In the midst of somewhat rambling closing comments at a recent panel discussion on healthcare in Humboldt, Mad River Community Hospital CEO Doug Shaw told a story. Arcata’s first hospital, he said, was built in 1911, though it wasn’t so much a hospital, as a two-story home with a surgical suite on the second floor […]
healthcare
Posted inNews
Supes Talk Healthcare Forum, Pellet Plant Draft EIR
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors got a preview this morning of the findings of Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo’s listening tour on healthcare provider recruitment and retention, which will be the focus of a community forum later this month. Arroyo, who said she undertook the effort because healthcare delivery is a top constituent concern […]
Posted inNews
Former Assemblymember Patty Berg Has Died at 82
Former North Coast Assemblymember Patty Berg, the founding executive director of the Area 1 Agency on Aging, who spearheaded the state’s first-of-its-kind master plan on aging, has died. She was 82. Berg, best known for her six years serving the North Coast in the California Assembly, was a fierce advocate for seniors and dedicated much […]
Posted inNews
Governor Signs Contentious Nursing Home Licensing Bill that Splintered Advocates
A controversial bill aimed at fixing aspects of California’s broken nursing home licensing system was signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faced dueling pressure from advocates who typically are aligned. In approving Assembly Bill 1502, the governor had no comment about his decision. The bill was drafted to address serious problems with the state’s […]
Posted inNews
As California Expands Medi-Cal, Hundreds of Thousands of Immigrants Will Still Be Left Behind
Lucia Marroquin knows what it’s like to wait out pain in hopes that it will go away on its own. She is suffering from kidney stones and may need surgery. But because she lacks health coverage, her first question when she falls ill is always “how much will that cost me?” So when California officials […]
Posted inNews
Targeted Universalism: A Solution for Inequality?
One in five Latinos in California live in poverty, the highest of any demographic group. Black students trail all other racial and ethnic groups in reading and math proficiency. And Native Americans are worse off today, with an average life expectancy eight years shorter than a decade ago. Despite a suite of well-intended policies aimed […]
Posted inNews
Newsom Stops Short of Single-Payer Healthcare
Don’t ask Gov. Gavin Newsom about Democratic lawmakers’ proposal to create a state-funded single-payer health care system — he hasn’t read it. “I have not had the opportunity to review that plan, and no one has presented it to me,” Newsom said Monday while unveiling his record-high $286.4 billion budget proposal — which includes an […]
Posted inNews
Resolution Care Sells to Healthcare Tech Company in Merger that Could Lead to National Expansion
Resolution Care, Humboldt County’s groundbreaking palliative care company, has been sold to Vynca, an advanced care planning technology company, in a merger that Resolution Care founder Michael Fratkin hopes will ultimately allow for a national expansion of the patient-centered care the company has prided itself on providing. Founded in 2014, Resolution Care’s palliative care teams […]
Posted inNews
Saturday Morning Shots
The vaccine clinic starts at 9 a.m. By 8:45 a.m. the lines stretch from the breezeway of Pacific Union School’s main building in Arcata all the way through the parking lot, then the adjacent parking lot, to Janes Road. A young woman with blonde hair stands just inside the school’s fence, her arms crossed against […]
Posted inNews
Bridging the Gap: A Nonprofit’s Efforts to Get HumCo’s Latinx Residents Health Insurance, Services
You might see a group of Visión y Compromiso “promotores” tabling at local mercados throughout Humboldt County — they’re on a mission to help as many Latinx residents as possible obtain health insurance and access healthcare services. Visión y Compromiso Humboldt is a new chapter of the nonprofit Southern California based organizational coalition of “promotores,” […]
Posted inNews
Flash Fiction 2020
Once again, our readers are the writers in the annual contest of narrative brevity judged by a team of story lovers: Booklegger owners Jennifer McFadden and Nancy Short, retired children’s librarian JoAnn Bauer, Eureka Poet Laureate and College of the Redwoods professor David Holper, and myself. The influence of the pandemic is visible here and […]
Posted inNews
Fatigue, Fear and Frustration
If you talk to healthcare providers treating COVID-19 patients at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, the linchpin in Humboldt County’s pandemic response, they all have a story to tell about when the reality of their challenge hit home. For Kristen Beddow, the charge nurse in St. Joseph’s emergency room, it was losing a patient. Beddow […]