COVID-19

California Spent Millions to Boost COVID-19 Vaccination Rates of Medi-Cal Members — But They Lag Even More

Medi-Cal, Homelessness & Health Care

Gaps in COVID-19 vaccination rates among the state’s Medi-Cal population persist. Five Medi-Cal plans still have vaccination rates under 50%.

Frontline Nurses Are Burning Out. This Digital Health Start-Up Is Trying to Change That

Laudio aims to help managers reduce high turnover rates among nurses and other frontline health care workers — a longstanding problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Helping Californians Maintain Coverage After the Public Health Emergency

California’s success in avoiding unnecessary Medi-Cal disenrollment and smoothing transitions to other coverage will be crucial.

Biden Lays Out His Health Policy Agenda

Alyssa Llamas, Dawn Joyce

Behavioral Health, Health Care Costs

Some of his key items are already underway via administrative actions, while others require legislative action in Congress.

‘You Want Your Immune System Protecting You and Your Baby’

Xenia Shih Bion

Ob/gyns, a nurse, and a midwife answer FAQs about the COVID-19 vaccine, pregnancy, and fertility.

As COVID-19 Was Peaking, LA Delivered Medical Care to People in Emergency Housing

February 25, 2022

Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Homelessness & Health Care, Behavioral Health, Older Adults with Complex Needs, Medi-Cal

Thirteen primary care providers and three behavioral health and substance use treatment organizations delivered 14,000 health care consultations to over 3,500 clients.

Amid Pandemic Stress, Kern Medical Steps Up Recruitment of Health Care Workers

February 17, 2022

Aisling Carroll

Workforce, Behavioral Health

Kern Medical has ramped up efforts to recruit new employees at every level and to fill the training pipeline with future health care workers.

AltaMed Asks Unvaccinated Latinx Californians: “Come On! What Are You Waiting For?”

February 7, 2022

The nation’s largest independent federally qualified health center has partnered with other organizations to provide tens of thousands of COVID-19 shots as part of a comprehensive public education campaign.

COVID-19 Is Reshaping California’s Health Workforce

February 1, 2022

Avram Goldstein

A conversation with Joanne Spetz, director of UCSF’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

California Leaders Revive Paid Sick Leave for Essential Workers

January 31, 2022

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Without sick leave, workers are forced to choose between paying their bills and possibly spreading COVID-19.

Coverage During a Crisis: Insured Rate for Californians Hits Historic High in First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic

Coverage Trends

An analysis of data from the California Health Interview Survey shows that more Californians had health insurance than ever before in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet critical disparities in coverage persist, and coverage gains may slow, or even reverse, as pandemic policies wind down.

Frustrations Mount Over Lagging Supplies of COVID-19 Tests

January 10, 2022

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Supply problems add another complication to US and California efforts to use widespread screening to suppress transmission of the coronavirus.

Disaster Service Workers Step Up in Pandemic

January 7, 2022

Aisling Carroll

Homelessness & Health Care, Workforce, Behavioral Health

How local agencies expanded their assistance to Santa Clara County’s unhoused population in the COVID-19 era.

With Superheroes and Songs, El Sol’s Promotores Help Vaccinate Inland Empire

December 3, 2021

Workforce, Health Equity

Community health workers have devoted significant energy to disseminating information about the coronavirus and the vaccines that protect people from it.

Imminent Flu Season Could Cause Double Trouble

November 15, 2021

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Public health experts remain wary of a potential peril that the state avoided last winter — a “twindemic.”