Health

SAN DIEGO (AP) — California voters would decide whether to fund a major expansion of housing and treatment for residents suffering from mental illness and addiction, under the latest proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the state’s homelessness crisis. Newsom announced Sunday that he will ask allies in the Democratic-controlled Legislature for a measure on the 2024 ballot to authorize funding to build residential facilities where over 10,000 people a year could live and be treated. The plan is the latest by the governor who took office in 2019 vowing to own the issue of homelessness in a state where an estimated 171,000 were unhoused last year. “This is the next step in our transformation of how California addresses mental illness, substance use disorder and homelessne...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon study has found high rates of cancer among military pilots and for the first time has shown that ground crews who fuel, maintain and launch those aircraft are also getting sick. The data had long been sought by retired military aviators who have raised alarms for years about the number of air and ground crew members they knew who had cancer. They were told that earlier military studies had found they were not at greater risk than the general U.S. population. In its yearlong study of almost 900,000 service members who flew on or worked on military aircraft between 1992 and 2017, the Pentagon found that air crew members had an 87% higher rate of melanoma and a 39% higher rate of thyroid cancer, while men had a 16% higher rate of prostate cancer a...

Logo from Oswego County Health Department website. OSWEGO COUNTY – The Oswego County Legislature appointed Vera Dunsmoor as the County’s new public Health Director in January and the New York State Department of Health recently confirmed that choice. Dunsmoor has more than 15 years of public health experience, joining the county health department in 2007. She has worked in various roles throughout her career with the county, including public health nurse, supervising public health nurse, director of patient services and deputy director of public health. She most recently served as interim director of public health. “Vera has considerable experience in health care and has done a great job in her role as interim director of public health,” said Oswego County Legislator James Karasek, ...

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham laughs alongside Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, left, and Lt. Gov. Howie Morales during a Saturday news conference after lawmakers finished a 60-day legislative session. The governor said she does not have immediate plans to bring lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special legislative session. (Eddie Moore/Journal) SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham didn’t get everything she wanted during this year’s 60-day legislative session. But, fresh off winning reelection to a second term, the Democratic governor said she was able to work with lawmakers to win approval — with a few exceptions — for most of her top priorities. Shortly after lawmakers wrapped up their work Saturday at noon, Lujan Grisham said she did not foresee bringing le...

New Orleans-based Ochsner Health has integrated safety stops into its electronic medical records system and became one of the first health systems to standardize genomic testing.  Ochsner has implemented pharmacogenomics, how patients metabolize certain drugs and warnings of possible side effects, into its EHR system so that clinicians can adjust dosages for patients and provide more individualized care, according to a March 16 release from Ochsner.  The health system is one of the first to fully integrate the process into its EHR system.  These tests are part of a pharmacogenomics program Ochsner launched in March 2022. The tests are used in the health system's cardiology, psychiatry, cancer, rheumatology, pain management and infectious disease departments.  Source link

As impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic linger, maintaining good health remains at the top of mind for many, including physical, mental, emotional and even financial.The demand for adequate, accessible health care in the Tri-Valley is only growing and local health care providers like John Muir Health have recently shared ways in which they are addressing the community's needs.John Muir's 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) zooms in on the top priority health needs of the Tri-Valley and their subsequent implementation strategy identifies plans to tackle them.The 212-page CHNA -- initially released in December -- was a collaborative effort among several local and regional health care providers, including John Muir and Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley as well as Sutter Health, St. R...

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Des Moines on Thursday to meet with local leaders and abortion rights advocates to discuss reproductive health care amid recent action at both the state and federal level that could restrict access to medication used for abortion.Harris’s visit came a day after a federal judge in Texas heard arguments in a case that could take the drug mifepristone, which is used for medical abortions, off the market. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug two decades ago. Harris, who hosted a closed meeting at Grand View University, said the case threatens the country’s public health system as a whole and that the Biden administration is ready to take action if the case succeeds."We take this very seriously," she ...

ENHANCING STUDENT LEARNING  A key feature of the new NIH-funded study is the active role Bentley students will have as research assistants. “As teacher-scholars, all three of us regard student participation as a central pillar of our research,” DeLeo says. The professors hope to engage at least six undergraduates to participate in all three years of the study, so that students can benefit from intensive, hands-on research experience. The study will apply cutting-edge analytical methods, including machine learning algorithms and latent textual mining, and “students will be involved in the refinement of research questions, development of coding manuals, modeling strategic and analysis plans and finalizing research protocols,” Hartigan explains.   In exploring the interplay between insti...

American Red Cross urges people to make and keep appointments to help avoid a blood shortage... Bloodmobile American Red Cross urges people to make and keep appointments to help avoid a blood shortage. Donation appointments may be made by downloading the free Blood Donor app, visitingRedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-733-2767. Power Reds are available. March 16, Munson Town Hall, 12210 Auburn Road, Munson Township, 12-6 p.m. March 20, Geauga West Library, 13455 Chillicothe Road, Chester Township, 12-6 p.m. March 26, St. Helen’s Church, 12060 Kinsman Road, Newbury Township, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 30, Chardon United Methodist Church, 515 North St., Chardon, 12–6 p.m. Family First Council March 20, 1:30 p.m. Geauga Family First Council meets the third Monday of the month at the Geauga...