San Francisco Chronicle: Three Arrested For Allegedly Kidnapping Patient From Novato Hospital
Police arrested three people accused of kidnapping a 60-year-old patient and assaulting a nurse at a Novato hospital late Saturday morning, officials said. Police said that three people entered the medical facility through the back of the building around 11 a.m., abducted a patient and assaulted a nurse who tried to stop them. The suspects then fled in a car toward South Novato Boulevard, police said. (Burke, 2/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Stanford Medicine Children's Health Promotes COO To President
Rick Majzun, executive vice president and COO at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Medicine Children's Health, was promoted to president and COO. In this new role, he will have increased involvement with the strategic, operational, regulatory, and financial management of the organization, according to a Feb. 18 health system news release. (Gooch, 2/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Cedars-Sinai Launches Art Exhibit Supporting Wildfire-Impacted Artists
Cedars-Sinai is turning art into aid with the Recover Art Exhibit and Sale, a special event designed to support Los Angeles-based artists and art workers affected by January’s destructive wildfires. Running Feb. 20–22 at the Cedars-Sinai Thalians Health Center, this public exhibition will showcase over 100 works of art available for purchase, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the artists. Before the public opening, Cedars-Sinai donors and employees will have an exclusive chance to view and buy pieces from Feb. 18–19. (Falvey, 2/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Healthcare Execs Confront Safety As A Purpose
Surveying the U.S. healthcare landscape, some leaders are wondering, what if safety was valued as a purpose, rather than a priority? ... When asked to describe the difference between safety as a priority and safety as a purpose, leaders from UCSF Health, M Health Fairview, Inova Health System and Jefferson Health told Becker's that while priorities are important, they can deprioritize other plans, or even be deprioritized themselves. (Twenter, 2/18)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Opens Resource Centers For People Who Lost Work In The Fires
On Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass touted the opening of four new resource centers to assist Angelenos who have lost income because of the catastrophic wildfires. The centers, which were opened in partnership with L.A. County, offer a one-stop location where people affected by the fires can access relief funds, get help with job placement and training, look for temporary employment and apply for small business loans. They can also access emergency shelter and rental assistance and get help filing taxes at the centers, among other services. (Wick, 2/18)

Los Angeles Times: FireAid Distributes First $50 Million To L.A. Wildfire Relief Groups
The organizers of the massive FireAid benefit concert have announced the first round of grants from the estimated $100 million the show raised in January. ... These grants will prioritize immediate recovery services for displaced residents, workers, small-business owners and first responders, including food aid, child care and healthcare services, housing and rental relief, and legal resources for navigating government benefits. (Brown, 2/18)

Los Angeles Daily News: LA County Approves Six-Month Rent Moratorium For Tenants, Workers Affected By Fires 
Eviction protections for those impacted by the recent Los Angeles County fires were given first approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night, Feb. 18, after much debate surrounding the measure. Low-income renters who have lost their jobs as a result of the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires will be shielded from evictions after being unable to pay rent, as long as they show evidence of income loss due to the fires. (Scauzillo, 2/18)

CalMatters: How Can CA Prepare Disabled Households For The Next Wildfire?
When strong winds shattered the windows on the top floor of Nancy Busacca’s Pasadena home, Michelle Hollis knew it was time to go. Hollis, Busacca’s caretaker for the past year, packed the essentials. She tried to remain as calm as possible so as not to frighten Busacca, who, weakened by esophageal cancer, could not walk. As flames neared the home, Hollis first worried about smoke inhalation because Busacca used supplemental oxygen. At the same time, Hollis tried to figure out how she would lift Busacca into her SUV. Luckily, a second caregiver who had wrapped up her overnight shift had stayed to help. (Ibarra, 2/19)

The Bakersfield Californian: Native American Health Group To Break Ground On Transitional Housing
Construction is set to begin next month on 54 new units of transitional behavioral health housing thanks to an initiative from the Bakersfield American Indian Health Project. "It's intended to take people off the street and house them," said Angel Galvez, CEO of the health project. "It's not just emergency housing, it's really a three-year program," Galvez said. "They really want us to reduce homelessness by concentrating on the core issues of whatever led them to become homeless and get them to a three-year point where they become self-sufficient." (Segall, 2/18)

Voice of OC: Buena Park Bans Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers
Buena Park is the latest city to ban gas-powered lawn equipment, with city officials laying the groundwork last week to slowly phase residents, businesses and city employees alike into using electric lawn mowers, leaf blowers, trimmers and other gardening appliances. ... Councilwoman Susan Sonne ... added that the ordinance helps address “valid concerns about our dependence on fossil fuels, how those fumes affect the air that we breathe, and how the noise of that equipment impacts the quality of life for residents.” (Rios, 2/18)

Capitol Weekly: CA Scientists Could Lose Big With Trump Medical Research Cuts
California scientists took what looked like an $800 million hit last week in their efforts to develop revolutionary treatments and cures for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes. It was a jab from the Trump administration, one that generated apocalyptic predictions and mind-numbing jargon about paying bills for janitors, water, electricity, computer support and hazardous waste disposal, among other things. (Jensen, 2/19)

Los Angeles Blade: Federal Workers, Trans Service Members Cope With Trump Attacks
Since President Trump signed a series of executive orders rolling back federal worker protections, advocacy groups are ringing alarm bells signaling this could disproportionately impact more than 300,000 LGBTQ federal workers. Trump has so far signed 65 executive orders, most of which attempt to shrink the size of the federal government and restructure how it works to better suit his interests. Of those 65 executive orders passed, at least six directly target LGBTQ people, one outright bans transgender people from serving in the military, and another ends all government efforts at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). (Reberkenny, 2/18)

AP: RFK Jr. Says Panel Will Examine Childhood Vaccine Schedule 
To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation’s current vaccination schedule. But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. (Seitz, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Inside Trump’s Million-Dollar Dinners With Healthcare Executives 
First came the pharmaceutical executives. Then the insurance companies and the hospital leaders. During two months that shattered records for presidential transitions, healthcare executives wrote among the largest checks, paying millions of dollars to attend at least six different dinners with now-President Trump before he took office, according to people familiar with them. (Dawsey and Mathews, 2/18)

AP: What To Know About IFV After Trump's Executive Order 
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aiming to reduce the costs of in vitro fertilization, a medical procedure that helps people facing infertility build their families. “Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000,” the order said. “Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence.” (Ungar, 2/18)

Axios: Trump's Order May Rekindle IVF Debate Among Conservatives
President Trump's order to expand access to in vitro fertilization will test Republican solidarity on an issue that split GOP ranks in the run-up to the election. Why it matters: IVF is generally enjoys broad support among Americans, including many conservatives, but at times has been problematic for some in the anti-abortion movement, who object to the destruction of surplus embryos created through the process. (Reed, 2/19)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Weighed Destroying $500 Million In Covid Tests
The Trump administration reversed a plan to shut down the government website that ships free coronavirus tests to households late Tuesday, after The Washington Post reported that the administration was preparing to end the program and was evaluating the costs of destroying or disposing of tens of millions of tests. (Sun and Johnson, 2/18)

NBC News: USDA Says It Accidentally Fired Officials Working On Bird Flu And Is Trying To Rehire Them
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that, over the weekend, it accidentally fired "several" agency employees who are working on the federal government's response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak. The agency said it is now trying to quickly reverse the firings. (Smith, Zanona and Strickler, 2/18)

AP: Layoffs Hit Many At CDC Lab Program That Was Started To Address Previous Failures
The nation’s top public health agency is losing most of the scientists in a prestigious, but lesser-known, laboratory program that has become a mainstay of outbreak responses. The fellowship program was hit hard during the layoffs coming to many federal departments. ... The program had been created about 10 years ago to help the CDC remedy embarrassing lab-safety failures. The cuts may not have an immediate impact, but they likely will haunt the nation in the months to come, said Stephan Monroe, a former CDC official who oversaw the reform of the agency’s lab services. (Stobbe, 2/19)

Axios: Updated Bird Flu Vaccine For Poultry Gets License
The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave conditional approval for an updated bird flu vaccine to protect poultry against the H5N1 strain that's stricken more than 150 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks. Why it matters: None of the current vaccines completely match the deadly strain driving the current outbreak, and officials are working to rebuild a national stockpile for use in livestock. (Bettelheim, 2/18)