Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kaiser Permanente Lays Off Employees Across California Ahead Of Mass Strike
San Francisco Chronicle: Kaiser Permanente Cuts Hundreds Of Jobs Across California
Kaiser Permanente has announced another round of layoffs affecting hundreds of employees across California, deepening tensions with workers as thousands prepare to strike next week. According to state filings, the nonprofit health care provider will cut more than 200 positions across 15 hospitals and clinics. The layoffs took effect Sept. 17 and were disclosed in WARN notices filed Monday with the California Employment Development Department. (Vaziri, 10/9)
Becker's Hospital Review: ‘Never Seen Before’: Why Are California Hospitals Taking A Hit?
As hospitals across the U.S. continue to feel financial strain from tightened margins, rising costs and workforce shortages, California has emerged as a hot spot, with rural facilities grappling with bankruptcies, emergency department shutdowns and increased uncertainty regarding their long-term survival. “Hospitals throughout California — and across the country — are facing financial headwinds the likes of which have never been seen before,” a spokesperson for the California Hospital Association said in an Oct. 9 statement shared with Becker’s. (Ashley, 10/9)
Fierce Healthcare: Newly Passed California Laws Tackle Prior Authorization, Private Equity In Care And More
Changes to prior authorization, charity care screening and corporate influence in medicine are on the way for Californian healthcare organizations. Among the dozens of bills signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of an Oct. 12 deadline were several outlining new requirements or broader enforcement of healthcare practices. (Muoio, 10/9)
San Francisco Chronicle: Elon Musk Is Quietly Expanding In The Bay Area Again, Starting With Neuralink
Elon Musk’s brain-implant startup Neuralink has leased a vacant building in South San Francisco, marking a fresh sign of the billionaire’s renewed interest in the Bay Area tech scene. The 144,000-square-foot property at 499 Forbes Boulevard had been vacant since 2023, after biotech firm InterVenn Biosciences pulled out of its lease amid an industry downturn, according to a report by the Business Times. The lease adds to a growing Bay Area presence for Musk, who moved several of his companies to Texas after criticizing California’s business climate during the pandemic. (Vaziri, 10/9)
Los Angeles Times: SoCal Woman Convicted Of Murder For Delivering Fatal Butt Implants
A Riverside County woman known as “the butt lady” has been convicted of murder after a second client — a TV actor living in Malibu — died from silicone injections she administered, authorities said. Last year, Libby Adame was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without a certification for giving 26-year-old Karissa Rajpaul a fatal silicone butt injection in Sherman Oaks in 2019. But the conviction did not stop her from continuing to perform unauthorized procedures in California, prosecutors said. (Harter, 10/9)
San Francisco Chronicle: Family Of Teen Who Died After Surgery Sues John Muir, Stanford
The helicopter carrying Amin Noroozi landed at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek less than an hour after the 17-year-old broke his neck while swimming in the ocean. Amin, a varsity football player, track and field athlete and wrestler at Acalanes High School, had lost feeling below his chest. But after an emergency surgery to stabilize his spine on April 13, his parents and younger sister said he moved a finger, and indicated he could sense a touch on his leg. (Gafni and Dizikes, 10/9)
AP: Palisades Fire Suspect To Remain Jailed Because Of Mental Health Concerns
A federal judge in Florida ordered the man charged in California’s deadly Palisades Fire to remain jailed Thursday after a prosecutor said he had traits of an arsonist and his family had worried about his declining mental state. In ordering Jonathan Rinderknecht to be kept in detention, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathan Hill said he had concerns about the suspect’s mental health and his ability to get to California for future court hearings. (Schneider and Weber, 10/9)
