The reassignment of a trusted doctor out of Santa Clara County’s Black Infant Health Program has sparked concern for future efforts combating baby mortality. It’s also exposing the tense balancing act of absorbing a massive county budget hole without cutting services. County officials are moving Dr. Beverley White-Macklin, who has for decades developed a program...
South County school district backs ultraprocessed food ban
Associated Press health writer JoNel Aleccia in Temecula, California, contributed. California will phase out certain ultraprocessed foods from school meals over the next decade under a first-in-the-nation law signed Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law seeks to define ultraprocessed foods, the often super-tasty products typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. The legislation...
Silicon Valley hospital workers train for Super Bowl threats
San Jose hospital workers scramble into hazmat suits. Others carry stretchers through disoriented crowds into bright yellow tents, where they prep a decontamination process for people critically injured by a chemical bomb. That was the scene for three hours Thursday at O’Connor Hospital, where health care workers ran a mass casualty drill in the rain....
Santa Clara County closes homeless housing and treatment gap
Santa Clara County and San Jose leaders are turning a page in their fraught relationship — vowing to bring more county behavioral health workers into city-run shelters and close gaps in placing the city’s homeless residents into housing. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve a new partnership announced Friday by San...
East San Jose hospital back online for trauma patients
Workers at Regional Medical Center’s trauma unit routinely cut car crash victims out of their clothes, replace blood as it sprays from torn aortas and hold pelvic bones together as they pass along instructions over the yelling of suffering patients. Commotion and stress aren’t exactly positive features of most workplaces. But for an East San...
Silicon Valley officials target mental health efforts at homeless shelters
Two local elected leaders are teaming up on a plan to bring behavioral health workers directly to homeless residents living in shelters. District 2 Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong unveiled her proposal alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on Friday. The plan calls for adding another team of workers from the county Valley Homeless...
Silicon Valley health care leaders say federal cuts ‘truly devastating’
Santa Clara County health care leaders weren’t shy about voicing what’s in store for the future of public health at a forum hosted by San José Spotlight, as they brace for billions in revenue cuts. Editor Moryt Milo, who moderated the Sept. 17 State of Health Care in Silicon Valley event, questioned panelists on the ramifications...
East San Jose women can deliver babies closer to home
A profit-driven decision five years ago is about to be reversed — enabling women to once more give birth at their neighborhood hospital in East San Jose. Regional Medical Center plans to restore labor and delivery care around October 20 after joining Santa Clara County’s massive public hospital system six months ago. The obstetrics department...
Santa Clara County declares public health crisis for Latino residents
Latinos in Santa Clara County suffer from higher rates of poverty, lower rates of high school graduation and more deaths from diabetes than other groups. Officials want to find ways to close that gap. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously declared a public health crisis for Latino residents, and is committing...
Santa Clara County opens walk-in clinic for substance disorders
While Santa Clara County is facing unprecedented revenue losses due to federal health care cuts, one newly opened clinic may survive. Santa Clara Valley Healthcare’s Compassionate Addiction Services and Support (COMPASS) Clinic opened Sept. 2, with federal grant and opioid settlement funds contributing between $2 million to $3 million. The substance use recovery facility is the...