‘The Bottom Dropped Out Overnight’: Hospitals Reeling From Pandemic’s Financial Blow: California hospital revenue plummeted by more than a third in the first four months of the pandemic as costs to care for coronavirus patients rose, a shocking financial blow that threatens to raise health care prices, according to a recent report. The report, published Wednesday by the California Health Care Foundation, said hospital revenue fell by a cumulative $13 billion from March to June — a 37% reduction from pre-coronavirus levels — as state and local shelter-in-place orders nearly eliminated surgeries and halved emergency room visits. Even with some patients now returning to hospitals as restrictions ease, dire financial losses persist. The report projected that beyond immediate financial losses, the state’s economic recession could reshape health care as jobless Californians lose employer-sponsored coverage and shift to either Medi-Cal or stay uninsured, which means less reimbursement for hospitals. Read more from Mallory Moench of the San Francisco Chronicle.
California Legislature’s Alternate Budget Plan Would Delay Deepest Cuts On Presumption Of Federal Aid: Senate and Assembly leaders issued a joint budget proposal Wednesday, unifying the Legislature against billions in cuts proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a deadline looms to pass a spending plan for California. The legislative proposal closely resembles a framework put forward by the Senate last week, which would delay cuts for months in anticipation of federal bailout. If that aid does not come, the state would dip further into reserves and defer payments to future years to avoid severe reductions to education and safety-net programs. Negotiations with Newsom, who proposed steep cuts to close a projected $54 billion deficit brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, are ongoing. The Legislature must pass a balanced budget by June 15 or forgo its pay. Read more from Alexei Koseff of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
CalMatters:
Southeast Los Angeles County Hit Hard By Pandemic
About 41% of residents of southeast LA County are essential workers, but they lack access to testing, a new survey shows. Nearly all are Latino, and many have less than $500 in emergency savings. (Garcia, 6/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Child-Abuse Reports Are Falling, And That’s Bad News For Children
Sitting inside the San Diego children’s hospital, Shalon Nienow said she was awestruck recently as she watched a parent re-enact the abuse that sent an infant to the emergency room—shaking, punching, slapping and slamming the child against a piece of furniture. “It was the most violent force I’ve watched somebody demonstrate,” said Dr. Nienow, medical clinical director at the Chadwick Center at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. (Paul and Elinson, 6/4)
San Jose Mercury News:
Poll: Most Californians Don't Support Easing Restrictions
As counties across California allow stores and restaurants to reopen amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, most in the state don’t think easing restrictions is a good idea. According to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, fewer than three in 10 people believe decreasing restrictions on physical activity is the right move. While 46 percent say they want about the same number of restrictions, a quarter want more restrictions. In the Bay Area, specifically, just 28 percent want fewer restrictions. (Deruy, 6/3)
Ventura County Star:
Area Doctors Predict Coronavirus Increase, Debating Reopening Timeline
Several doctors in Ventura County say they expect COVID-19 numbers to increase as more restrictions are eased with some saying they are conflicted on whether the state and the region are reopening too quickly. California officials gave the go-ahead last week for churches, barbershops and hair salons to open with restrictions. Several days earlier, they allowed counties that met certain standards, including Ventura, to reopen seated dining at restaurants, also enabling some retailers to allow customers back in stores. (Kisken, 6/3)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Kaiser Health Care Workers In East Bay Stage Walkout, Take A Knee In Support Of Protesters
Hundreds of health care workers from Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the East Bay staged concurrent walkouts on Wednesday afternoon to stand in solidarity with George Floyd. The protests were organized Dr. Matthew S. Schechter, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Oakland Medical Center, who sent an email Tuesday to health care managers within the Kaiser system describing the action as a grassroots event. (Vaziri, 6/3)
The Associated Press:
1.9 Million Seek Jobless Aid Even As Reopenings Slow Layoffs
Nearly 1.9 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, the ninth straight decline since applications spiked in mid-March, a sign that the gradual reopening of businesses has slowed the loss of jobs. The diminishing pace suggests that the job market meltdown that was triggered by the coronavirus may have bottomed out as more companies call at least some of their former employees back to work. (6/4)
Los Angeles Times:
USC To Reopen Its Fall With Online And In-Person Classes
USC will bring students back to campus for the fall semester amid the coronavirus crisis with several safety measures that include both online and in-person classes, more spacing in dorms and testing for COVID-19, President Carol L. Folt announced Tuesday night. The highly anticipated decision was certain to hearten many students, many of whom found online learning alienating, and their families who balked at paying USC’s $58,000 annual tuition and fees for classes on computers. Some students — like others throughout the country — were considering taking a gap year if USC did not resume in-person classes. (Watanabe, 6/2)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Deaf, Hard Of Hearing Say Face Masks Cut Off Communication
Clark Brooke signed the word “fast” in American Sign Language while shaping his lips to indicate “very fast.”Then he put on a cloth face mask and made the same sign.“Now you’re losing that facial expression, the mouth emphasis,” he said in ASL through an interpreter. “The face provides the tones and emphasis for ASL. You cannot remove it and just sign.” (Said, 6/4)
Los Angeles Times:
California Town Declared Itself 'Sanctuary City For Business'
The leaders of Atwater had just declared it a “sanctuary city” for businesses in defiance of California stay-at-home orders when they showed up at the future home of Jessie Chauhan’s Rapid XPress Car Wash. They came last month to the dirt lot by Highway 99 for a cheery civic ceremony that felt extra symbolic in the midst of a pandemic that has wrecked the economy: A groundbreaking ceremony. Chauhan, who also owns a car wash in nearby Merced, had been requiring employees to wear masks and have their temperatures taken. (Branson-Potts, 6/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco Comes Up With List Of 42 Potential Safe Homeless Campsites
Two San Francisco city departments have identified 42 parcels of public land that could be used as sites for sanctioned tent camps during the COVID-19 pandemic. The city’s Real Estate Division and the Recreation and Park Department produced two lists of potential locations for what the city calls “safe sleeping sites” at the request of Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer. (Fracassa, 6/3)
Bay Area News Group:
After Months Of Complaints, Cupertino Homeless Camp To Get Toilet
After a handful of homeless residents have spent months in camps along Wolfe Road without bathrooms or running water in the midst of a pandemic, city officials said they’re taking steps this week to provide basic hygiene services. The city will start regular trash pick-up there this week, and is working on installing a portable toilet and hand-washing station at the site, City Manager Deborah Feng told council members Tuesday night, as she gave an update on the city’s COVID-19 response. Details about the toilet and hand-washing station had not been finalized — Feng said the city is working with a partner on the project, but wouldn’t say who the partner is. But Feng hopes to have both installed by the end of the week. (Kendall, 6/3)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Cal Expo Using ‘Less Invasive’ COVID-19 Test Swab
Some people have described the COVID-19 test as akin to doctors poking and swabbing for brain cells. Now, the Sacramento County COVID-19 testing site at Cal Expo is using a new “less invasive” method to encourage people who were avoiding the test because of the potential discomfort. (Yoon-Hendricks, 6/3)
CalMatters:
COVID And Kids: A New Inflammatory Syndrome Poses Safety Challenge For Schools, Day Care
A rare but serious syndrome linked to coronavirus is striking California children, with cases rising across the country. The discovery comes as the state grapples with how kids can safely return to group settings. (Aguilera, 6/3)
Ventura County Star:
Coronavirus Update: 26 New Cases, Indoor Malls Can Reopen
Ventura County recorded 26 new cases and one additional death caused by coronavirus on Wednesday as county officials allowed indoor shopping malls to fully reopen. The 26 positive cases represented roughly 3% of the 774 tests added to the county total. The county now sits at 1,190 positive cases of the virus out of 29,141 people tested, according to public health data. (Childs, 6/3)
The Desert Sun:
Riverside County Reports 148 New Coronavirus Cases, 3 New Deaths Wednesday
Riverside County reported 148 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, increasing the county's total to 8,303 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The county also reported 3 additional deaths, bringing the county's virus-related death toll to 345. Riverside County has the second highest confirmed cases of any county in the state behind Los Angeles County at 57,118 cases and 2,443 deaths. San Diego County has the third highest at 7,674 cases and 276 deaths. (Blueskye, 6/3)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: June 3 Daily COVID-19 Stats Around Bay Area
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in some Bay Area counties grew modestly Wednesday, and there was only two deaths added to the overall total. One of those came in Santa Clara County, which has recorded 144 deaths since the pandemic began, the most of any county in Northern California. The other came in Contra Costa County, which brought its total back to 38. (Hurd and Ross, 6/3)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County CA Adds 30 New COVID-19 Cases. Now At 1,944
Fresno County has added 30 new coronavirus infections to its total of 1,944 cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic, health officials said in the Wednesday afternoon update. The county did not report any deaths Wednesday, the day after the total rose by one to 37 fatal cases. Of the deaths in Fresno County, 22 have been attributed to an outbreak at the Dycora Transitional Health and Living in Fresno. (Miller, 6/3)
Fresno Bee:
COVID-19 Aid Not Much Of A Help To Fresno’s Small Farmers
The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture has released the single largest payment program for farmers in American history. The $16 billion “Coronavirus Food Assistance Program” (CFAP) was announced as a significant investment in the country’s farmers who have been significantly impacted by shuttered restaurants, closed farmers markets, distribution problems and other disrupted markets. And yet most California small and historically underserved farmers — who grow a wide variety of fruit, vegetable, and nut crops — will be lucky if they see a penny of it. (Xiong and Towers, 6/3)
The Bakersfield Californian:
State Board Puts Local Doctor On Probation Following Patient's Death After Giving Birth
A local OB-GYN will begin five years of probation later this month following a state investigation into the death of one of his patients in September 2016. The doctor, Arthur Park, cannot work in a hospital setting, practice obstetrics or perform surgery while on probation, according to a settlement decision published on the Medical Board of California's website. Park may provide prenatal care but only under the supervision of another doctor and only during certain periods of a woman's pregnancy. He's allowed to continue practicing gynecology during his probationary period. (Shepard, 6/3)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Why Vallejo Is Now The Center Of Unrest In Bay Area Over Police Treatment Of Blacks
Alicia Saddler couldn’t contain her anger. “What are you going to do?” she shouted as Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams attempted on Wednesday to answer questions about the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa. According to police, Monterrosa was allegedly looting a Walgreens when he was shot early Tuesday morning. It’s not a story Saddler believes. (Taylor, 6/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Videos Capture L.A. Police Violence, Aggression Amid Demonstrations
In one video, at least eight Los Angeles police officers surround a woman lying in a Hollywood street as the buzz of a Taser fills the air. People scream from apartment balconies for the officers, who appear to be firing the stun gun at the woman, to stop. (Queally, Rector and Winton, 6/4)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Study: Gun Owners At Greater Risk Of Suicide Than Non-Owners
California residents who own handguns are four times more likely to commit suicide than their neighbors who don’t own them, according to a study led by California researchers and released Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Firearm owners were not more likely to die of other causes than non-owners,” said the study’s lead author, David Studdert, a professor of both medicine and the law at Stanford University. “As a matter of fact, they were a little bit less likely.“ (Anderson, 6/4)