July 2010 – California Health Report

LA cancer screening center closes doors

The Elizabeth Center for Cancer Detection in Los Angeles — one of the oldest cancer screening clinics in California — plans to shut down today after treating its last patients. The center is a victim of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to freeze enrollment in a cancer screening program for low-income women on Jan. 1 and pay for routine mammograms only for women after the age of 50. Those moves caused an abrupt drop in the Elizabeth Center’s patient load and revenues, which had already been strained as its costs exceeded what it was earning from the state.

El Monte Links Health and Wellness to New “Tree Power” Project

By Margaret T. Simpson

The city of El Monte is changing the health of its residents by changing the landscape. With the help of a nonprofit partner and 740 new trees, El Monte is creating an urban forest to remedy its unique environmental and health challenges.

You are what you eat…if you can find it.

By Ashby Wolfe

A healthy lifestyle starts with healthy food choices, but for some people, finding healthy food can be a big challenge.

Schwarzenegger: No budget til he leaves office?

By Daniel Weintraub

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger caused a stir in the Capitol Monday when he told reporters he wouldn’t sign a budget that didn’t include long-term reforms, even if it means the state goes without a new spending plan until he leaves office in January.

CeaseFire tries to quell gang violence

By Nik Bonovich

The CeaseFire program is bringing law enforcement, government and community leaders together to stop the cycle of gang violence by focusing intensely on the small number of individuals who are responsible for most of the violence. At-risk youth and ex-cons are surrounded by support and services to help them join mainstream society and abandon their violent ways.

Cancer screening clinics might shut down

By Megan Baier

Hundreds of California clinics that provide low-income women with free mammograms and cervical exams are fighting to stay open this summer because of changes in patient eligibility rules and a state budget that is already weeks late with no deal in sight. HealthyCal correspondent

Sacramento office focuses on youth development

By Nik Bonovich

Sacramento’s Office of Youth Development — created as the only standalone city department dedicated to youth in the Sacramento region — has been folded into the city’s Parks Department to save money in tough economic times. But city officials and community members say they think the office can remain effective if it continues the kind of work that has been typical of its first three years in business.

First rule of weight loss: strive to be a better person, not a thinner one

By Ronald Fong. M.D.

For reasons that are unclear to me, program coordinators at UC Davis frequently invite me to discuss patient weight management with students and residents at the medical school. I suspect that I am the default candidate since I staff our department’s weight management clinic and I have completed a few marathons. I offer no published expertise, fool-proof regimen or magical elixir to drop pounds. Rather, I share books of personal interest, observations, and perspectives on well-being as opposed to strategies for weight loss.

Lawmakers try to restore cancer screening for uninsured women

By Megan Baier

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year restricted eligibility and froze enrollment in a program that provides breast and cervical exams for uninsured women. Now Democrats in the Legislature are trying to restore the service.

Summer Food Program reaches out to low-income families

By Margaret T. Simpson

Last year 1.9 million California children who were eligible for free meals in the summer months did not take advantage of the program. This year, summer program managers are trying to make sure that any child who needs a meal, gets one.

Month: July 2010

Subscribe to Our Mailing List