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As cities across California wrestle with a crisis of homelessness that has drawn international condemnation, Santa Rosa’s bold experiment with a city-sanctioned encampment suggests a way forward.
Insurance giant Blue Shield of California has made millions in charitable and political donations to Gov. Gavin Newsom over nearly two decades, largely to his dearly held homeless initiatives. In turn, Newsom has rewarded the insurer with a $15 million no-bid contract to lead the state’s covid vaccination distribution.
Concerns arising in western North Carolina provide a window into the challenges facing health workers across the country as they seek to persuade vulnerable populations to be inoculated against covid.
During the pandemic, shelters are having to change the way they do things to prevent the virus from spreading among the vulnerable homeless population. Now, as winter weather moves in, there’s less room at the shelters for those in need — threatening to leave many, literally, out in the cold.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
This was supposed to be the year California finally did something about its homelessness epidemic. COVID-19 upended that promise, along with the cobbled-together services many homeless people rely on for survival. Interviews across the state reveal a new magnitude of hardship and indignity for tens of thousands of people living on the streets.
KHN senior Colorado correspondent Markian Hawryluk joined KUNC’s Henry Zimmerman on “Colorado Edition” to discuss his recent story on an outbreak of trench fever around Denver.
Three people around Denver have confirmed cases of trench fever, and another person is suspected of having the rare disease, carried by body lice. A scourge during World War I, the illness is the latest problem to emerge as everyone's attention is diverted to COVID-19.
The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.
Authorities continue to dismantle homeless encampments despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hold off during the pandemic to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The COVID-19 pandemic is showcasing California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership style to a national audience. The first-term Democrat doesn’t shy away from making splashy announcements and lofty promises, but his plans often lack detail and, in some cases, follow-through.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked lawmakers to pare down their legislative wish lists and focus on the state’s coronavirus response. But state Sen. Jim Beall plans to forge ahead with his mental health care proposals, including a measure to create a state mental health parity requirement.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed won nationwide praise for taking drastic early measures against COVID-19. But her hesitation over how to care for the homeless came back to bite her.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom charged into 2020 with ambitious — and expensive — proposals to increase health insurance coverage, reduce homelessness and tackle drug prices. Then came COVID-19.
As a national movement for better access to menstrual products gains steam, “period equity” activists in Colorado are finding the path to change isn’t straight. Although Denver last summer repealed sales taxes on menstrual products and the state now requires supplies to be provided in prisons, an effort to repeal the statewide sales tax on the products failed. So, activists assemble supply kits to donate to those who need them.
As homelessness among older adults increases, a movement is afoot to use a powerful 3D printer to construct affordable and durable housing.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom dedicated nearly all of his State of the State address Wednesday to homelessness. To fix that problem, he said, the state must address another one: mental health care.
California lawmakers are proposing ambitious health care ideas, from creating a state generic drug label to banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette products. Even though Democrats control state government, they’re likely to face pushback from powerful health care industry groups like hospitals.
Communities across California, frustrated with the growing number of homeless people living on public property, have tasked police and sanitation workers with dismantling encampments they say pose a risk to health and safety. The routine cleanups have spawned another public health concern: the loss of the displaced people’s personal possessions, including medicines.
Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesn’t save money. “We built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,” Brenner tells the “Tradeoffs” podcast.
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