public health

Sally K., thirty-eight weeks pregnant, waits for her check-up at the Best Start Birthing Center in San Diego on March 20, 2024. Photo by Ariana Drehsler for CalMatters

Health

They delivered 5,600 babies. They blame California rules for putting them out of business

Birth centers are popular options for families who want to deliver a baby outside of a hospital. Nineteen of them closed in California in the past decade, deepening the state's maternity care crisis.

By

Kristen Hwang

• August 26, 2024

Mountains in the background of a forested valley with a dirt road running through it.

Health

A soil fungus that can kill is on the rise in California: What to know about Valley fever

About 80 Californians die every year after contracting Valley fever, a fungal disease that typically affects the lungs. A recent outbreak was traced to a music festival in Kern County.

By

Ana B. Ibarra

• August 2, 2024

Department of Health Care Services headquarters in Sacramento on Sept. 15, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

Capitol

Some California state workers return to offices with tainted water

The bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease have been found in a state office complex in Sacramento. An order requiring state employees to return to the office at least two days a week started Monday.

By

Yue Stella Yu

• June 18, 2024

Midwife Madeleine Wisner measures Chloé Mick's belly during a maternity care consultation at Mick's home in Sacramento on Feb. 6, 2024. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Health

California gives new moms extra Medi-Cal benefits. It can’t say who’s using them

California created a special program to improve infant and maternal care in 1984. Forty years later, the state can’t account for how often people are using the benefits or if the services are helping.

By

Kristen Hwang

• February 28, 2024

Condoms distributed freely by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation at a news conference in Los Angeles on Feb. 14, 2023. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo

Commentary

Despite Newsom veto, California should still provide free condoms to public school students

A bill that would've required public schools to give students access to free condoms was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, but young advocates worried about the rise in sexually transmitted infections are vowing to keep pushing for access.

By Ria Babaria and Martin Orea • November 28, 2023

Commentary

San Diegans hold their breath as Newsom defers to Washington D.C. on Tijuana River sewage crisis

As the Tijuana River sewage crisis worsens, local leaders and community organizations in San Diego and elsewhere have pleaded with Gov. Gavin Newsom to intervene. The governor has so far deferred to the White House and Congress, leaving dozens of communities helplessly at the whims of federal lawmakers.

By

Pedro Rios

• November 20, 2023

Fernando Maya in his room at the PATH apartment complex in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2021. Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Commentary

Housing alone won’t solve homelessness. California must expand its mental health system

California can't solve homelessness without vastly improving the public mental health system. Without treatment and interventions, those with a serious mental illness deteriorate and lose housing.

By Patricia Fontana • November 6, 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses media after signing legislation into law in Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

WhatMatters

What big California bills are left on Newsom’s desk?

Gov. Gavin Newsom greenlit 56 bills Wednesday to help ease the state’s affordable housing crisis. And with three days left to take action, he’s gone through most major bills on other pressing issues as well. But there are still a handful of significant ones he has yet to decide. Perhaps the most contentious is Senate […]

By

Lynn La

• October 12, 2023

This photo provided by the city of Reedley on March 16, 2023, shows refrigerators and other medical lab equipment inside a now-shuttered medical lab with Chinese owners that officials say was operating illegally. The discovery in December of the lab producing pregnancy and COVID-19 tests to be sold online. Photo Courtesy of City of Reedley via AP Photo

Commentary

How California can improve safety and transparency of privately run bio labs

Laboratories working with potentially dangerous pathogens are not required to share information about their work with their local communities, which heightens mistrust and leads to blanket restrictions, as California saw this summer. Reporting requirements could improve safety and increase oversight.

By

Guest Commentary

• September 13, 2023

A shopper walks past mannequins donning face masks in Los Angeles in 2020. California's COVID-19 emergency declaration ended on Feb. 28, 2023, but there's been a recent uptick in cases across the state. Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo

Health

California COVID cases are increasing, again. Here’s the latest on boosters and more

It’s a confusing time in the COVID pandemic. A new booster is on the way, but cases are rising and you might want more protection now.

By

Kristen Hwang

• September 1, 2023

Public Health