CA nurses demand changes to addiction recovery program

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is taking a well-deserved holiday break and will return to your inboxes on Monday, Jan. 6.

For California nurses seeking help with alcohol or drug abuse, the road to recovery through a program managed by their licensing board can be fraught, writes CalMatters health reporter Kristen Hwang.

Research shows that at least 1 in 10 health care workers will develop a substance use disorder during their career. To protect patients, California passed a law in 2008 creating standards for each state licensing board detailing how they should manage workers dealing with addiction. These regulations include drug testing, restricting travel and psychiatric evaluations.

Some nurses say the rules are too harsh. That includes Bobbie Sage, who has never been diagnosed as an alcoholic but was charged with a misdemeanor in 2014 for driving under the influence. After completing three years of criminal probation without incident, her licensing board ordered her to complete an additional probation program.

Unable to afford the monthly drug tests or fine, Sage ultimately dropped out of the program. She surrendered her license in 2019.

• Sage: “I haven’t been a perfect person in my life, but I’ve been a good person. I’ve taken full responsibility, and I don’t believe we should keep punishing someone for a misdemeanor that happened 10 years ago.”

What about medical doctors? The recovery program has never included doctors, but the state board that licenses most doctors plans to push for one that focuses on early intervention and is disconnected from its disciplinary power.

Learn more about the changes nurses are demanding for their recovery program and the proposal for doctors to have their own program in Kristen’s stories.

Speaking of health care: It’s been two months since Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers in Southern California began their strike. As Democratic legislative leaders put pressure on Kaiser to end the labor dispute, patients are having a hard time finding adequate care during the walkout. Read more from CalMatters local news fellow Joe Garcia.

Today state and federal officials are announcing new operating arrangements for delivering water sourced from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The plan will direct exports of water from two major systems (the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project) that together serve 29.5 million people and 3.7 million acres of farmland. 

The announcement follows the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation final review of several options for operating the water projects, which it released in November. Ironing out the plan over the years has been highly contentious: In 2020, California sued to block rules from the Donald Trump administration that regulated the state’s allocation of Delta water, arguing the rules threatened endangered fish. In response, the president-elect has warned he’ll withhold federal wildfire aid (prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to draft a back-up funding plan).

But environmentalists aren’t too thrilled about the alternate proposal developed by the Biden and Newsom administrations either. They argue that plan could be more harmful for fish migrating through the Delta — including Chinook salmon, which have been declining for decades. Cities, however, as well as urban and farm water supply groups, support the plan.

Let’s dive into some employment news:

• Building bikes, careers: A state grant program is helping to fund a San Jose nonprofit that helps veterans, formerly unhoused people and those who had run-ins with the law learn how to manage a business. Participants rotate jobs within a bike repair shop — gaining experience in accounting and marketing — and have the opportunity to work 40-hour work weeks. But like all grant programs, future funding is hazy. Said the director of the state’s workforce development board: “We can’t lobby, we can’t ask the Legislature for money, we can’t do any of that.” Read more from Zayna Syed.

• Jobs in the rural north: In the northernmost part of California, known as the Redwood Curtain, there is no shortage of natural beauty. But for the people living in counties including Del Norte, Humboldt and Shasta, there are fewer educational opportunities and high-paying jobs. One association, backed by the federal Department of Labor, is trying to boost employment opportunities by providing one-on-one mentoring, training supplies and even money for work clothes. Read more from Fiona Kelliher.

Declining enrollment and the end of pandemic aid have left schools in financial peril. CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on Carolyn’s story on the challenges districts face when shutting down schools as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out Robert’s video on a measure Los Angeles voters passed to expand their county’s five-member board of supervisors, which supporters say is a step toward better representation. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.