Santa Cruz County Local Health News Articles and Digest

Health Elections & Politics Crisis & Personal Support State of California

Your Guide to Proposition 1: Newsom’s Overhaul of California’s Mental Health System

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.

From California Healthline...

Health Sustainability State of California

Back From COP28, California Climate Leaders Talk Health Impacts of Warming

01/31/2024
As Californians increasingly feel the health effects of climate change, state leaders are adopting sweeping policies they hope will fend off the worst impacts.

From CalMatters...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Bill Would Let Therapists and Social Workers Decide When to Confine Mentally Ill Californians

01/29/2024
A pending bill would extend the so-called 5150 confinement authority to county-designated psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and clinical counselors.

From California Healthline...

Health Elections & Politics

How Fringe Anti-Science Views Infiltrated Mainstream Politics

01/28/2024
Rates of routine childhood vaccination hit a 10-year low in 2023. That, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, puts about 250,000 kindergartners at risk for measles.

From CalMatters...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Gavin Newsom Raised Millions for His Mental Health Ballot Measure. His Opponents Have $1,000

01/28/2024
The March ballot measure would raise billions for mental health care, but some clinics fear it would strip them of revenue they need for services they provide today.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Health Community Service & Support Salud Para La Gente

Salud Para le Gente Receives $1.5 Million in Federal Funding

01/26/2024
Salud Para La Gente in Watsonville was one of two health care programs in Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s district to receive funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Center Program.

From KFF Health News...

Health Animals

A Record Number of Californians Are Visiting Emergency Rooms for Dog Bites

01/25/2024
Those pandemic puppies are growing up to be a public health concern.

From California Healthline...

Health Seniors

Senate Probes the Cost of Assisted Living and Its Burden on American Families

01/25/2024
A U.S. Senate committee launched an examination of assisted living, holding its first hearing in two decades on the industry as leaders of both parties expressed concern about the high cost and mixed quality of care facilities.

From California Healthline...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

988-Hotline Counselors Air Concerns: More Training Needed to Juggle Calls

01/23/2024
In the year and a half since its launch, 988—the country’s easy-to-remember suicide and crisis hotline—has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. Curiosity is growing about the people taking those calls.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

California Panel Holds Up Studies on Psychedelics. Some Researchers Want It Gone

01/19/2024
At the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, scientists are eager to explore whether a psychedelic chemical found in a toad could help people with depression. But research has been put on hold by the state.

From The Pajaronian...

Health Seniors Dientes Community Dental Care Grey Bears

New Program Offers Dental Care, Hygiene Kits to Seniors

01/18/2024
Image for display with article titled New Program Offers Dental Care, Hygiene Kits to Seniors

Dozens of volunteers at Grey Bears were busy around two long tables making packages to be delivered to seniors throughout Santa Cruz County.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Public Safety Health Transportation Elections & Politics Government

Can Traffic Deaths in Los Angeles Be Reduced With a Ballot Measure?

01/16/2024
Image for display with article titled Can Traffic Deaths in Los Angeles be Reduced? Ballot Measure Aims for ‘Healthy Streets’

City council rejected the “Healthy Streets L.A” initiative. Now it’s up to Angeleno voters.

From KFF Health News...

Health Seniors

America’s Health System Isn’t Ready for the Surge of Seniors With Disabilities

01/16/2024
The number of older adults with disabilities that affect their performance of daily tasks will soar in the decades ahead, as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

From KFF Health News...

Health Elections & Politics

What Would a Second Trump Presidency Look Like for Health Care?

01/15/2024
On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump is again promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act—a nebulous goal that became one of his administration's splashiest policy failures.

From CalMatters...

Families & Children Health Sports

Parents’ Rights Groups Mobilize as California Advances a Ban on Youth Tackle Football

01/15/2024
The Assembly has until the end of January to decide the fate of the youth tackle football bill, which would prevent kids under 12 from playing the sport to protect them from brain trauma.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

COVID-19 Public Safety Health Transportation Crime & Justice Government

Death on the Roads: Traffic Fatality Crisis Far From Over

01/14/2024
Image for display with article titled Death on the Roads: California Traffic Fatality Crisis Far From Over

California in 2024 has implemented two new, potentially important traffic safety laws

From Los Angeles Times...

Business, Economy & Jobs Health State of California

Newsom Talks Projected $37.9 Billion Deficit

01/10/2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed that lawmakers tap a rainy day reserve and that a minimum wage increase for health care workers be delayed to help the state fight a $37.9 billion deficit. This projection is more than double what Newsom and other officials had anticipated last year.

From Sacramento Bee...

Health Crime & Justice

$10M-Plus Lawsuit Follows Multiple Deaths at Sacramento Jail

01/09/2024
Sacramento attorney Mark Merin has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of a man who died in May after being held at the county jail. Other inmates have died in recent years, and the jail is under a federal consent decree to improve its health care.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Business, Economy & Jobs Health Elections & Politics Community Service & Support

California Legislature Opens 2024 Session With Packed Agenda

01/04/2024
Image for display with article titled California Legislature Opens 2024 Session: Here’s What’s on the Agenda for the New Year

The budget deficit, fire insurance, reparations, artificial intelligence top early legislative slate.

From Voice of San Diego...

Business, Economy & Jobs Education Families & Children Health Crisis & Personal Support

San Diego County Schools Face Post-Pandemic Funding Woes

01/04/2024
San Diego Unified School District has received more than $700 million in federal and state relief funds since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with these funds ending, some schools could be facing serious deficits.

Santa Cruz County Local News: Health