Sacramento County Health Digest

A California minimum wage law that was delayed amid budget troubles is now set to go into effect Oct. 16. It’s expected to benefit hundreds of thousands of workers.

An estimated 1 in 5 schools has no air conditioning and another 10% need repair. Underfunded schools struggle to keep classrooms cool as heat waves intensify. “It’s a hot mess,” one teacher says.

On September 19, Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper announced that enough fentanyl to kill the population of Elk Grove had recently been seized after being smuggled into two county jail facilities.

The California surgeon general is launching a campaign today to spread awareness about health conditions that contribute to pregnancy-related deaths, such as heart disease.

California’s new cap on health care cost increases is regarded as the most aggressive in the nation. It includes potential fines against companies that exceed the limit.

H5N1 bird flu has been reported in three California dairy herds.

Lawmakers approved two bills to allow some community colleges to provide bachelor’s degrees in nursing. That’s setting up another conflict with the California State University, which already offers these bachelor’s degrees.

CapRadio reports on an air monitoring program seeking to determine the cause of respiratory illnesses in South Sacramento.

Almost everyone in California has health insurance. That trend reflects about a decade and a half of policymaking designed to expand access to health care. The state’s average uninsured rate has dropped from nearly one in four Californians in 2009 to less than one in ten today.

Pharmacy benefit managers attempt to negotiate cost savings for insurers. California is considering new rules that would require them to pass their discounts on to consumers.

About 4 in 10 Californians are carrying medical debt. Lawmakers are advancing a bill that would prevent that debt from affecting credit scores.

A trio of California Democratic lawmakers say they’re frustrated by high cost estimates that helped kill their health care legislation. Did the Newsom administration inflate the numbers to quietly kill the bills?

Birth centers are popular options for families who want to deliver a baby outside of a hospital. Nineteen of them closed in California in the past decade, deepening the state’s maternity care crisis.

Sacramento County reported a third death caused by the recent heat wave.

There's an increase of Sacramento area teens becoming addicted to nicotine.

Sacramento County health officials announced that Fentanyl poisoning is now the leading cause of death among adults ages 18-45.

The chemical, used for decades, can harm babies’ developing brains. Farmworkers and people living near fields are most at risk. The EPA issued a rare emergency order.

A look at the hottest July ever recorded in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and what's to come.

About 80 Californians die every year after contracting Valley fever, a fungal disease that typically affects the lungs. A recent outbreak was traced to a music festival in Kern County.

After years of delay, a new California regulation to protect indoor workers from extreme heat is now in effect.

The first two human cases of West Nile virus this season were reported in Yuba and Stanislaus Counties.

Construction has begun on the 14-story expansion of the UC Davis Medical Center on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento.

California State Hospitals can bill patients for the care they receive during confinement. The charges often run in the tens of thousands of dollars, putting vulnerable people in debt for years.

Sacramento County approved a $26 million contract with Behavioral Health Bridge Housing to provide housing and services for homeless people with substance abuse or behavioral mental health issues.

The Sacramento Homeless Union reports that two unhoused men have died so far in July during a relentless heatwave.

Taking advantage of new state funds, some California healthcare providers are starting to offer what their homeless patients really need: housing.

The reason the City of Sacramento stopped water deliveries to local homeless during a dangerous heatwave.

It's mosquito season, and West Nile virus has been detected in Yolo, Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties. CapRadio presents a guide to staying safe.

On June 26, the Yolo County Mosquito Vector Control District reported mosquitos sampled from Dunnigan tested positive for the West Nile virus.

A profile of the Showers by Touchstone mobile shower program and its founder, Mark Lytal.

Almost 400 suppliers, two-thirds in communities of color, don’t meet safety and reliability standards. Fixing them would cost billions.

Even when suicidal, California firefighters struggle to find medical help and navigate the workers’ comp morass to pay for it.