California Weekly Roundup: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Redding Record Searchlight:
Shasta County Health Care Crisis Linked To Politics, Report Finds
A report on rural California health care in 2025 blamed political differences and politicizing of medical services for some of Shasta County’s health care troubles. (Skropanic, 3/13)
health industry
San Francisco Chronicle:
Sutter Health To Combine With Midwest Provider Allina
Sutter Health, Northern California’s largest hospital system, is poised to combine with Allina Health, a major health care provider based in Minneapolis that will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sutter, the two organizations said Tuesday. (Ho, 3/17)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Pediatric Unit Is Closing At Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. What Comes Next?
The move by hospital giant Providence doesn't mean children will be turned away, but experts and physicians say it's still a huge blow that narrows options for North Bay families. (Espinoza, 3/14)
Victorville Daily Press:
St. Mary Medical Center Apple Valley advances to Level 3 trauma center
Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley has changed its hospital designation from a Level 4 trauma center to a provisional Level 3 trauma center. (De La Cruz, 3/18)
Los Angeles Blade:
The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center Opens Full-Service Health Clinic
Saturday marked the opening of the center’s new health clinic and another step forward in its “righteous rebellion” for trans equality. (Song, 3/16)
The Coast News Group:
Encinitas Nonprofit Helps Expand Lifesaving Care For Ugandan Women
A Ugandan hospital began treating patients on March 7 at a surgical ward expanded through the efforts of an Encinitas-based nonprofit. (Adams, 3/12)
Southern California News Group:
A California Building Where 89 Hospices Are Registered Pulled Into National Fight Over Fraud
A political battle over suspected hospice fraud in California has pushed a Van Nuys office building into the national spotlight after records revealed 89 hospices are registered there. (Henry, 3/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Ending A Corporate Tax Break Pitched To Offset Federal Healthcare Cuts
A corporate tax policy that costs California billions in lost revenue each year could be eliminated as the state struggles to resolve a budget deficit. (King, 3/17)
HEALTH CARE WORKERS
San Francisco Chronicle:
Thousands Of Kaiser Nurses To Join Northern California Strike This Week Over AI
More than 23,000 Kaiser nurses plan a one-day Northern California strike Wednesday in support of mental health workers protesting AI use. (Ho, 2/16)
Monterey Herald:
Cal State Monterey Bay Gets $15M Gift From Montage For School Of Nursing
The funding will establish the Montage Health Helen Baszucki School of Nursing and support the development of two new programs – a four-year pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing. (Herrera, 3/16)
Bay Area News Group:
Southern States Target Bay Area Doctor In Legal Battles Over Abortion
A Sonoma County doctor is facing lawsuits in Texas and an indictment in Louisiana for allegedly mailing abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is banned. (Stringer, 3/16)
The Appeal-Democrat:
Bi-County Ambulance Celebrates 50 Years
Bi-County Ambulance began in 1976 as a small, locally focused operation with a simple mission: to provide reliable, compassionate care when neighbors needed it most. (3/12)
inewsource:
Chula Vista Police Will Use AI For 911 Calls, Dispatch
The city of Chula Vista will start using artificial intelligence for some of its work related to 911 calls and police dispatching. (Niebla, 3/13)
East Bay Times:
AI Now Answering San Diego Sheriff's Office Nonemergency Line
If it sounds like you are talking to a chatbot when you call the San Diego Sheriff’s Office nonemergency line, good catch. It likely is one. (Figueroa, 3/16)
The Bakersfield Californian:
'We're On Fire For This': New Portable Electrocardiogram Gives Even EMTs The Ability To Diagnose Heart Attack
Hall Ambulance emergency medical technicians Jonathan Martin and Joshua Ovalle were on a call at a patient’s home. (Mayer, 3/16)
housing
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco’s Homelessness Chief Shireen McSpadden Steps Down
She joins other high-profile department heads who’ve left roles since Mayor Daniel Lurie took office in January 2025. (Morris and McFadden, 3/16)
Eureka Times-Standard:
1,011 Unsheltered Homeless Counted In Humboldt County In 2026, A Drop From 2024
It's a roughly 15% decrease from 2024. (Schneider, 3/14)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Homeless Deaths Are Dropping. This Group Is Part Of The Reason Why.
Last year, homeless people in San Diego County died while suffering from HIV, hypothermia, undernourishment, sleep apnea and pneumonia, according to data from the Medical Examiner’s Office. (Nelson, 3/15)
public health
San Francisco Examiner:
Local Experts: Ruling On Federal Vaccine Policies Is A Win For Science
A federal judge overturned the vaccine-related decisions made by RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel over the last year, a bittersweet win for one local expert who worries “a lot of damage has already been done.” (Gurevich, 3/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Long Covid Leaves Thousands Of L.A. County Residents Sick, Broke And Ignored
Six years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, doctors are still treating long COVID patients with complex symptoms and unknown futures. (Purtill, 3/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Raw Cheddar Cheese Sold At Bay Area Grocers Tied To E. Coli Outbreak
A raw cheddar cheese sold at Bay Area grocery stores is now at the center of an E. coli outbreak that has hospitalized two people. (Vaziri, 3/16)
CIDRAP:
More Animals Die From H5N1 Avian Flu At Ano Nuevo State Park In California
California officials have confirmed that nine more elephant seals, a sea lion, and an otter have died from avian flu H5N1 at Ano Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County. (Soucheray, 3/17)
Capital & Main:
‘My Lungs Had Nothing Left.’ Inside The Epidemic Killing Countertop Stonecutters.
A new California law aims to protect workers from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that has killed 29 people in the state and sickened hundreds. Experts say it isn’t enough. (Norris, 3/13)
The Hill:
California Man, 25, Dies After Being Bitten By Rattlesnake While Biking
A man from California’s Orange County has died after he was bitten by a rattlesnake while mountain biking in Irvine. Julian Hernandez, 25, of Costa Mesa, was biking at Quail Hill Trailhead on Feb. 1 around 11 a.m. when he was bitten. Authorities responded to the scene and transported Hernandez to a hospital, where he fell into a coma and remained in an intensive care unit. (Chow, 3/12)
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
San Francisco Chronicle:
Weather Service Issues Bay Area’s First-Ever Heat Advisory For March
The National Weather Service has issued the Bay Area’s first-ever heat advisory for March. (Palomino, 3/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Epic L.A. Heat Wave Poses Deadly Health Threat — And A Test For California
'This is effectively a full-on summer heat wave in March,' a climate scientist wrote on X. (Fry, 3/16)
VC Star:
Heat Wave Beach Plans In SoCal? Think Again As Bacteria Warnings Hit
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued ocean water use warnings for stretches of coastline from Malibu to Marina del Rey, urging people to avoid swimming, surfing and playing in the water as crowds flock to the coast to escape the heat. (Ward, 3/14)
Santa Monica Daily Press:
UCLA Tests LA County Soil For Fire, Industrial Contamination
UCLA researchers have tested 700 soil samples across Los Angeles County, from wildfire zones in Malibu-Pacific Palisades to industrial areas like Watts, finding widespread lead contamination. (Alin, 3/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Report On Wildfire Smoke-Tainted Homes Highlights Lack Of Consensus On Insurance Testing, Cleaning
A long-awaited report on smoke damage claims by the California Department of Insurance was released on Friday, nearly a year after Los Angeles fire survivors began expressing concerns about their insurers dismissing the toxic chemicals left in their homes. (Neilson, Munce, and DiNatale, 3/16)
CalMatters:
California Proposes New Air Quality Powers Amid Trump Rollbacks
When a package arrives at your door, it has likely traveled through a chain of ports, railyards and warehouses throughout the state. All those ships, trains and trucks leave behind a trail of diesel exhaust as they go, driving some of the highest asthma rates in communities. (Reyes-Velarde, 3/16)
The Desert Sun:
2 California Cities Among Hardest Places In US To Live With Allergies
Two California cities, San Diego and San Francisco, rank among the top 20 'Allergy Capitals' for 2026, a new report finds. (Segura, 3/13)
Redding Record Searchlight:
Paraquat Spill Near California-Oregon Border
A widely used and extremely toxic herbicide caused a scare near the California-Oregon border after a big rig spill on Highway 97 in a northeastern Siskiyou County town. (Skropanic, 3/17)
MENTAL HEALTH
The Sacramento Bee:
CA Lawmakers Pushes Forward Bill To Curb Mental Health Diversion For Public Safety
Opponents of the measure say the drive to restrict the diversions neglects statistical success. (Graham, 3/17)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Sonoma County Families Face Uncertainty Amid Police Shift On Mental Health Holds
Involuntary mental health holds have been one option — for authorities as much as families — to ensure someone in crisis, and deemed a danger to themselves, gets help. But increasingly, police are refusing to carry out those holds even when recommended by professionals. The consequences can be devastating. (Endicott and Espinoza, 3/14)
EdSource:
Seeking More Help For Students In Crisis, Cal State Weighs Options For After-Hours Mental Health Care
Cal State and the union for counselors agree that students deserve great care. But they disagree about hiring an outside vendor to provide it. (DiPierro, 3/13)
San Francisco Examiner:
SF Receives $100 Million In Another Round Of Prop. 1 Funding
San Francisco is tapping into state funding to launch three new projects aimed at expanding treatment-bed capacity for people struggling with behavioral-health or substance-use issues. (Gurevich, 3/13)
CalMatters:
California’s First Prop. 1 Mental Health Projects Delayed, Cancelled
Projects supposed to offer mental health and substance use care to foster youth, new mothers, unhoused people and others have been delayed or cancelled. (Kendall, 3/12)
CalMatters:
10 Projects From Newsom’s Mental Health Bond Were Supposed To Open In 2025. That Didn’t Happen
None of the projects expected in 2025 under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health ballot measure have opened, CalMatters has found, even though the governor says the bond is exceeding its goals. (Kendall, 3/16)
Voice of OC:
Why Can't Orange County's Brand New $86 Million Mental Health Facility Open?
Orange County’s brand new campus set up to house mentally ill patients is finished with construction in Irvine, but can’t open its doors amid a lawsuit between county leaders and the nonprofit that helped build it. (Biesiada, 3/12)
SUBSTANCE USE
Daily Breeze:
San Pedro’s Former Little Sisters Could Face Big Transition Under New Proposal
Plans to buy and convert a former church-affiliated home for the elderly into a drug and alcohol recovery facility in San Pedro are drawing opposition from the surrounding neighborhoods. (Littlejohn, 3/17)
The Bakersfield Californian:
State Awards $27 Million For Arvin Area Substance-Use Treatment Facility To Young Nonprofit
A local nonprofit was provisionally awarded $27 million last week to construct a 100-bed substance-use disorder treatment center near Arvin, an ambitious project for the small organization. (Segall, 3/16)
Daily Bulletin:
Ontario Plans To Ban Flavored Tobacco, Nitrous Oxide And Kratom Sales
Ontario plans to ban the sales of flavored tobacco products, nitrous oxide, and Kratom. The City Council voted earlier this month to pass an ordinance, which, after a second reading on March 17, will go into effect on April 17. (Cannon-Tran, 3/17)
San Francisco Examiner:
SF Could Get Cannabis Cafes Paired With Food, Drinks, Shows
San Francisco cannabis lounges can legally sell intoxicating products derived from marijuana, but they can’t offer noncannabis food service to satisfy the munchies that might ensue or non-alcoholic beverages that might allay the cotton mouth experienced by many who ingest cannabinoids. (Hoge, 3/17)
other california news
Daily Democrat:
Meals On Wheels Yolo County Names Liane Moody As New Executive Director
Davis-based nonprofit professional Liane Moody will take the helm as the executive director of Meals on Wheels Yolo County (MOW Yolo) effective Monday, April 13, replacing the present Executive Director, Joy Cohan, who’s retiring on Friday, April 3. (Heeden, 3/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Stanford Has The Highest Disability Rate Of Any School In The Country
Stanford has the highest rate of students with disabilities in the country. Here’s where every school ranks. (Hodgman and Lee, 3/13)
Capital & Main:
From Invisibility To Inclusion: A ‘Generational Shift’ On Menopause Care
Menopause is an inevitable life stage for women, but many don't receive adequate medical care. New California legislation aims to expand access, but excludes millions on Medi-Cal. (Aguilera, 3/16)
J Weekly:
‘Shark Tank’ Digital Windows Offer Seniors Realistic Vistas
Originally conceived as a design element for offices and homes, the “digital windows” have also been installed at senior care facilities, including Rhoda Goldman Plaza and the Frank Residences in San Francisco and The Redwoods in Mill Valley. (Corrigan, 3/17)
The Orange County Register:
Huntington Beach Father With Terminal Cancer Watches Daughter Graduate In Special Ceremony
Friends arranged the ceremony over the weekend, making sure Bill Kerwin, a local coach and school district staffer, enjoyed seeing the major life milestone happen. (Wang, 3/17)
