the home front, improving everyday lives. But now scientists are worried the Trump administration’s budget cuts threaten the long and historic funding growth for Department of Defense-supported breakthrough science, risking America’s global dominance in a tech-driven economy and undermining future payoffs. (Krieger, 4/10)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Aims To Spend $45 Billion To Expand Immigrant Detention 
The Trump administration is seeking to spend tens of billions of dollars to set up the machinery to expand immigrant detention on a scale never before seen in the United States, according to a request for proposals posted online by the administration last week. The request, which comes from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calls for contractors to submit proposals to provide new detention facilities, transportation, security guards, medical support and other administrative services worth as much as $45 billion over the next two years. (McCann, Berzon and Aleaziz, 4/7)

The Desert Sun: International Students In California Have Visas Revoked; Some Told To Depart Immediately
The Trump administration has revoked hundreds of international student visas nationwide, including those attending colleges and universities in California. (Sasic, 4/9)

USA Today: Feds To Screen For 'Antisemitic Activity' On Social Media To Block Immigrant Benefits
Federal immigration officials will begin screening social media for antisemitic activity to block immigration benefits, immigration officials announced on Wednesday. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services news release said this included “antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals.” The guidance immediately affects people applying for lawful permanent status, foreign student visas and others affiliated with educational institutions, according to the release. (Cuevas, 4/9)

The Washington Post: Acting IRS Chief To Quit Over Deal To Share Data With Immigration Authorities
The acting head of the IRS plans to resign after being bypassed over a new agreement to share the tax data of undocumented immigrants with Homeland Security personnel, according to two people familiar with the situation. Acting IRS commissioner Melanie Krause — the tax agency’s third leader since President Donald Trump’s inauguration — will participate in the deferred resignation program the Trump administration offered to agency employees in recent days, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. (Bogage and Najmabadi, 4/9)

Modern Healthcare: House Budget Resolution Vote Canceled, Medicaid Cuts In Limbo
The House abandoned a vote on the budget resolution Wednesday, leaving President Donald Trump's tax cuts and massive reductions to federal healthcare spending in limbo. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pulled the measure, which the Senate approved Monday, from the floor just before it was set for a vote. A handful of conservative Republicans rebelled because they believed the budget would not bring about sufficiently deep cuts. (McAuliff, 4/9)

Stateline: A Fifth Of Americans Are On Medicaid. Some Of Them Have No Idea.
Some Americans who rely on Medicaid to pay for their health care don’t realize their insurance is funded by that very program, which congressional Republicans are looking to shrink. One reason is that state programs aren’t always called “Medicaid.” Many states have rebranded their programs with consumer-friendly names such as SoonerCare in Oklahoma, Apple Health in Washington, Medi-Cal in California or TennCare in Tennessee. And nearly all states now use private insurance companies such as UnitedHealth or Blue Cross Blue Shield to run their Medicaid programs. That means Medicaid enrollees may hold an insurance card and paperwork with the name of a commercial insurance company. (Vollers, 4/9)

Politico: Cash-Strapped States Panic Over End Of Obamacare Subsidies
States facing budgetary pressures have few good options to keep millions of people from losing health coverage if Congress lets federal funding for Obamacare expire at the end of the year. That isn’t stopping health officials from trying. California, Colorado, Maryland, Washington and others are all scrambling to avoid a fiscal cliff that could sharply increase health care costs for their residents. (Hooper, 4/9)

San Diego Union-Tribune: County Supervisors Vote In Favor Of Mental Health Care Investments 
Faced with the increasing possibility of significant Medicaid cuts, San Diego County supervisors did not back away from further mental health care investments Tuesday, approving requests for additional inpatient and outpatient contracts that would add an estimated $15 million to the fiscal 2026 budget. (Sisson, 4/8)

Times of San Diego: Dispose Of Unwanted Prescriptions At City Drug Take Back Day April 26
Got unwanted, used, or expired prescription drugs lying around? The Chula Vista Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the Chula Vista Police Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, will host the 28th semi-annual National  Prescription Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 26 at the John  Lippitt Public Works Center, 1800 Maxwell Road. (Sklar, 4/9)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Fire-Affected Beaches Are Safe For Swimming, Health Officials Say
Local public health authorities have lifted ocean water advisories placed on Malibu- and Santa Monica-area beaches affected by January’s Palisades fire. ... Both areas were tested for metals, nutrients, polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are all chemicals that may be found in water runoff based on previous California wildfires, officials said. Results showed “no chemicals related to wildfires at levels that are dangerous to human health,” according to a news release. (Garcia, 4/9)

Sacramento Bee: CA Cities With High STD Rates? Fresno, Sacramento On List
Eight California cities have some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in the United States, according to Innerbody Research. The health-based research company ranked the 100 metropolitan areas with the highest STI rates based on data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, focusing on HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia. (Fernandez-Alvarado, 4/9)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Moves To Undercut State Climate Laws, Including California's
The Trump administration this week ramped up its efforts to erode nationwide climate progress with a sweeping executive order aimed at undermining states’ ability to set their own environmental policies, including key components of California’s fight against climate change. In an order dated April 8, the president directed Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to identify and “stop the enforcement of” state laws that address climate change and other environmental initiatives. (Smith, 4/9)

Stat: U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate Increased By 27% Over Five Years, NIH Study Finds 
A new U.S. government paper documenting an increase in maternal mortality from 2018 to 2022 does not hedge in its conclusion, calling the issue “an urgent public health priority.” That it was published amid massive job and funding cuts at federal health agencies charged with reducing these deaths has not escaped notice. (Oza, 4/9)

MedPage Today: Team Behind Critical CDC Maternal And Infant Health Dataset Axed
As part of the cuts to federal health agencies by the Trump administration, the entire team behind a key CDC dataset for ob/gyn research has been axed. On April 1, all 17 members of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) team received a reduction-in-force notice, as did almost the entire Division of Reproductive Health at CDC. They lost access to their laptops shortly after. Technically, everyone is on administrative leave until June 2, when they have to depart from the CDC. (Robertson, 4/9)