Latest California Healthline Stories
A Catch-22 Trips Up Some in Legal Guardianship Who Try to Regain Independence
If a judge decides someone cannot make their own decisions, the person can be placed under a court-appointed guardianship, also known as a conservatorship. Some states are beginning to allow less-restrictive alternatives.
As Covid Hits Nursing Homes’ Finances, Town Residents Fight to Save Alzheimer’s Facility
Fear of covid has kept some adults from moving to nursing homes, and many facilities are in trouble financially. When Nevada, Missouri, officials announced they were planning to close a home specializing in dementia care, members of the community rose up in protest.
Deep Roots Help This Chicago Pharmacist Avoid Creating Another Drugstore Desert
Predominantly Black and Hispanic urban areas are more likely than white neighborhoods to see local pharmacies close and are more likely to be pharmacy deserts. In Chicago, one pharmacist is bucking the trend, operating the drugstore his father opened in the 1960s in a Black neighborhood.
Local Pharmacists Fill Rx Void as Big Brands Pull Out of Rural Areas
Stores like Walmart and Shopko opened pharmacies in small towns, either buying out the local pharmacy or driving it out of business. What happens when those chains later withdraw, leaving communities with no pharmacy?
As Hospitals Fill Up, Paramedics Spend More Time Moving Patients, Less on Emergencies
Gunnison paramedics cover the largest response zone in Colorado. Because of covid and the lack of nearby hospital beds, patients increasingly are transported long distances, leaving few ambulances to respond to emergencies.
Journalists Discuss Omicron, Public Health, Culturally Competent Care
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
As Climate Worsens, Environmentalists Grapple With the Mental Toll of Activism
After her son’s death by suicide, a mother promotes mental health for environmentalists. It’s part of a larger push to address the burnout and psychological stress that can affect activists.
How Rural Communities Are Losing Their Pharmacies
More than 1,000 independent rural pharmacies have closed since 2003, leaving 630 communities with no retail drugstore. As 41 million people stuck in pharmacy deserts make do, the remaining drugstores struggle to survive.
How One Health Center Is Leading Chicago on Kid Covid Shots
A health center with clinics on Chicago’s southwest side that serves mostly Hispanic patients has provided the most covid shots to kids in the city by being accessible, (literally) speaking the language of the community and setting up pop-up clinics at schools and parks. It provides a few lessons as the nation gears up to vaccinate 5- to 11-year-olds.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Social-Spending ‘Framework’ Pulls Back on Key Health Pledges
President Joe Biden unveiled a compromise “Build Back Better” framework shortly before taking off for key meetings in Europe, but it’s unclear whether the framework can win the votes of all Democrats in the House and Senate, and it leaves out some of the party’s health priorities, notably significant provisions to lower prescription drug prices. Meanwhile, younger children may soon be eligible for covid vaccines. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.