Opinion
Out-of-state pharmacies, hospitals exploit federal ‘340B’ program
The pharmaceutical section of a Costco store in Folsom, Calif. (Photo: Cassiohabib, via Shutterstock)OPINION:
Posts Tagged: Hospitals
The pharmaceutical section of a Costco store in Folsom, Calif. (Photo: Cassiohabib, via Shutterstock)Opinion
Affordable health care threatened by hospitals’ mark-up costs
Photo illustration of money and medical care. (Image: ShutterstockProfessional, via Shutterstock)OPINION: If passed, SB 958 would severely limit specialty pharmacies’ ability to deliver lower cost medications to patients, while also making it even easier for hospitals to markup the cost they charge patients for critical medications, and in the end, we would see higher health care premiums for California’s employers and individuals.
Opinion
Lawmakers: Make fixing broken drug program a top priority
Prescription medication available through hospitals and pharmacies. (Photo: Andy Dean Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is committed to the health of its residents. Nearly a quarter of Gov. Newsom’s state budget for 2022-2023 is allocated to health care expenditures. Amid their focus on improving health care access and affordability, however, policymakers should also reexamine existing programs that are failing to properly protect vulnerable California communities.
News
Hospitals’ double whammy: more patients, fewer workers
The USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, a major California hospital. (Photo: TonelsonProductions, via Shutterstock)Last year during the winter’s peak, hospitals in the state had an estimated 54,000 patients, with roughly 22,000 of them testing Covid positive. Today, similar numbers reflect the hospitals’ overcrowding. But now, there is an overall 20 percent reduction in health care workers, and the combination of the two has seriously stressed hospitals.
News
Nurses confront state, hospitals over COVID health care hazards
A nurse at a protest at Alameda Hospital in 2020 seeking improved medical protective equipment. (Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald, via Shutterstock)On the front line of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, registered nurse members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United are pushing for more employer accountability tied to a crisis of staffing and unsafe workplaces. The union, which represents about 100,000 registered nurses in California, says the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has not adopted such workplace protections.
Podcast
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Big Week for California Healthcare
California made national headlines this week with an aggressive push toward achieving Universal Healthcare in the state. John Howard and Tim Foster of Capitol Weekly sit down with Anthony Wright of Health Access California to hear his insights on these major developments in California healthcare policy, and learn what to expect next.
News
Delta virus cuts through Oregon-California border counties
A team from the intensive care unit at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Oregon, prepares to intubate a crashing covid-19 patient. (Photo: Michael Blumhardt, via Asante)If you live in one of the rural communities tucked into the forested hillsides along the Oregon-California border and need serious medical care, you’ll probably wind up at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. It serves about nine counties on either side of the border. It is one of three hospitals Asante owns in the region. All three ICUs are 100% full of covid patients, according to staff members.
News
Dangerous mix: Law enforcement and mentally ill suspects
A suspect in custody, handcuffed by police. (Photo: Boyfare, via Shutterstock)Police response to mental-health calls often ends – again and again – in chaotic, noisy hospital emergency rooms, where staff is stretched thin, and a heart attack is likely to take precedence over someone in the throes of a mental-health crisis. “Traditionally, people would be dropped off at the ER, and the only option was to transfer them to a psychiatric facility,” says Dr. Scott Zeller, a nationally known emergency psychiatrist and former president of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry.
News
California’s pandemic pain increases sharply
Photo illustration of the coronavirus in California. (Photo: Maridav, via Shutterstock)COVID-19 cases in California are spiking dramatically — more than 6,600 new cases on Tuesday alone — and scientists predict California will double its transmission rate every four to five weeks. On Wednesday, the death toll spiked to 98, bringing to 5,725 the total number of deaths so far.
Podcast
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Carmela Coyle on hospitals, coronavirus
The coronavirus. Illustration from the Centers for Disease ControlCarmela Coyle, president of the California Hospital Association, joins John and Tim on the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about the challenges that hospitals face as they deal with this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, “an order of potential magnitude that we just haven’t seen before.”