Becker's Hospital Review: DAP Health Completes Acquisition Of Bankrupt California Clinics
DAP Health's acquisition of bankrupt Borrego Springs, Calif.-based clinic chain Borrego has received final approvals, and the two will now operate as one integrated system. Palm Springs, Calif.-based DAP Health — which, like Borrego Health, is a federally qualified health center — was selected by the Borrego Health board of trustees in February as the winning bidder to acquire the clinic chain. The acquisition needed approval from a bankruptcy court — which signed off on the deal March 1 — and the California Health Resources and Services Administration. The HRSA has now also approved the acquisition, according to a July 31 DAP Health news release. (Cass, 8/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: UCSD Health Is First Provider In San Diego County To Make U.S. News Honor Roll 
UC San Diego Health’s hospitals in La Jolla and Hillcrest are among 22 nationwide to make a nationwide honor roll in the latest annual “Best Hospitals” edition of U.S. News and World Report. (Sisson, 8/1)

Times Of San Diego: San Diego Blood Bank Joins National Partnership To Send Blood Where Needed
The San Diego Blood Bank has joined the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, a partnership with other community-based blood centers across the nation to help prepare for emergencies that may lead to a high demand for transfusions, it was announced Wednesday. (Ireland, 8/3)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Jury Awards Former UC San Diego Doctor $39 Million In Whistleblower, Retaliation Suit 
A San Diego jury on Wednesday awarded more than $39.5 million to an oncologist who accused UC San Diego of retaliation after a battle that started over where to steer a $10 million donation for cancer research. (Figueroa, 8/2)

CalMatters: Some Of California’s Best-Paid Public Employees Say They’re Ready To Strike. Here’s Why
Some of California’s highest-paid public employees are in an intensifying labor battle with the Newsom administration over staffing shortages at state prisons and hospitals that workers say endanger patients and staff. (Hwang, 8/2)

San Diego Union-Tribune: COVID-19 Is Making Its Summer Appearance In San Diego County 
As has been the case every summer since 2020, COVID-19 activity has been on the upswing across San Diego County, with test positivity and even hospitalization rates increasing in July. (Sisson, 8/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Boosters Set To Arrive Later Than Expected. Should You Wait?
The anticipated release of the next round of COVID-19 booster shots has been pushed back, with updated vaccines targeting the XBB.1.5 omicron variant now expected to arrive later than expected. Health officials initially had projected the doses would be delivered by September, aligning with this year’s flu shot rollout. But the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the timeline has shifted. (Vaziri, 8/2)

The Daily Beast: Moderna May Be The Safest MRNA COVID Vax To Take If You’re Older
When the COVID-19 vaccines began rolling out, there were initially two big ones that folks in the U.S. could choose from: Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. While both are completely safe in guarding against the coronavirus, the question of which one to choose was one that many people seriously considered—sometimes leading to memeified tribalism. However, now that we’re a few years into the rollout, scientists have had time to research their effectiveness among certain segments of the population—and now we have a much clearer picture about which vaccine might be good for who. (Tran, 8/2)

The New York Times: Amid Signs Of A Covid Uptick, Researchers Brace For The ‘New Normal’ 
Echoing patterns in prior years, coronavirus infections are slowly ticking up in parts of the country, the harbinger of a possible fall and winter wave. But the numbers remain low for now, and are unlikely to reach the horrific highs seen in previous winters, experts said in interviews. Infections have been trending upward for about four weeks now, according to data gathered from wastewater monitoring, test positivity rates and hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Taken together, the figures offer researchers and public health officials the first glimpse of the coronavirus as a post-pandemic, seasonal threat, a permanent fixture of the infectious disease landscape. (Mandavilli, 8/2)

Yahoo Life: Does Anyone Care About COVID Vaccine Cards Anymore?
Coronavirus cases are ticking back up in the U.S., but experts say it’s unlikely we’ll return to the era when COVID vaccine cards functioned like IDs to enter restaurants, see a show or board an international flight. So can we finally clean out our wallets and say sayonara to those little white cards? Here's what experts say. (Corey, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Nose Picking Linked To Higher Risk Of Contracting Covid, Study Shows 
Habitual nose picking is associated with an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus, researchers in the Netherlands found. A new study, published Wednesday in PLOS ONE, showed that nearly 85 percent of 219 health-care workers surveyed reported picking their noses with varying frequencies — monthly, weekly or daily. Of those, about 17 percent contracted the coronavirus, compared with about 6 percent of those who said they did not engage in the activity. The risk was relatively the same for all nose pickers, the researchers said, regardless of how often they did it. (Bever, 8/2)

CIDRAP: New Breath Test Shows Promise For Rapid COVID-19 Detection
A new device created by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis can detect SARS-CoV-2 in just one or two breaths and provide results in less than 1 minute. Study results are published in ACS Sensors. The test could be more accurate than at-home tests and faster than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or swab-based tests, which can take at least 15 minutes to produce results. The device, created by 3D printers, was tested using eight participants (two negative for COVID-19, six positive as indicated by PCR testing), who breathed two, four, and eight times into a flexible tube. The breath test provided no false results, with accurate results obtained after two breaths for each participant. (Soucheray, 8/2)

The Washington Post: NIH Taps Jeanne Marrazzo To Succeed Fauci As Infectious-Disease Chief 
Jeanne M. Marrazzo, a University of Alabama at Birmingham infectious-disease expert, will succeed Anthony S. Fauci this fall as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, federal officials announced Wednesday. The $6.3 billion research institute is among the largest of the 27 institutes and centers that constitute the National Institutes of Health, America’s flagship biomedical agency. NIAID is also particularly prominent given its involvement in the response to the coronavirus pandemic and other diseases; it has also received attention because of Fauci’s own high profile and Republicans’ ongoing efforts to investigate the institute’s workings. (Diamond and Roubein, 8/2)

Stat: Infectious Disease Expert Jeanne Marrazzo Assumes Fauci Role
The announcement comes roughly eight months after longtime institute director Anthony Fauci stepped down. ... Marrazzo is “very well-liked, very respected” and experienced, Fauci told STAT. “She’s going to be a good fit. It’s a great challenge that she’s going to be facing; it’s going to be exciting for her.” (Owermohle, 8/2)

Los Angeles Daily News: Wild Bats Emerging From Roosts Are Testing Positive For Rabies 
Public health officials reported last week that seven wild bats tested positive for rabies in Los Angeles County so far this summer, and more are expected as bat season gets underway. (Scauzillo, 8/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area's Santa Clara Has Mosquitoes Infected With West Nile Virus
Santa Clara County officials found mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus in portions of Milpitas and San Jose. The county’s Vector Control District said a control treatment sprayed from trucks will be used to reduce adult mosquito populations on Wednesday beginning at 10 p.m. and lasting about four hours. The area is centered at North Milpitas Boulevard and Homme Way. (Neelakandan, 8/1)

Los Angeles Times: Valley Fever Risk Increases In California After Heavy Winter Rains 
After California’s record-breaking winter rains, public health officials are warning about an increased risk for valley fever this summer. “California’s dry conditions, combined with recent heavy winter rains could result in increasing valley fever cases in the coming months,” California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Tomás Aragón said in a news release. (Lin, 8/2)

AP: Invasive Fruit Flies Have Been Found Near Los Angeles, Prompting A Produce Quarantine 
The discovery of nearly 30 invasive fruit flies has prompted a produce quarantine affecting over 79 square miles (204.6 square kilometers) of Los Angeles County as state and local officials try to stop the fly from spreading and hurting California’s fruit and vegetable industry. It’s the first quarantine ever in the Western Hemisphere for the Tau fruit fly, which is native to Asia, agriculture officials said. (Biraben, 8/2)

Bangor Daily News: Toxic ‘Foaming’ Watermelons Are Showing Up In Maine; Some Came From California
Most of the watermelons found at Maine stores come from Florida, Arizona, California, Delaware or Texas. ... A watermelon that has started foaming or leaking liquid should never be consumed, said Kathy Savoie, professor and food safety expert at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “The foaming indicates a real food safety issue,” Savoie said. “People should not knowingly bring it into their home and certainly not eat it.” (Bayly, 8/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Virtual Healthcare Has Green Benefits
Virtual doctor’s appointments are helping healthcare companies reduce carbon emissions, though sustainability is mostly seen as a side benefit of telehealth rather than its main driver. The use of telehealth picked up considerably during the Covid-19 pandemic, with virtual visits increasing 38 times from their prepandemic levels and then largely stabilizing, according to 2021 figures provided by McKinsey. At first the practice was seen mostly as a way to improve patient access and convenience while reducing costs, but as the trend stabilized, healthcare companies started viewing virtual consultations as an opportunity to improve their carbon footprint. (Butini, 8/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Nearly 90% Of Teens And Young Adults Have Mental Health Challenges
Nearly 9 out of 10 U.S. teens and young adults say they experience mental health challenges regularly, according to a national survey released Thursday by the Harris Poll and health insurer Blue Shield of California. Eighty-seven percent of people age 14 to 25 say they have mental health challenges on a regular basis, the survey found. It was conducted May 31 to June 13 and included responses from 1,368 people, including 318 in California. (Ho, 8/3)

Los Angeles Times: Desperate Families Turn To Mental Health Interventionists
Sherry Hill had lost track of her daughter, which wasn’t a surprise. She lived on the street and was so caught up in cycles of mental illness and addiction that she didn’t care that she could have a better life. The younger woman’s father had died two years ago and left her with more than enough money for housing and support. Hill and her second husband, Mel, were now administrators of the trust, and they needed to contact her. But the couple were in their 70s, living near Fresno, and in no position to start searching. (Curwen, 8/3)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Unified Clinics Offer Immunizations, Sports Physicals 
With the new school year fast approaching, the Fresno Unified School District is offering a series of pop-up health clinics. Two clinics will provide vaccinations, while two others will offer sports physicals. (Diaz, 8/2)

CalMatters: The Debate Over Flavored Medicine For CA Kids
If you’re a parent, you know how difficult it can be to get your kids to take medicine that tastes bad. Parents can remedy this by requesting their children’s prescription medicine to be flavored at the 3,000 pharmacies in California that are able to do so. But an unintended consequence of a 2019 law may make this long-standing practice run afoul with not only a nationwide standard, but also with the federal government. (La, 8/2)

San Diego Union-Tribune: This San Diego Startup 3-D Printed A Prosthetic Limb That Helps 12-Year-Old Get Back In The Water
In June, Jonah Villamil hopped on a surfboard with two legs for the first time in three years. He was testing the water with a new, 3-D-printed prosthetic leg. Jonah calls it his “DNA leg” because of its twisty structure. (Rocha, 8/3)

Bay Area News Group: California Foster Youth Get Extra Money For College
Less than a year into community college, Elizabeth Clews felt like she had reached a breaking point. After five years in the foster care system, the 20-year-old felt like she was completely on her own, balancing a full course load, her 6-month-old son Ezra, and the retail job at Levi’s keeping them both afloat. (Miolene, 8/3)

Stat: Uninsured Rate Hits ‘Record Low’ — Right Before Millions Start Losing Medicaid Coverage
Roughly 7.7% of Americans didn’t have any health insurance as of this past March — a “record low” uninsured rate, according to the latest health insurance survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, that uninsured rate — which still translated to more than 25 million Americans with no health coverage — is almost certainly higher now. That’s because the data don’t include the millions of low-income Americans who have lost the Medicaid coverage they gained during the pandemic. (Herman, 8/3)

NPR: Medicaid Drops Nearly 4 Million People Since Pandemic Protections Expired
At least 3.7 million people have lost Medicaid, according to reports from 41 states and the District of Columbia, KFF reports. And 74% of people, on average, are losing coverage for "paperwork reasons," says Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform at KFF. She described some of those reasons. "They didn't get the renewal notice in time. They didn't understand what they needed to do," says Tolbert. "Or they submitted the documents, but the state was unable to process those documents before their coverage was ended." (Simmons-Duffin, 8/3)

Los Angeles Daily News: Proposal For Emergency Assistance Program For LA Renters Advances 
A proposal to launch an emergency assistance program and provide other resources for Los Angeles tenants at risk of eviction for failure to pay back rent due from the first 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic advanced out of a City Council committee on Wednesday, Aug. 2, one day after a major deadline for Angelenos to repay rent owed. (Tat, 8/3)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Council Gives City Manager Power To Open Homeless Sites 
Sacramento City Council narrowly voted Tuesday to give City Manager Howard Chan a controversial power — the ability to open new sanctioned homeless campgrounds without council approval. It’s an atypical way for the city to open homeless shelter projects, which can include months of public meetings, controversial City Council votes and sometimes vocal opposition from neighbors of proposed sites. (Clift, 8/2)