Health

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.

California’s new Office of Health Care Affordability has a mandate to control price increases. It's proposing a target that’s among the most aggressive in America.

California voters this spring are considering a $6.4 billion bond that would build thousands of housing units and treatment beds for people with serious mental health conditions. A 2018 ballot measure that made similar promises offers lessons about the obstacles that stand in the way of construction.

California could follow Oregon in authorizing the use of psychedelics in therapeutic settings. Growing research characterizes certain hallucinogens as helpful in treating mental illnesses, such as depression and PTSD.

In California, it’s usually police who confine mentally ill people for involuntary 72-hour holds so they can be evaluated and treated. 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.

Almost 30 years ago Californians passed Proposition 187, a ballot measure that denied public benefits to undocumented immigrants. This year, a new state law took effect offering government-subsidized health insurance to the same population.

Californians infected with COVID-19 may go about their lives without isolating or testing negative as long as their symptoms are improving, according to new and significantly loosened guidelines from the California Department of Public Health.  California’s top public health official, Dr. Tomás Aragón, last week quietly rescinded the state’s previous order, which encouraged people infected […]

About 500,000 California health care workers were expected to see pay increases under a law that set a new minimum wage for their industry. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to delay the pay bumps until the state budget has a stronger outlook.

High prices at hospitals in Monterey County are “an anomaly even among the most expensive” communities in California. One insurance plan there saves money by paying for members’ travel to other counties for procedures.

The new law is meant to help nursing home residents understand the reasons for their discharge, and inform them of their rights to appeal.