Becker's Hospital Review: California Hospitals Plan Labor And Delivery Closures
Two California hospitals are moving forward with plans to suspend labor and delivery services this fall, according to local news reports. Hemet (Calif.) Global Medical Center, a 327-bed facility, plans to close its labor and delivery department this fall. ... Births and intensive care services at the 49-bed Santa Paula (Calif.) Hospital are scheduled to end on Oct. 15, pending approval by state officials, according to the Ventura County Star. (Gamble, 8/27)

Becker's Hospital Review: Adventist Taps President For New Service Area
Adventist Health has appointed a leader for its new service area model in Southern California, according to a news release from the Roseville, Calif.-based health system. Alice Issai, president of Adventist Health Glendale (Calif.), was named president of Adventist Health's new Glendale and Simi Valley service area. In her new role, she will oversee the integrated operations of the 515-bed Glendale facility and the 144-bed hospital Adventist Health Simi Valley (Calif.). (Gooch, 8/26)

CalMatters: Democrats Say Newsom Staff ‘Inflated’ Cost Of Mental Health Bills
Lawmakers and advocates say Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is making inflated estimates about the cost of legislation, with some suggesting his subordinates have been trying to kill the bills without making the governor politically accountable for the outcome. “While people are dying on the streets from a lack of access to behavioral health care treatment, state agencies continue to fabricate exorbitant cost estimates,” Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, told CalMatters after one of his mental health proposals died recently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. (Sabalow and Wiener, 8/27)

Modern Healthcare: Insurance Navigators To Receive $100M Ahead Of Open Enrollment
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will grant $100 million to 44 organizations tasked with helping people sign up for insurance coverage during open enrollment on the exchanges. The agency plans to distribute up to $500 million over the next five years. (Early, 8/26)

Modern Healthcare: Where Medicare, Medicaid DSH Payment Lawsuits Stand
Hospitals and the federal government have been engaged in years of back-and-forth legal battles over billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid payments meant to support providers that treat large numbers of low-income patients. These disputes about Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share hospital, or DSH, payments have found their way to the Supreme Court before and will again as different judges reach different conclusions. (Early, 8/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: New COVID Vaccines Are Available. When Should You Get Your Shot?
School’s back in session and the pumpkin spice lattes are flowing. You know what that means: Time to get another COVID shot. The FDA approved new formulations for this fall’s vaccine last week, and they are already starting to roll out in the Bay Area. The updated shots are tailored to target the so-called FLiRT variants that have dominated the U.S. in recent months: Summer may be ending, but the “summer surge” is still going strong. (Roy, 8/27)

Voice of OC: Tackling Health Gaps In OC’s South Asian, Middle Eastern And North African Communities
In the midst of a global pandemic, local health officials and statewide health experts admitted a lack of data on the Middle East and North African community made it impossible to see what impact COVID-19 had on those residents. Around that same time, the Orange County Health Care Agency launched a $20 million Center for Disease Control funded initiative – dubbed Equity in OC – to help address COVID disparities and health inequities in underserved and multicultural communities. (Elattar, 8/26)

Reuters: Zuckerberg Says Biden Administration Pressured Meta To Censor COVID-19 Content 
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said senior officials in the Biden administration had pressured his social media company to censor COVID-19 content during the pandemic, adding that he would push back if this were to happen again. In a letter dated Aug. 26, Zuckerberg told the judiciary committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that he regretted not speaking up about this pressure earlier, as well as some decisions the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had made around removing certain content. (8/27)

Reuters: Google Defeats RFK Jr's Appeal To Restore Anti-Vaccine Videos, For Now 
Former U.S. presidential hopeful and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Monday lost his bid in a U.S. court to force Google’s YouTube to restore two videos the platform removed for allegedly violating its policies on medical misinformation. In a brief order, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a lower court judge properly denied Kennedy’s request for a court order compelling the Alphabet unit to restore the videos it removed in 2023. (Scarcella, 8/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: West Nile Virus Hit Fauci. Here’s Where It’s Now Found In California
West Nile virus infection, the mosquito-borne disease that landed Dr. Anthony Fauci in the hospital this month, has been reported in 31 states, including California — where two Bay Area residents recently died after contracting the virus. Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who became the face of the U.S. COVID-19 response, is recovering at home after being hospitalized for around 10 days for a West Nile virus infection — which he described as the most ill he’s ever been. (Ho, 8/26)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Will Pay Nearly $40 Million For Allegedly Misusing Federal Grants
The city of Los Angeles will pay nearly $40 million for misusing federal housing grants when it created affordable housing that was not accessible to people with disabilities, according to an announcement Monday from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The settlement is the culmination of a years-long legal fight in which federal officials accused the city of systematically failing to comply with rules that require that affordable housing that is built with federal grants be accessible to people with disabilities. (Esquivel, 8/26)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Closes Camp Resolution That Housed Homeless Seniors
In a first-of-its kind operation, Sacramento police officials Monday declared a homeless camp a crime scene, enclosed it with caution tape, then broke through a metal gate with bulldozers and welding equipment. It marked the end of Camp Resolution, a tight-knit camp comprised largely of disabled seniors the city is now calling a “failed experiment.” (Clift and Poukish, 8/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here's How S.F. Nightlife Is Responding To The Fentanyl Crisis
It’s a busy Saturday night at Oasis, but drag queen Kochina Rude wants to make a public health announcement. “How many of y’all have ever heard of harm reduction before?” she yells out to the crowd during intermission for her weekly drag show, “Princess.” Then she begins distributing Narcan, the brand name of overdose reversal drug naloxone, from silver platters into the crowd. Using do-it-yourself diagrams she provides her audience with life-saving knowledge and materials — in less than five minutes. (Harvey, 8/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: How To Prevent Drug Overdose In San Francisco Nightlife
As fentanyl makes its way into club drugs, it’s important for San Francisco partygoers to be prepared in the case of accidental overdose — whether they plan to use or not. Fortunately, the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, better known by the brand name Narcan, is becoming increasingly available both over the counter and in San Francisco nightlife. Together with test strips, which allow users to check their drugs for the presence of fentanyl, the lifesaving drug allows for safer substance use in a live event setting. (Harvey, 8/27)

NBC News: Lilly Slashes Prices On Two Lowest Doses Of Zepbound — If You're Willing To Give Up Injector Pen
Drugmaker Eli Lilly is significantly lowering the prices of the two lowest doses of its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound, it said Tuesday, in a move to expand access and ease supply constraints. Two key changes to how people get and use the cheaper medicine, however, might not be appealing to some patients. Under the new pricing plan, a month’s supply of the lowest dose, 2.5 milligrams, will cost $399, while a month’s supply of the 5 mg dose will cost $549. That’s down from a monthly list price of $1,059, regardless of the dosage. (Lovelace Jr., 8/27)

Stat: Continuous Glucose Monitoring For The Masses Is Here. Are We Ready?
Glucose tracking is the future, Dexcom executives gushed at a glitzy launch event for their new, over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor on Wednesday evening. Surrounded by champagne, new celebrity ambassador and “Parks and Rec” actress Retta, and a mini-pickleball court, CEO Kevin Sayer declared victory. (Palmer and Lawrence, 8/26)

The Washington Post: How Stem Cell Therapy Freed A Woman From Diabetes 
Scientists are making progress replacing the critical insulin-producing cells that are destroyed by the disease. (Johnson, 8/26)

Los Angeles Times: Why Mental Health Care Can Be A Struggle For Autistic Youth
In April, a group of Orange County parents flew to Sacramento to attend a conference hosted by Disability Voices United, an advocacy group for people with disabilities and their families. They wanted to emphasize three issues to state officials at the event: the paucity of mental health care for children with developmental disabilities, the confusing mess of government systems meant to help them, and the gaps in availability of day-to-day caregiving. (Alpert Reyes, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: An Autistic Teen Needed Help. His Mom Was Left With An Agonizing Decision. 
Christine LyBurtus was aching and fearful of what might happen when her 13-year-old son returned home. Noah had been sent to Children’s Hospital of Orange County for a psychiatric hold lasting up to 72 hours after he punched at walls, flipped over a table, ripped out a chunk of his mother’s hair and tried to break a car window. “There’s nothing else to call it except a psychotic episode,” LyBurtus said. (Alpert Reyes, 8/27)

ProPublica: What Mental Health Care Protections Exist In Your State?
California’s law requires insurers to follow generally accepted standards of care for mental health and substance use conditions, forcing them to rely on evidence-based sources that establish criteria, such as nonprofit professional organizations or peer-reviewed studies. The state also barred insurers from covering only the treatment of short-term or acute symptoms, such as crisis stabilization, instead of the underlying condition, like chronic depression. (Waldman and Miller, 8/27)

The New York Times: Why California Is Considering Banning Food Dyes In Schools
For decades, researchers have been trying to answer a hotly contested question: Do the synthetic dyes used to add vibrant colors to foods like certain breakfast cereals, candies, snacks and baked goods cause behavioral issues in children? A bill before the California Senate, which is expected to come to a vote this week, has reignited the debate. If passed, it would prohibit K-12 public schools in California from offering foods containing six dyes — Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6 and Red No. 40. (Callahan, 8/26)

The Oaklandside: Oakland’s Measure NN Aims To Fund Police, Fire, And Violence Prevention
For the Nov. 5 election, Oakland voters will decide on three measures, one of which would renew a tax that’s been used for years to pay for police, firefighters, and violence prevention. Officially called the Oakland Community Violence Reduction and Emergency Response Act of 2024, Measure NN would help fund the Oakland Police Department, Fire Department, and violence reduction services like the Department of Violence Prevention by increasing an existing property tax and parking tax surcharge for nine years. (Romero, 8/26)

Bay Area News Group: Drinking-Water Safety A Hot Topic In Pleasanton Leading Into November Elections
A costly project to replace drinking wells closed due to contamination is moving forward, as the issue of safe drinking water bubbles to the top of the city’s election buzz. (Martin, 8/27)