I’m a pediatric intern at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a safety-net hospital in Los Angeles County. When I decided to go into pediatrics, I pictured helping children and their families with broken bones, asthma and ear infections, as well as some chronic diseases, such as diabetes.
I never imagined how often I would take care of children trying to heal from the physical and mental trauma of being shot.
COVID-19’s overall effects on unemployment has received a lot of attention. But there hasn’t been enough focus on the devastation of the health care workforce.
More than 3,600 frontline health care workers died in the United States due to COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic. Few new workers are available to fill those positions.
The unequal impacts of COVID-19 and the ongoing crisis of police violence in communities of color have exacerbated mistrust and disconnection between these communities and the health care system. This makes achieving patient-centered care a challenge.
Studies show that brief messages and two-way communication via text builds people’s trust and engagement in health care and educational settings.
Trust for Public Land annually ranks park systems across the 100 most populated cities in the United States. Those in California’s Central Valley often rank near the bottom: Fresno ranks 97th. Bakersfield is 85th. Stockton ranks 77th.
Stockton and other Central Valley cities can improve their ranking with the help of California’s budget surplus. When we build parks in neighborhoods that don’t have any, we change the lives and futures of generations to come.
Medi-Cal members might have mental health coverage in theory, but using it is a different story. People of color are less likely than white people to use mental health benefits, partially due to systemic inequities in the system. The same is true of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) youth.
Our communities care greatly about their mental health and the mental health of their loved ones, yet California’s promises to provide care fall short.
We are calling on the region’s leaders and residents to support a historic $500 million Bay Area Regional Black Housing Fund.
Black communities face multiple systemic barriers that lead to massive displacement in the Bay Area. Black people have been disadvantaged in the state’s housing market for decades because of discrimination, including redlining, unequal access to wealth and good jobs, and other systemic problems.
One third of all Californians and nearly half of California children depend on Medi-Cal, California’s public health coverage program, for health care.
With so many people relying on Medi-Cal for health care, the state must do more to protect the rights of Californians and ensure access to every service they are entitled to.
Despite warnings that the health of the state’s 14 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries would be threatened, on Jan. 1, California implemented Medi-Cal Rx, a program that stripped pharmacy benefits from health plans and handed them to a private, for-profit company.
Now, a month into the new program, there are reports that thousands of Medi-Cal patients have been left without their medications.
California’s education system needs more social, emotional and sexual health education that recognizes the racial and gender identities of young people. Prevention programs can meet this need.
California’s legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom should include $15 million in ongoing funding in the state budget. By combining prevention and intervention funding, we can address the needs of survivors of violence and also prevent future violence.
As a California high school student, I have become aware of one of the biggest health threats facing some of my peers: The lack of a stable home.
I believe access to housing is an individual right and a community need. The most fundamental health-related need is housing. A home is more than just a place to live. Lack of housing and high rents directly impact health, hygiene, safety and the ability to combat illnesses—especially during a pandemic.