San Diego Union-Tribune: Tri-City Medical Center To Reconsider Proposals From Sharp, UCSD
Nearly one year ago, a partnership agreement between UC San Diego Health and Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside fell apart, with the North County public hospital’s leadership saying it made sense to take more time and ensure that all potential suitors had been considered. ... UC San Diego Health and Sharp HealthCare have re-submitted the proposals that they first made 18 months ago, and Tri-City’s governing board will reconsider them at its next regular meeting Thursday. (Sisson, 5/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Moores Cancer Center Seeks Critical Grant Renewal Amid Federal Uncertainty
Two years after facing criticism that its clinical trials office was in “profound disarray,” UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center is pursuing renewal of a key federal grant with confidence, its new leader pointing to significant gains in local oncology research that she says show the university’s comprehensive cancer program is thriving. Dr. Diane Simeone, a well-known pancreatic cancer researcher and Moores’ executive director, worked last week to put the finishing touches on the nearly 2,000-page application filed Friday. The paperwork seeks to add another five years to its cancer center support grant from the National Cancer Institute. (Sisson, 5/27)

Becker's Hospital Review: The 'Two-Pronged' Approach Sutter Health Uses To Strengthen Its Workforce
Sutter Health is redefining what it means to empower and support healthcare workers at a time when hospitals and health systems nationwide continue to navigate workforce challenges like burnout. Becker’s connected with Deborah Yount, CHRO of Sutter Health, to learn how the health system is aligning people strategy with its care delivery mission, elevating employee engagement and tackling staffing shortages. (Ashley, 5/27)

Becker's Hospital Review: Sutter Medical Center Taps CEO, Chief Medical Executive
Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has appointed two executives.Hollie Seeley was named CEO, effective June 9, and Anup Singh, MD, was named chief medical executive, effective in mid-June. Ms. Seeley and Dr. Singh will serve in a dyad leadership structure alongside each other. (Gooch, 5/28)

Becker's Hospital Review: Stanford Medical School Dean Outlines 3 Urgent AI Priorities
Significant structural reforms to the U.S. healthcare system are required to extract the full benefits of artificial intelligence, Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine, wrote in Harvard Business Review May 27. If current flaws around care delivery and reimbursement persist, AI could amplify — rather than address — clinical inefficiencies, health inequities and misaligned incentives, according to Dr. Minor. (Bean, 5/27)

Fierce Healthcare: Hospital Lobby Steers DOJ, FTC's Regulatory Review Toward Payers
Federal policymakers interested in opening up competition within healthcare should turn their attention toward the statues and regulations incentivizing insurers’ consolidation and vertical integration. That’s the advice the American Hospital Association (AHA) gave the Trump administration in public comments submitted late last week to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Those agencies and others, including Health and Human Services, have solicited recommendations in recent months as part of the president’s 10:1 deregulation initiative. (Muoio, 5/27)

NBC News: As Costs Of Weight Loss Drugs Like Wegovy And Zepbound Go Down, How Low Can Prices Go?
The price of weight loss drugs is falling. Wegovy and Zepbound, which both sell for a list price of more than $1,000 a month, have long been out of reach for people without insurance or whose insurance refused to cover them. Among adults who take the medications, about half say it’s difficult to afford the cost, according to a May 2024 survey by the health policy group KFF. (Lovelace Jr., 5/27)

Los Angeles Times: Rep. Judy Chu And Advocates Push FEMA For More Housing Assistance For Eaton Fire Survivors
Federal agencies must do more to house struggling victims from January’s Eaton fire, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) and advocacy groups said Tuesday. ... Even with the availability of federal vouchers and other housing aid, thousands of people remain bouncing between hotel rooms, living out of their cars or in other unstable housing situations, advocates said. (Dillon, 5/27)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Emergency Management Funding, Vital To Palisades Recovery, Remains Static
Myriad calamities could hit the city of Los Angeles in coming years: Wildfires. Floods. Mudslides. Drought. And of course, the Big One. Yet this month, L.A. leaders once again balked at dramatically increasing the budget of the city’s Emergency Management Department, even as the office coordinates recovery from the Palisades fire and is tasked with helping prepare for a variety of disasters and high-profile events, such as the 2028 Summer Olympics. (Hamilton, 5/27)

EdSource: California Schools See 9% Surge In Homeless Students As Funds Decrease
The number of students experiencing homelessness who were enrolled in California’s TK-12 public schools has jumped over 9% for yet another year, even as overall enrollment rates continue on a downward trend. Nearly 20,000 more homeless students were enrolled by the first Wednesday in October, known as Census Day, during the 2024-25 school year. This increase represents a 9.3% change from the previous school year, and it means the homeless student population in the state has surged 37% in the last decade. (Márquez Rosales, 5/27)

Voice of OC: Santa Ana Considers More Inspections Of Housing For Homeless Residents
Santa Ana city officials are wrestling with whether or not to increase the number of inspections for those living in permanent supportive housing – a potential move that is already drawing weary among some city council members. Earlier this month, Councilman Phil Bacerra asked his colleagues to consider more routine inspections at supportive housing communities, making visits monthly instead of annually. (Rios, 5/27)

Sacramento Bee: 18 People In Sacramento County Were Jailed For Being Homeless
Eighteen individuals were booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail solely on charges related to being homeless over a period of four and a half weeks, an analysis of recent booking data shows. Of those people, 12 went to jail on a “fresh arrest,” with no prior warrant issued. These 18 people collectively spent more than 370 hours — more than 15 days — behind bars. About 80% of them were arrested under Sacramento City Code. (Lange, 5/28)

NPR: CDC To Stop Recommending COVID Vaccine For Kids, Pregnant Women
The federal government has removed COVID-19 vaccines from the list of shots recommended for healthy pregnant women and children, federal health officials announced Tuesday. ... The decision will make it much harder for parents to get their children vaccinated and for pregnant people to get the shots because insurance companies will likely no longer pay for them. (Stein, 5/27)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Threatens To Strip Funds To California Over Trans Youth Athletes
President Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut federal funding to California if the state continues allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. Trump blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom in an early morning post on Truth Social, saying the state under his leadership “continues to ILLEGALLY allow MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.” ... The president’s post seemed to reference A.B. Hernandez, a Jurupa Valley High School junior who won the girls’ long jump and triple jump during the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Masters Meet over the weekend. (Fry, Blume, Henson and Luna, 5/27)

California Healthline: Silence On E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety
Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination. (Armour, 5/28)

ProPublica: The USDA Ended A Program That Helps Tribes Get Healthy Food
As he has promoted the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, has lamented the toll that processed foods have taken on the health of Americans, in particular Native Americans. Prepackaged foods have “mass poisoned” tribal communities, he said last month when he met with tribal leaders and visited a Native American health clinic in Arizona. (Hudetz, 5/27)

Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Draws Ire For Tobacco Cuts Amid War On Chronic Disease
Recent cutbacks at the Department of Health and Human Services will hurt, or even reverse, decades of progress in reducing the use of addictive tobacco products, more than 80 public health organizations and advocacy groups warned in a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ... In the letter, the group said the agencies are already stretched thin, and further layoffs would derail efforts to remove unauthorized products and hold tobacco companies accountable. (Rutherford, 5/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why California’s Coming Heat Wave Is More Dangerous Than You Think
The Bay Area is heading into its first heat event of the season and it’s arriving abruptly. A heat advisory is in effect for California’s interior Friday and Saturday, including parts of the East Bay, North Bay and South Bay. It comes as a strong area of high pressure builds over the West, triggering a sharp temperature spike that could push some Central Valley cities toward record highs for May. In the Bay Area, it’s not just the peak temperatures that make this heat event notable, it’s how quickly they arrive. (Porter, 5/28)

ABC News: Measles Cases Seem To Be Slowing Down In The US. What's Behind It?
About a month ago, the rate of new measles cases was accelerating at a seemingly unprecedented rate with more than 100 infections being confirmed every week. However, over the last couple of weeks, the rate of newly confirmed cases appears to be slowing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed an average of 22 weekly cases over the last two weeks. Even in western Texas, which had been driving most new cases in the U.S., about 11 cases have been confirmed since May 23. (Kekatos, 5/27)

Bloomberg: Skittles Removes Titanium Dioxide, Additive Targeted By RFK Jr.
Mars Inc.’s Skittles candies are no longer being made with titanium dioxide, a chemical that whitens foods, brightens colors and makes candy appear shiny, the company confirmed to Bloomberg News. The additive was banned in the European Union in 2022 over concerns that nanoparticles of the substance might accumulate in the body and damage DNA. It has also come under scrutiny by the Department of Health and Human Services in recent months under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Shanker and Kubzansky, 5/27)

MedPage Today: Autism Tied To Early-Onset Parkinson's Disease
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease early in life, a nationwide population-based study in Sweden showed. After controlling for birth year, age, and sex, the risk of Parkinson's disease was four times higher in people with versus without autism (relative risk [RR] 4.43, 95% CI 2.92-6.72), reported Weiyao Yin, MD, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and co-authors, in JAMA Neurology. (George, 5/27)

CNN: Losing Weight In Middle Age Could Reduce Chronic Diseases Later, Study Shows 
All the work that goes into losing weight in middle age could set you up for a longer, healthier life later, according to a new study. A sustained weight loss of about 6.5% of body weight without medications or surgery in middle-aged people is linked to substantial long-term health benefits, said lead study author Dr. Timo Strandberg, professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Helsinki in Finland. (Holcombe, 5/27)

Modern Healthcare: Augmented Reality Headsets Offer Alternative To Robotic Systems
Major health systems are turning to augmented reality headsets to make surgery more efficient and more precise while reducing costs. The headsets could eliminate the need for operating room monitors, 3D-printed anatomical models, surgical navigation systems and robotic systems, resulting in significant cost savings. Although surgeons are optimistic about the technology's future, health systems are likely not ready to alter their purchasing plans, as further procedures and studies on efficacy are needed. (Dubinsky, 5/27)