Hospitals

Expectant parents are losing access to prenatal care or driving long distances with so many California hospitals closing maternity wards to cut costs. A mother whose first child was stillborn shares her story and an important practice that public agencies should raise awareness about.

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.

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

Kaiser patients waited 19 days for follow-up mental health appointments in 2019, nine days longer than state law permits. The settlement includes the largest-ever penalty issued by California’s behavioral health regulator.

Struggling community hospitals across California are ill-prepared for the creation of a $25 minimum wage for health care workers, should Gov. Newsom decide to sign the legislation.

California health care giant Kaiser Permanente could not reach a contract to avert a strike by a union coalition representing some 75,000 employees in five states. The walkout is expected to last three days.

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

A last-minute legislative deal would raise pay for California health care workers while giving medical providers a guarantee that they won’t have to battle local measures on employee compensation.

Some independent California community hospitals have struggled with rising costs since the COVID-19 pandemic. Three declared bankruptcy this year, prompting the state to distribute interest-free loans.

From CalMatters state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal: It was a case that some said threatened to erode California’s voting rights law. But after a ruling by the state’s Supreme Court on Thursday, some of its protections are reaffirmed, for now.   The case, filed by the Pico Neighborhood Association and others in 2016, alleged that Santa […]