Santa Cruz County Health Articles

Hospitals all over California are closing their maternity wards, including in dense cities like Los Angeles and in more remote communities in the Sierra Nevada.

New vaccines for RSV and an updated booster for COVID-19 give Californians more tools to protect themselves from respiratory viruses this fall.

California and 32 other states are suing Instagram’s parent company, Meta, saying that their apps are damaging to children. Is there evidence for those claims? Here’s why social media is under attack.

After a 2018 vote authorizing the state legislature to make daylight saving time year-round, Californians are still changing their clocks twice per year. How did we get here?

Youth activists from Safe Ag Safe Schools’ Future Leaders of Change attend a California Department of Pesticide Regulation meeting in Watsonville on Monday. (Andrea Tamayo — Santa Cruz Local) 
WATSONVILLE >> At a meeting at Ramsay Park Family Center in …

California took the first step toward a single-payer health care system when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 770 this month, but the move is not enough for many backers of universal health coverage.

Black women are three times more likely than any other women to die during or immediately after pregnancy. California passed a 2019 law requiring hospitals to train labor and delivery staff on bias in medicine.

Logistics is one of the largest industries in California and keeps the state economy running. But it also comes with a heavy cost to the environment. Here are the facts on the most important industry you don't know much about, …

A 2020 California law expanded the number of mental health conditions that insurers must cover. Now, lawmakers are reviewing whether the law is working as intended.

More than 30 states require insurers to provide some level of coverage for kids’ hearing aids. California isn’t one of them, and Gov. Newsom for the second time has vetoed a bill to close that gap.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made lowering the cost of prescription drugs a signature health care issue, but he rejected a bill to cap what diabetics pay for insulin. His reasoning: California is working on a different solution.

States across the United States are banning the practice of billing kids for the cost of their foster care. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar effort in California, citing costs to the state.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature mental health policies allow the involuntary treatment of more Californians with severe mental illnesses. Some fear the new laws will infringe on the civil liberties of people confined against their will.

Kaiser Permanente provides health care to more than 9 million Californians. A strike this week could affect patients at dozens of hospitals.

Advocates warn of less access to health care.

Stephen Gray was officially hired as CEO of Watsonville Community Hospital on Wednesday. With a 4-1 vote, the Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board approved Gray’s contract, less than a week after the hospital corporation announced him as its selection. …

The new Live Oak center will offer services for people of all ages struggling with communication

Planned Parenthood clinics in Southern California saw a sharp increase in abortions after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. Now, workers at the clinics are creating a union.

Stephen Gray is the prospective new CEO for the community hospital.