Becker's Hospital Review: Kaiser To Cut 52 Jobs In California
Kaiser Permanente plans to cut 52 California positions, most tied to its Educational Theatre outreach initiative, which uses arts-based learning to promote health and wellness. ... The affected positions are in Los Angeles, Oakland, Pleasanton, Sun Valley, Corona, San Mateo and San Jose, with an effective date of March 22, according to WARN notices filed Jan. 22 with the state. (Gooch, 1/27)

Becker's Hospital Review: Children's Hospital Los Angeles Adds Sickle Cell Treatment
Children's Hospital Los Angeles added a 10th cell and gene therapy treatment for children, adolescents and young adults with serious medical conditions. The newest gene therapy treatment, Casgevy, treats sick cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. Its addition means that CHLA provides the most cell and gene therapy treatments for pediatrics on the West Coast, according to a Jan. 27 system news release. (Taylor, 1/27)

Becker's Hospital Review: 15 Hospitals Chosen For Heart Failure Education Program
In partnership with Abbott, the American Heart Association has launched a $3 million initiative to address knowledge gaps found within heart failure treatment education that may be contributing to cardiovascular care disparities. The AHA has chosen 15 U.S. hospitals [including the University of California San Diego] to participate in the three-year Heart Failure Education Initiative, according to a Jan. 27 news release from the organization. (Gregerson, 1/27)

Becker's Hospital Review: GLP-1s Are Reshaping Cardiovascular Care: Cedars-Sinai
Cedars-Sinai experts are advocating for patients to have access to GLP-1 medications such as semaglutide as a key component to caring for and preventing cardiovascular disease. Physicians are now able to improve multiple "downstream" conditions, such as heart disease, by prescribing one medication "upstream," according to a Jan. 10 news release from Los Angeles-based Cedars Sinai. (Gregerson, 1/27)

Fierce Healthcare: Independent Pharmacies Weigh Stocking Price Negotiated Drugs
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NPCA) is warning the feds that independent pharmacists are likely to face significant financial hardship due to Medicare drug price negotiations. In comments submitted on the latest Medicare advance notice, the organization says it conducted a survey of 8,000 pharmacy owners and managers about the drug price negotiation program and found that 93.2% have either decided not to stock drugs under negotiation or are considering not stocking these products. (Minemyer, 1/28)

Bay Area News Group: Moss Landing Battery Fire: Unusually High Concentrations Of Toxic Metals Found In Wetlands Near Plant
Lithium battery fires burn at high temperatures and are difficult to put out. As a result, fire fighters did not battle the blaze and allowed it to burn out. The fire spread a large cloud of toxic smoke across the area near the border of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, and has raised questions about safety in other communities where battery storage plants are planned. The plants are key to storing electricity from solar and wind power to use at night, allowing California to continue to move from fossil fuels to renewable energy. (Rogers, 1/28)

Los Angeles Times: A Blind Boy Went Viral After The L.A. Fires. What Happens To Him Now?
Grayson Roberts is tired of telling this story. The 10-year-old stood outside the only home he’d ever known — a home he could traverse in total darkness, whose every floorboard and door jamb he knew like the back of his hand. The last time he’d stood there, the Eaton fire was bearing down on his Altadena neighborhood. Now, all that remained of the ephemera of his young life was a single, tarnished cymbal from his drum set. (Sharp, 1/28)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Is Preparing For Its Annual Homelessness Census With Federal Aid At Stake 
With federal funding on the line and a president in office who wants to upend longstanding homelessness policies, more than a 1,000 people around San Diego County are again preparing to tally how many fellow residents do not have permanent housing. (Nelson, 1/27)

Capital & Main: Under A New Law, California Schools Hope Insurance Changes Lead To More Student Therapy
In rural Redding, California, between Sacramento and the Oregon border, many students arrive at primary schools anxious or angry or not having eaten or slept. Children and adults in the region were reported to have higher rates of traumatic experiences than those in any other part of the state. Schools can provide students food, a place to rest and clinics for vision, hearing and dental care, as well as vaccines. But one medical intervention — therapy — is limited, despite widespread student interest. (Sánchez-Tello, 1/27)

The Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Unified Partners With Coachella's Blue Zones Initiative Aimed At Healthy Living
Could oatmeal tamales, tofu ceviche and other plant-based options be on the menu for Coachella Valley Unified School District students in the future? In partnership with the city of Coachella's Blue Zones Project, the district will join the initiative to improve its students' health and well-being through its nutritional services. (Cortez, 1/24)

Stat: Trump Orders Pause On Federal Grants, Loans 
The White House’s budget office ordered government agencies to pause grants and loans on a host of government programs, the latest in a freeze on federal action that has upended health agencies. The internal memo, sent on Monday, explicitly targets gender-affirming care and global financial assistance, citing two of President Trump’s priorities during his campaign and his initial storm of executive orders on Inauguration Day. (Owermohle, 1/27)

Bay Area News Group: Pause On Communications From Federal Health Agencies Sparks Concern In The Bay Area 
The California Department of Public Health said in a statement that they “typically don’t speculate on the potential impacts of a new federal administration,” but are “committed to protecting Californians’ access to the critical services and programs they need.” “California will continue to work collaboratively with our federal partners to ensure that families in our state are healthy and our communities are vibrant places to live and work,” the statement said. (Hase, 1/28)

Stat: NIH Eases Restrictions On Staff After Trump Freeze Sparked Chaos 
The National Institutes of Health’s myriad divisions can start new work on mission-critical research, and continue working on ongoing studies, but cannot publicly communicate about them until the new Trump administration lifts a communications freeze, the acting director said in a memo to leaders of the agency’s 27 institutes and centers on Monday. (Owermohle, 1/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Trump's Border Plans Unfurl In San Diego With Immigration Arrests, Troops
President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration has begun to take shape in San Diego County, as federal agents launched targeted operations to arrest undocumented immigrants and a wave of military troops got to work reinforcing U.S.-Mexico border barriers. (Mendoza and Riggins, 1/27)

Bay Area News Group: After ICE Operation In Bay Area, Officials Pledge To Defend Immigrants
Amid heightened fears over President Donald Trump’s threats of mass deportations across the Bay Area and the nation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials conducted an operation Sunday in the city. The San Jose Police Department was notified that ICE would be carrying out the operation. Mayor Matt Mahan, in a Monday statement, said the department would not assist with ICE operations “in any way.” (Pender, 1/28)

The Washington Post: Trump Order Targets Transgender Troops And ‘Radical Gender Ideology’ 
President Donald Trump on Monday night issued an executive order targeting transgender service members and an array of other people, saying that the U.S. military has been “afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists” and that “many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty.” The list of conditions identified could affect tens of thousands of people depending on how it is interpreted. It cites diagnoses “that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization.” (Lamothe, Ryan and Horton, 1/28)

NBC News: When Is A Person's Sex Determined? Trump Has No Conception, Experts Say
On his first day back in power, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on gender that essentially states that males become males and females become female “at conception.” But that, medical experts say, is wrong. All fertilized eggs or embryos are filled with both male Y and female X chromosomes, and the gender doesn’t reveal itself until weeks later, they said. And even then, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether it’s a girl, a boy, or a baby with the sexual characteristics of both. (Siemaszko, 1/27)

The Hill: Donald Trump To Reinstate Service Members Dismissed For COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal
Service members dismissed from the military for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will be reinstated with full back pay and benefits under an executive order President Trump is expected to sign Monday. ... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also vowed to reinstate military members dismissed over the COVID-19 shot, saying during his confirmation hearing that those service members “will be apologized to. They will be reinstated, reinstituted with pay and rank.” (Weixel, 1/27)

Los Angeles Blade: Senate Confirms Gay Treasury Secretary Nominee Scott Bessent
The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, openly gay hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. The nominee was confirmed by vote of 68-29. He will be the second openly gay man to serve in the Cabinet, after Biden-Harris administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and in a Cabinet-level office, after Obama-Biden administration Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and Trump-Pence administration Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell. (Kane, 1/28)

Stat: Analyzing RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Plans Ahead Of Hearings For Top Trump Health Role
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has insisted he doesn’t want to take away vaccines  —  he just wants to make sure they’re safe.   But he has already sketched out a blueprint that could subject recommended vaccines to renewed scrutiny, redirect research, strip legal protections for vaccine makers, and change how vaccines are advertised. (Zhang and Owermohle, 1/28)

Politico: RFK Jr. Says He’s Open To Seizing Drug Patents
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed openness to adopting a key progressive proposal for lowering drug prices during a closed-door meeting with Senate Finance Committee staffers, according to three people familiar with the exchange, who were granted anonymity to speak freely about private discussions. President Donald Trump’s health secretary nominee last week indicated he’d consider authorizing the government to seize the patents of high-priced medicines from manufacturers and share them with other drug makers as a way to force down costs, said the three people. (Cai and Cancryn, 1/27)

Politico: ‘A Sign Of A Sickness’: Abortion Opponents Grapple With RFK Jr. Nomination
The nation’s leading anti-abortion groups are holding their fire in the battle over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the government’s health agencies, despite harboring serious concerns about his past support for abortion rights. Their reluctance to oppose Kennedy stems in part from the deference the anti-abortion movement feels it owes Trump after he nominated the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and took a slew of anti-abortion actions last week. (Payne and Ollstein, 1/27)