Santa Cruz County Local News: Health

03/08/2024
Proposition E broadens police surveillance powers and Proposition F mandates drug screening and treatment for people receiving county welfare benefits who are suspected of drug use.

03/08/2024
Santa Cruz County officials are making plans for the millions of dollars allotted to the county as part of the settlement of various lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors in 2019 and 2021.

03/08/2024
The cannabis dispensary specializes in providing medical marijuana to patients with serious diseases and will be allowed to do business in the city of Santa Cruz after the Planning Commission approved its application.

03/01/2024
A report of a 12 month study which ended in February indicates almost half of those cited for drug usage were not residents of the city, leading to questions about city approaches to drug addiction.

02/27/2024
The monthly rate of antidepressants being dispensed to young people increased about 64% more quickly during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

02/26/2024
Health providers and addiction experts warn the funding structure is unstable for a California initiative that steers patients with substance use disorder into long-term treatment.

02/20/2024
The United States is knee-deep in what some experts call the opioid epidemic's "fourth wave," which is not only placing drug users at greater risk but is also complicating efforts to address the nation's drug problem.

02/16/2024
Harnessing their collective expertise, two nonprofits in South Santa Cruz County have joined forces to provide resources to families in need and fight against regional inequities.

02/16/2024
Pesticide reform activists and legal experts held a news conference in Watsonville outlining mounting evidence for a lawsuit they’re preparing to file against California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation for civil rights violations against farmworkers.

02/15/2024
For weeks, Anthem Blue Cross enrollees who receive health care from the University of California were in suspense, as the health system and one of its largest insurance partners struggled to reach a new contract.

02/14/2024
While temperatures aren’t warm enough for mosquitoes to run rampant, now’s the time to prevent breeding grounds.

02/13/2024
Nearly 2 million Medi-Cal enrollees can now accumulate savings and property without limitations and still qualify for the state's health insurance program for low-income residents.

02/11/2024
Midwives provide many of the same services as doctors in low-risk pregnancies. A new UCSF study highlights obstacles they face doing business in California, especially when serving patients with Medi-Cal insurance.

02/08/2024
The closure of Madera Community Hospital created a new health care desert in a community that already had fewer doctors per capita than other parts of the state. UCSF and Adventist have a plan to reopen it.

02/06/2024
Change is coming to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center.

02/05/2024
States are plowing billions of dollars into a high-stakes health care experiment that’s exploding around the country: using scarce public health insurance money to provide housing for the poorest and sickest Americans.

02/04/2024
One year after California became the first state to require its public universities to provide the abortion pill to students, basic information on where or how students can obtain the medication is lacking.

02/02/2024
When wildfire smoke and extreme heat combine, they create “a synergistic effect” or an “additional burden” on people’s health, researchers say.

02/01/2024
Each fall, millions of hunters across North America bag deer. Over the winter, people chow down on the venison steaks, sausage, and burgers made from the animals.

01/31/2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom crafted the measure to reform California’s mental health system, including a $6.4-billion bond for new facilities.