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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-fire-department\">San Francisco’s fire department\u003c/a> is set to become the largest in the country to phase out “forever chemicals” in firefighting gear, officials said Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With cancer \u003ca href=\"https://worksitemed.com/firefighter-cancer/\">surpassing heart disease\u003c/a> as the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths for firefighters in recent years, researchers and advocates have increasingly raised alarms about the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in their protective equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These chemicals have known links to \u003ca href=\"https://dceg.cancer.gov/research/what-we-study/pfas\">certain types of cancer,\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38662859/\">cardiovascular disease\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7473499/\">birth defects\u003c/a> and other health problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Firefighting is inherently dangerous, and our personnel deserve access to the most modern, protective, and safest turnout gear available,” San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said in a statement. “Transitioning to PFAS-free equipment is a critical step in advancing our mission: safeguarding the public by ensuring our firefighters remain healthy and able to serve at their highest capacity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2024, San Francisco became the first city in the country to ban the use of PFAS in firefighting PPE. The department said it has already received the first shipments of the new gear and expects to receive 1,100 sets, enough for every frontline firefighter, by the end of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10600578\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10600578\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/07/62545444_43740a918e_o-e1450826725132.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1172\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The facade of the San Francisco Fire Department’s old Station 1 on Howard Street on July 14, 2015. \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"https://flic.kr/p/6wyzJ\">Thomas Hawk/Flickr\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The switch comes after years of growing concerns over the use of PFAS to make gear resistant to water and oils. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11760106/high-levels-of-harmful-chemicals-found-in-blood-of-firefighters-who-battled-2017-tubbs-fire-new-analysis-finds\">After the deadly Tubbs Fire in 2017\u003c/a>, former San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine R. Nicholson said the chemicals were contributing to firefighters “dying with what we call ‘their boots off.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A study by the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation and researchers at UC Berkeley found that first responders’ blood contained higher levels of PFAS after that blaze than those not on the front lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of dying in an incident in a fire or a vehicle accident, they’re dying of cancer and other diseases,” Nicholson told KQED at the time.[aside postID=news_11982531 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/111020_Tap_Water_AW_CM_02-1020x680.jpg']Efforts to ban PFAS statewide have advanced this year: in October, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/california-bans-pfas-firefighting-gear-protect-health/509-e8913821-b052-4786-a02e-427ca3eba5db\">signed\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://a17.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250916-california-bill-removing-cancerous-chemicals-firefighter-uniforms-passes\">AB 1881\u003c/a>, introduced by San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, which banned the use of PFAS in firefighting equipment for all California firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And across the U.S., other departments have begun to make the transition: earlier this year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pfas-cancer-massachusetts-san-francisco-american-cancer-society-b2816452.html\">Providence, Rhode Island\u003c/a>, rolled out new gear, and in 2024, Massachusetts passed a\u003ca href=\"https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S2902\"> ban\u003c/a> on the use of PFAS in firefighting PPE, set to take effect in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’ve been some setbacks — finding alternatives to a moisture barrier without using PFAS has been a challenge, according to SFFD, and in other cities, some gear purchased to replace the toxic suits has tested \u003ca href=\"https://www.firerescue1.com/personal-protective-equipment-ppe/mass-fds-pfas-free-gear-fails-lab-test-shows-high-toxic-levels\">positive\u003c/a> for the chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But SFFD said a new flame-resistant, non-PFAS moisture barrier introduced by textile innovator Milliken & Company last October made it possible for the department’s manufacturer, Fire-Dex, to meet all of its requirements to deliver on the new gear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The equipment was purchased with a $2.35 million FEMA grant and matching funds from SFFD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This distribution represents more than new gear,” Crispen said. “A protected workforce is the foundation of a protected community. 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"content": "\u003cp>With a smile, Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson, 38, closes her eyes when she says her friend’s name. She pauses. A tear rolls down her cheek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a real level of rage that I feel around Alice’s death,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13983848/alice-wong-disability-rights-activist-obituary\"> a month\u003c/a> since disability activist and author \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912041/remembering-disability-activist-alice-wong\">Alice Wong\u003c/a> died in San Francisco. Since her passing, KQED has spoken with many of Wong’s friends and collaborators in the Bay Area to better understand what motivated her decades of organizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her writings and public appearances, Wong spoke of the need for disabled people to advocate loudly for their health needs. This mission brought together a bold and effective network of advocates living with different disabilities. But now, folks are preparing for the biggest challenge yet: more than a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid and other social services in the coming decade, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058930/medicaid-cuts-could-put-services-for-disabled-californians-at-risk\">slashing a lifeline\u003c/a> for disabled people nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Alice fought like hell to exist in her body and mind every day,” said Hernandez-Wilson, who works for a nonprofit that advocates for domestic workers and caretakers. “There is a larger system at play that dictates if we are worthy enough of getting care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raised in rural Minnesota, Hernandez-Wilson was the only student with a disability in her class and one of the few students of color in her entire school. “I was afraid that if I was labeled as a certain type of disabled person, I would be locked away in a classroom … that deep internalized ableism can really mess with your mind,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an adult, she picked up \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/617802/disability-visibility-by-alice-wong/\">\u003cem>Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an anthology edited by Wong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandy Ho, left, and Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson, right, hold hands at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Nov. 24, 2025. Hernandez-Wilson and Ho, who both worked closely with disability justice leader Alice Wong, are mourning their loss, yet continuing their fight for disability justice. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was the first time in my entire life that I really saw disabled people who looked like me embody self-love, embracing their body and mind,” she said. “It was like a hug from the universe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Hernandez-Wilson moved to the Bay Area last year, Wong became her mentor and friend. They shared jokes, stories of old crushes and how each managed their health. Born with spinal muscular atrophy, Wong dealt with chronic health issues throughout her life. After a series of medical emergencies in 2022, she began communicating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601143471/alice-wong-i-still-have-a-voice-2\">through text-to-speech technology\u003c/a> and her family confirmed that her death was due to an infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the systems weren’t the way they are, many of our people would still be here,” said Hernandez-Wilson. But even after Wong’s passing, she said, a generation of activists mentored by her is ready to push forward a bolder vision of liberation for all disabled people.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Centering the most marginalized\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Gifted with radiant charm and a disarming sense of humor, Wong, who was 51, built coalitions between different disabled communities. Cross-disability solidarity is \u003ca href=\"https://sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/\">a core principle of disability justice\u003c/a>, a framework developed over the last decade by queer and trans disabled activists of color in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 20th century, the primary objective for many disabled activists was securing equal employment, political participation and economic self-sufficiency — as outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1980.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065194\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065194\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and founder of the Disability Visibility Project, sits in the courtyard at the Disability Cultural Center on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This organizing was rooted in the Bay Area: the independent living movement \u003ca href=\"https://www.kalw.org/news/2017-04-05/berkeley-disability-activists-took-cues-from-the-civil-rights-era-and-sparked-a-national-movement\">took off here in the 1970s\u003c/a>; activists in Berkeley created the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/they-took-sledgehammers-sidewalks-heres-why-curb-cut-effect/\">first sidewalk curb cuts\u003c/a>; and in 1977, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13966861/judith-heumann-disability-rights-uc-berkeley-center-independent-living\">more than 100 disabled protesters\u003c/a> occupied the San Francisco Federal Building to demand implementation of the rule that prohibited discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of disability justice maintain that ableism affects everyone — particularly those living with disabilities — and call for a future free of all systems that oppress disabled people. This fight, Wong said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.buzzsprout.com/2003809/episodes/10799918-making-the-world-brighter-sassier-and-more-colorful-alice-wong-on-disability-justice\">a 2022 podcast\u003c/a>, “must center on the most marginalized.” Nowhere is this more necessary, she added, than in a post-COVID world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While cities and states rushed to loosen pandemic restrictions, Wong pushed back and demanded hospitals — including her own care provider, UCSF — continue \u003ca href=\"https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2024/01/25/n95s4ucsf-call-to-action/\">requiring face masks\u003c/a> and expand \u003ca href=\"https://nursing.ucsf.edu/news/disability-and-health-care-conversation-activist-alice-wong\">research into treatments\u003c/a> for those living with long COVID.[aside postID=news_11984990 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/Featured-photo-horizontal-Alice-Wong-1020x574.png']That’s how she met Charlie McCone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before contracting COVID in 2020, McCone, 35, said he had never experienced a serious health problem before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you go from biking 10 miles a day to work to being housebound indefinitely, losing your job and not having any answers from the medical system, it is absolutely devastating,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/long-covid\">Long COVID\u003c/a> — a chronic condition that follows many coronavirus infections and still confounds researchers — permanently altered McCone’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Searching for answers to his condition, he joined Twitter (now known as X). From his San Francisco home, he shared his experiences online, hoping more people would take long COVID seriously. But after two years, “I came to the realization that otherwise good and reasonable people are still completely unfazed by the fact that their next COVID infection could cause extreme harm to them or their family,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He started to feel rage at the injustices he saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People disabled by this virus and those already disabled prior to the pandemic are being completely disregarded and considered disposable by the general public,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Preparing for cuts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While others recommended he temper his emotions online, Wong encouraged McCone to lean into them. They met in person for the first time in 2023 over tea and soon got to work: over the next year, their online network launched \u003ca href=\"https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2024/01/02/disabled-outrage-and-podsavejon/\">a massive social media campaign\u003c/a> to pressure federal lawmakers to address the needs of those with long COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their efforts would bear fruit in January 2024 when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) held the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/20/1225862790/advocates-push-for-greater-investment-in-long-covid-research-at-senate-hearing\">first Congressional hearing\u003c/a> on long COVID. Patients and doctors testified and called for long-term investments in research. Democrats \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12006894/bay-areas-long-covid-community-celebrates-moonshot-bill-for-10-billion-in-funding\">later proposed $10 billion\u003c/a> in funding for research, treatment and education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052187\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052187\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(From left) Eli Gelardin, Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability, speaks with Alice Wong, a disability rights activist, and Debbie Kaplan, Deputy Director of Programmatic Access, at the Disability Cultural Center on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Alice could make incredibly meaningful change through media,” McCone said, adding that folks living with long COVID need to keep sharing their stories — now more than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislation to fund long COVID research has stalled since Republicans took control of Congress, but the Trump administration is moving quickly to implement \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997707/how-will-trumps-mega-bill-impact-health-care-in-california\">major health care reforms\u003c/a> outlined in the sweeping legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill establishes \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047647/trumps-health-law-spurs-big-medi-cal-changes-what-californians-need-to-know\">new eligibility rules for Medi-Cal\u003c/a>, the state’s Medicaid program that covers over 15 million low-income Californians. State health officials predict that up to 3.4 million Medi-Cal recipients could lose their coverage in the coming years under new rules that include more frequent eligibility screenings and work requirements for certain groups. While the White House \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/06/myth-vs-fact-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/\">insists\u003c/a> that the bill will not take coverage away from Americans with disabilities, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058930/medicaid-cuts-could-put-services-for-disabled-californians-at-risk\">independent policy experts note\u003c/a> that California will lose matching federal funds as residents lose their Medi-Cal coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers could respond by \u003ca href=\"https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/history-repeats-faced-medicaid-cuts-states-reduced-support-older-adults-and-disabled\">cutting home and community-based services\u003c/a>, which allow people with disabilities to receive treatment, care and job training in their own communities rather than in institutions like nursing homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you really want people with disabilities to get jobs, then you don’t cut the health care that allows people to stay well enough to work,” said Silvia Yee, public policy director at the Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. “You don’t cut the services that help people with disabilities navigate hiring and settling into a job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides Medicaid changes, Yee noted that the One Big Beautiful Bill also failed to extend subsidies for people who bought health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces like Covered California. Many people with a disability or chronic illness have an ACA insurance plan and will have to pay more to receive necessary care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These all seem like different cuts, but they affect the same pool of people,” Yee said. “All of this together makes it incredibly hard for people with disabilities to participate and live as part of the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The weight of carrying out disability justice’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The future can quite often feel precarious when you’re disabled, said Sandy Ho, one of Wong’s closest friends and executive director of the Disability and Philanthropy Forum. Ho, originally from Boston, met Wong 15 years ago online. They didn’t meet in person until Ho moved to Oakland, but the bond of their friendship endured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are always forces trying to take away our health care, and Alice understood that on a level that emboldened her to just say, ‘F— it all, either you’re with me, or you’re not,’” said Ho, who Wong tasked with carrying forward some of her unfinished projects, including her next book.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065498\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065498\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandy Ho, a disability justice activist, poses for a portrait at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Nov. 24, 2025. Ho worked closely with Alice Wong, a disability justice leader who died in November. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So many of us got to witness her life and be a part of it on so many different levels,” she said, adding that Wong loved organizing dinner parties for her friends, bringing together artists, organizers, researchers and health care workers. “She is our future — the future looks like getting fed really well because disabled people deserve delicious things. Disabled people deserve joy, to have fun and create.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year also saw the death of another leader in the disabled community: Patty Berne — co-founder of the Bay Area-based performance group \u003ca href=\"https://sinsinvalid.org/about-sins/\">Sins Invalid\u003c/a> and one of the minds behind the disability justice framework — \u003ca href=\"https://19thnews.org/2025/08/patty-berne-obituary-disability-justice-movement/\">died last May in Berkeley\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that I have unfortunately experienced a lot in the disability community is grief,” said Rosemary McDonnell-Horita, a Berkeley-based writer who was a friend to Wong and Berne. “The depths of love also come with the depths of grief.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campaigns both online and in Sacramento \u003ca href=\"https://dredf.org/oppose-cuts-to-medi-cal/\">are already underway\u003c/a> to protect Medi-Cal funding that serves disabled Californians. Other friends of Wong are \u003ca href=\"https://llps.substack.com/p/alice-wong-was-crips-for-esims-for\">continuing her call\u003c/a> to help provide disabled Palestinians in Gaza with cellular data. And McDonnell-Horita plans to keep working on a project that Wong loudly cheered: a cookbook for disabled people by disabled people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all now bear the weight of carrying out disability justice to the best of our ability,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With a smile, Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson, 38, closes her eyes when she says her friend’s name. She pauses. A tear rolls down her cheek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a real level of rage that I feel around Alice’s death,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13983848/alice-wong-disability-rights-activist-obituary\"> a month\u003c/a> since disability activist and author \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912041/remembering-disability-activist-alice-wong\">Alice Wong\u003c/a> died in San Francisco. Since her passing, KQED has spoken with many of Wong’s friends and collaborators in the Bay Area to better understand what motivated her decades of organizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her writings and public appearances, Wong spoke of the need for disabled people to advocate loudly for their health needs. This mission brought together a bold and effective network of advocates living with different disabilities. But now, folks are preparing for the biggest challenge yet: more than a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid and other social services in the coming decade, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058930/medicaid-cuts-could-put-services-for-disabled-californians-at-risk\">slashing a lifeline\u003c/a> for disabled people nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Alice fought like hell to exist in her body and mind every day,” said Hernandez-Wilson, who works for a nonprofit that advocates for domestic workers and caretakers. “There is a larger system at play that dictates if we are worthy enough of getting care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raised in rural Minnesota, Hernandez-Wilson was the only student with a disability in her class and one of the few students of color in her entire school. “I was afraid that if I was labeled as a certain type of disabled person, I would be locked away in a classroom … that deep internalized ableism can really mess with your mind,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an adult, she picked up \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/617802/disability-visibility-by-alice-wong/\">\u003cem>Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an anthology edited by Wong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00424_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandy Ho, left, and Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson, right, hold hands at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Nov. 24, 2025. Hernandez-Wilson and Ho, who both worked closely with disability justice leader Alice Wong, are mourning their loss, yet continuing their fight for disability justice. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was the first time in my entire life that I really saw disabled people who looked like me embody self-love, embracing their body and mind,” she said. “It was like a hug from the universe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Hernandez-Wilson moved to the Bay Area last year, Wong became her mentor and friend. They shared jokes, stories of old crushes and how each managed their health. Born with spinal muscular atrophy, Wong dealt with chronic health issues throughout her life. After a series of medical emergencies in 2022, she began communicating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601143471/alice-wong-i-still-have-a-voice-2\">through text-to-speech technology\u003c/a> and her family confirmed that her death was due to an infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the systems weren’t the way they are, many of our people would still be here,” said Hernandez-Wilson. But even after Wong’s passing, she said, a generation of activists mentored by her is ready to push forward a bolder vision of liberation for all disabled people.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Centering the most marginalized\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Gifted with radiant charm and a disarming sense of humor, Wong, who was 51, built coalitions between different disabled communities. Cross-disability solidarity is \u003ca href=\"https://sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/\">a core principle of disability justice\u003c/a>, a framework developed over the last decade by queer and trans disabled activists of color in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 20th century, the primary objective for many disabled activists was securing equal employment, political participation and economic self-sufficiency — as outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1980.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065194\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065194\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250813-DisabilityCulturalCenter-10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and founder of the Disability Visibility Project, sits in the courtyard at the Disability Cultural Center on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This organizing was rooted in the Bay Area: the independent living movement \u003ca href=\"https://www.kalw.org/news/2017-04-05/berkeley-disability-activists-took-cues-from-the-civil-rights-era-and-sparked-a-national-movement\">took off here in the 1970s\u003c/a>; activists in Berkeley created the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/they-took-sledgehammers-sidewalks-heres-why-curb-cut-effect/\">first sidewalk curb cuts\u003c/a>; and in 1977, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13966861/judith-heumann-disability-rights-uc-berkeley-center-independent-living\">more than 100 disabled protesters\u003c/a> occupied the San Francisco Federal Building to demand implementation of the rule that prohibited discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of disability justice maintain that ableism affects everyone — particularly those living with disabilities — and call for a future free of all systems that oppress disabled people. This fight, Wong said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.buzzsprout.com/2003809/episodes/10799918-making-the-world-brighter-sassier-and-more-colorful-alice-wong-on-disability-justice\">a 2022 podcast\u003c/a>, “must center on the most marginalized.” Nowhere is this more necessary, she added, than in a post-COVID world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While cities and states rushed to loosen pandemic restrictions, Wong pushed back and demanded hospitals — including her own care provider, UCSF — continue \u003ca href=\"https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2024/01/25/n95s4ucsf-call-to-action/\">requiring face masks\u003c/a> and expand \u003ca href=\"https://nursing.ucsf.edu/news/disability-and-health-care-conversation-activist-alice-wong\">research into treatments\u003c/a> for those living with long COVID.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s how she met Charlie McCone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before contracting COVID in 2020, McCone, 35, said he had never experienced a serious health problem before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you go from biking 10 miles a day to work to being housebound indefinitely, losing your job and not having any answers from the medical system, it is absolutely devastating,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/long-covid\">Long COVID\u003c/a> — a chronic condition that follows many coronavirus infections and still confounds researchers — permanently altered McCone’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Searching for answers to his condition, he joined Twitter (now known as X). From his San Francisco home, he shared his experiences online, hoping more people would take long COVID seriously. But after two years, “I came to the realization that otherwise good and reasonable people are still completely unfazed by the fact that their next COVID infection could cause extreme harm to them or their family,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He started to feel rage at the injustices he saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People disabled by this virus and those already disabled prior to the pandemic are being completely disregarded and considered disposable by the general public,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Preparing for cuts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While others recommended he temper his emotions online, Wong encouraged McCone to lean into them. They met in person for the first time in 2023 over tea and soon got to work: over the next year, their online network launched \u003ca href=\"https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2024/01/02/disabled-outrage-and-podsavejon/\">a massive social media campaign\u003c/a> to pressure federal lawmakers to address the needs of those with long COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their efforts would bear fruit in January 2024 when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) held the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/20/1225862790/advocates-push-for-greater-investment-in-long-covid-research-at-senate-hearing\">first Congressional hearing\u003c/a> on long COVID. Patients and doctors testified and called for long-term investments in research. Democrats \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12006894/bay-areas-long-covid-community-celebrates-moonshot-bill-for-10-billion-in-funding\">later proposed $10 billion\u003c/a> in funding for research, treatment and education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052187\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052187\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813-DISABILITYCULTURALCENTER-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(From left) Eli Gelardin, Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability, speaks with Alice Wong, a disability rights activist, and Debbie Kaplan, Deputy Director of Programmatic Access, at the Disability Cultural Center on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Alice could make incredibly meaningful change through media,” McCone said, adding that folks living with long COVID need to keep sharing their stories — now more than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislation to fund long COVID research has stalled since Republicans took control of Congress, but the Trump administration is moving quickly to implement \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997707/how-will-trumps-mega-bill-impact-health-care-in-california\">major health care reforms\u003c/a> outlined in the sweeping legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill establishes \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047647/trumps-health-law-spurs-big-medi-cal-changes-what-californians-need-to-know\">new eligibility rules for Medi-Cal\u003c/a>, the state’s Medicaid program that covers over 15 million low-income Californians. State health officials predict that up to 3.4 million Medi-Cal recipients could lose their coverage in the coming years under new rules that include more frequent eligibility screenings and work requirements for certain groups. While the White House \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/06/myth-vs-fact-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/\">insists\u003c/a> that the bill will not take coverage away from Americans with disabilities, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058930/medicaid-cuts-could-put-services-for-disabled-californians-at-risk\">independent policy experts note\u003c/a> that California will lose matching federal funds as residents lose their Medi-Cal coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers could respond by \u003ca href=\"https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/history-repeats-faced-medicaid-cuts-states-reduced-support-older-adults-and-disabled\">cutting home and community-based services\u003c/a>, which allow people with disabilities to receive treatment, care and job training in their own communities rather than in institutions like nursing homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you really want people with disabilities to get jobs, then you don’t cut the health care that allows people to stay well enough to work,” said Silvia Yee, public policy director at the Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. “You don’t cut the services that help people with disabilities navigate hiring and settling into a job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides Medicaid changes, Yee noted that the One Big Beautiful Bill also failed to extend subsidies for people who bought health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces like Covered California. Many people with a disability or chronic illness have an ACA insurance plan and will have to pay more to receive necessary care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These all seem like different cuts, but they affect the same pool of people,” Yee said. “All of this together makes it incredibly hard for people with disabilities to participate and live as part of the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The weight of carrying out disability justice’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The future can quite often feel precarious when you’re disabled, said Sandy Ho, one of Wong’s closest friends and executive director of the Disability and Philanthropy Forum. Ho, originally from Boston, met Wong 15 years ago online. They didn’t meet in person until Ho moved to Oakland, but the bond of their friendship endured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are always forces trying to take away our health care, and Alice understood that on a level that emboldened her to just say, ‘F— it all, either you’re with me, or you’re not,’” said Ho, who Wong tasked with carrying forward some of her unfinished projects, including her next book.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065498\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065498\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-DISABILITYJUSTICELEADERS00080_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandy Ho, a disability justice activist, poses for a portrait at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Nov. 24, 2025. Ho worked closely with Alice Wong, a disability justice leader who died in November. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So many of us got to witness her life and be a part of it on so many different levels,” she said, adding that Wong loved organizing dinner parties for her friends, bringing together artists, organizers, researchers and health care workers. “She is our future — the future looks like getting fed really well because disabled people deserve delicious things. Disabled people deserve joy, to have fun and create.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year also saw the death of another leader in the disabled community: Patty Berne — co-founder of the Bay Area-based performance group \u003ca href=\"https://sinsinvalid.org/about-sins/\">Sins Invalid\u003c/a> and one of the minds behind the disability justice framework — \u003ca href=\"https://19thnews.org/2025/08/patty-berne-obituary-disability-justice-movement/\">died last May in Berkeley\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that I have unfortunately experienced a lot in the disability community is grief,” said Rosemary McDonnell-Horita, a Berkeley-based writer who was a friend to Wong and Berne. “The depths of love also come with the depths of grief.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campaigns both online and in Sacramento \u003ca href=\"https://dredf.org/oppose-cuts-to-medi-cal/\">are already underway\u003c/a> to protect Medi-Cal funding that serves disabled Californians. Other friends of Wong are \u003ca href=\"https://llps.substack.com/p/alice-wong-was-crips-for-esims-for\">continuing her call\u003c/a> to help provide disabled Palestinians in Gaza with cellular data. And McDonnell-Horita plans to keep working on a project that Wong loudly cheered: a cookbook for disabled people by disabled people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all now bear the weight of carrying out disability justice to the best of our ability,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "new-uc-berkeley-initiative-will-try-to-close-dangerous-data-gap-in-womens-sports",
"title": "New UC Berkeley Initiative Will Try to Close ‘Dangerous’ Data Gap in Women's Sports",
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"headTitle": "New UC Berkeley Initiative Will Try to Close ‘Dangerous’ Data Gap in Women’s Sports | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For decades, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sports-medicine\">sports medicine\u003c/a> has relied on data collected almost exclusively from men — an inequity that experts say underserves female athletes, and creates a barrier to preventing career-ending injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A first-of-its-kind initiative launched by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/uc-berkeley\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a> on Friday seeks to close that gap in medical research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The net result of this disparity can be observed on playing fields, in pools, on courts, in pitches and in arenas,” said Janet Napolitano, former UC Berkeley President and founder of the Center for Security in Politics, the institute leading the project, at a press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university’s “Women’s Health and Performance Initiative” will collect biometric data from women student-athletes and professional players and use machine learning to create new predictive health models specifically for female physiology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the massive growth in women’s sports over the last three decades, the science has not kept pace. Published research in sports and exercise focused on women is nearly obsolete; less than 10% of sports medicine and sports science research has involved women athletes exclusively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12024033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12024033 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two teammates practice at the soccer fields at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park on Jan. 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This persistent research gap has resulted in real-world disadvantages, leaving women athletes prone to preventable, career-ending injuries at rates significantly higher than their male counterparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Cindy Chang, the chief medical officer for the National Women’s Soccer League and a former head team physician at Cal, highlighted the severity of the research void.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without that baseline epidemiological data, we have no idea how our interventions are going to impact injury rates and performance,” Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In collegiate and professional sports, women suffer from anterior cruciate ligament tears at significantly higher rates than men. Chang noted that she struggled to find resources to study these injury rates as far back as 1995. Thirty years later, that lack persists, she said.[aside postID=news_12049841 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-79_qed.jpg']“An ACL injury today can be career-ending for a female athlete, but for their male counterparts, no longer,” Napolitano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email to KQED, Chang noted that the first phase of research will focus on identifying the most common injuries to establish baseline data that doesn’t currently exist. This includes analyzing return-to-play protocols and the mental and physical variables that affect recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project, which will likely span multiple years, will begin with collegiate athletes before expanding data collection to professional sports leagues and other academic institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Napolitano, the former Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013, said these risks carry over from the field to national defense. She noted that a significant number of women who are first responders, in the military and law enforcement, are former athletes, yet they are often held to training standards or equipped with gear designed based on male biometrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here at Berkeley, you can address a gender equity issue while at the same time improving national security,” Napolitano said during the launch event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Chang explained the physiological crossover between a midfielder on the soccer pitch and a soldier on the field, as both groups face high physical training demands and require similar mental fortitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759022\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759022\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The UC Berkeley women’s crew team has won two NCAA championships in the last five years. \u003ccite>(Sam Harnett/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If either woman is experiencing menstrual cycle-related cramping and low back pain, for example, their performance metrics, perceived wellness ratings, and objective sleep quality measurements may be impacted,” Chang wrote in an email. “And thus their ability to perform their sports and job duties may be affected as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to university officials, the program will utilize UC Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society to feed this data into machine learning models. The goal is to identify patterns that human analysis might miss — predicting injury risks, optimizing recovery times and tailoring nutrition plans specifically for female physiology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an ambitious endeavor,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons. “What we learn from this initiative will lead to the creation of new tools — tools that can be commercialized and brought to market.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The partnership also offers the university a chance to turn student-athletes into pioneers, said Jenny Simon-O’Neill, Cal’s co-athletic director. She highlighted the university’s history of producing elite talent like Alex Morgan and Missy Franklin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We strongly believe that we have a unique opportunity in the collegiate sports environment to develop leaders of tomorrow,” Simon-O’Neill said. “Our student athletes understand the importance of innovation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For decades, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sports-medicine\">sports medicine\u003c/a> has relied on data collected almost exclusively from men — an inequity that experts say underserves female athletes, and creates a barrier to preventing career-ending injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A first-of-its-kind initiative launched by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/uc-berkeley\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a> on Friday seeks to close that gap in medical research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The net result of this disparity can be observed on playing fields, in pools, on courts, in pitches and in arenas,” said Janet Napolitano, former UC Berkeley President and founder of the Center for Security in Politics, the institute leading the project, at a press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university’s “Women’s Health and Performance Initiative” will collect biometric data from women student-athletes and professional players and use machine learning to create new predictive health models specifically for female physiology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the massive growth in women’s sports over the last three decades, the science has not kept pace. Published research in sports and exercise focused on women is nearly obsolete; less than 10% of sports medicine and sports science research has involved women athletes exclusively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12024033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12024033 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250123_SonomaStateFile_GC-44-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two teammates practice at the soccer fields at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park on Jan. 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This persistent research gap has resulted in real-world disadvantages, leaving women athletes prone to preventable, career-ending injuries at rates significantly higher than their male counterparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Cindy Chang, the chief medical officer for the National Women’s Soccer League and a former head team physician at Cal, highlighted the severity of the research void.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without that baseline epidemiological data, we have no idea how our interventions are going to impact injury rates and performance,” Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In collegiate and professional sports, women suffer from anterior cruciate ligament tears at significantly higher rates than men. Chang noted that she struggled to find resources to study these injury rates as far back as 1995. Thirty years later, that lack persists, she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“An ACL injury today can be career-ending for a female athlete, but for their male counterparts, no longer,” Napolitano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email to KQED, Chang noted that the first phase of research will focus on identifying the most common injuries to establish baseline data that doesn’t currently exist. This includes analyzing return-to-play protocols and the mental and physical variables that affect recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project, which will likely span multiple years, will begin with collegiate athletes before expanding data collection to professional sports leagues and other academic institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Napolitano, the former Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013, said these risks carry over from the field to national defense. She noted that a significant number of women who are first responders, in the military and law enforcement, are former athletes, yet they are often held to training standards or equipped with gear designed based on male biometrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here at Berkeley, you can address a gender equity issue while at the same time improving national security,” Napolitano said during the launch event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Chang explained the physiological crossover between a midfielder on the soccer pitch and a soldier on the field, as both groups face high physical training demands and require similar mental fortitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759022\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759022\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/RS38004_rowing_-_sam_harnett-qut-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The UC Berkeley women’s crew team has won two NCAA championships in the last five years. \u003ccite>(Sam Harnett/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If either woman is experiencing menstrual cycle-related cramping and low back pain, for example, their performance metrics, perceived wellness ratings, and objective sleep quality measurements may be impacted,” Chang wrote in an email. “And thus their ability to perform their sports and job duties may be affected as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to university officials, the program will utilize UC Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society to feed this data into machine learning models. The goal is to identify patterns that human analysis might miss — predicting injury risks, optimizing recovery times and tailoring nutrition plans specifically for female physiology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an ambitious endeavor,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons. “What we learn from this initiative will lead to the creation of new tools — tools that can be commercialized and brought to market.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The partnership also offers the university a chance to turn student-athletes into pioneers, said Jenny Simon-O’Neill, Cal’s co-athletic director. She highlighted the university’s history of producing elite talent like Alex Morgan and Missy Franklin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We strongly believe that we have a unique opportunity in the collegiate sports environment to develop leaders of tomorrow,” Simon-O’Neill said. “Our student athletes understand the importance of innovation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Lawsuits Challenge Trump Administration’s Radical Homeless Policy Changes",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two recently filed lawsuits accuse the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of illegally going over Congress’ head to make massive changes to the way \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">federal homelessness funds\u003c/a> are distributed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HUD’s new grant rules would effectively defund permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs across the nation, eliminating proven tools that help residents exit homelessness sustainably,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a statement. “This is another instance of the Trump administration prioritizing its political agenda above the needs of our most vulnerable community members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County and San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/NAEH-v-HUD-25-cv-636-Complaint-with-civil-cover-sheet-and-summons.pdf\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> this week, in conjunction with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/001_Cmplt.pdf\">separate lawsuit\u003c/a> was filed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and a handful of other states. It marked the 47th time California sued the Trump administration in 44 weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, homeless service providers are waiting anxiously to see how the litigation plays out and wondering if the impending legal battle will further delay the money they desperately need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954915\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\" alt=\"A unhoused encampment is seen in Los Angeles. There are tents, belongings scattered and stacked, RVs in the background, a random shopping cart, and more. Many blue tarps cover the tops of the encampment area.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An encampment, in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Julie A Hotz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s just the matter of how long it’s going to take that concerns me,” said Robert Ratner, director of Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health, which coordinates the county’s homelessness response. “Because while we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement last month, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the changes are aimed at “stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/trump-homeless-funds-cuts/\">changes\u003c/a> the Trump administration made to its funding policy last month. Jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds now can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a significant decrease. Los Angeles County, for example, currently spends more than 80% on permanent housing. Instead, the federal government wants localities to prioritize emergency shelter and temporary housing programs that require participants to be sober or participate in treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While shelters offer a temporary respite from the streets, permanent housing can end someone’s homelessness. For years, the federal government has prioritized funding permanent housing using the “housing first” method — a strategy that moves people into housing as quickly as possible, without requiring them to first get sober or agree to addiction treatment. Veering away from both of those principles marks a major policy shift.[aside postID=news_12065708 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-06-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']Last year, California communities won more than $683 million in federal homelessness funds through what is called the Continuum of Care program. About 90% of that went to permanent housing projects, which currently house tens of thousands of Californians, according to Newsom. The new rule threatens to put those people back out onto the street, he said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/11/25/governor-newsom-sues-trump-administration-for-cruel-cuts-to-homeless-housing-funding-that-will-hurt-families/\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policy also prohibits the use of federal funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely. And it gives preference for projects in cities, counties and states that ban homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both lawsuits allege that the Trump administration’s funding changes violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by defying the rules Congress set out for distributing the funds. Congress authorized a two-year grant cycle in 2024, meaning local jurisdictions wouldn’t have to reapply for funds in 2025. The Trump administration flouted that decision when it suddenly forced jurisdictions to reapply, the lawsuits allege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits also claim the administration didn’t go through proper protocol before enacting the changes to its funding strategy, which would have included giving cities and counties more time to comply with the new rules, and allowing stakeholders to comment on the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Santa Cruz County, Ratner is of two minds about the lawsuits. On one hand, he believes the abrupt way the Trump administration rolled out the funding changes was “very inappropriate.” But he worries a lengthy court battle could tie up funds his county needs to pay people’s rents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Alliance to End Homelessness \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/09/ca-homelessness-funding-population/\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> over similar allegations tied to a smaller, $75 million pot of homelessness funding in September. A judge \u003ca href=\"https://endhomelessness.org/media/court-blocks-trump-vance-administrations-unlawful-housing-grant-restrictions/\">sided with the Alliance\u003c/a>, and temporarily barred the federal government from distributing those funds. But now that money is frozen, unable to help unhoused residents as the case moves forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“While we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccite>Robert Ratner, director, Housing for Health\u003c/cite>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ratner worries that could happen again in this case. Santa Cruz County is set to start hitting serious financial problems as soon as February, Ratner said. That’s when a $1.2 million supportive housing grant, which currently houses about 50 people in different apartments around the county, is set to expire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration doesn’t expect to start awarding Continuum of Care money until May. It’s unclear how the lawsuits will affect that timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Ratner and other homeless service providers are trying to remain optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this point, we don’t know how long the litigation process will take, but we’re hopeful it leads to a more workable path forward,” Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Lisa Bates said in a statement. “Of course, any delay in federal funding would have real impacts on communities across the country, including ours, to operate shelters, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and essential system coordination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/12/homelessness-funding-lawsuits/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two recently filed lawsuits accuse the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of illegally going over Congress’ head to make massive changes to the way \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">federal homelessness funds\u003c/a> are distributed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HUD’s new grant rules would effectively defund permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs across the nation, eliminating proven tools that help residents exit homelessness sustainably,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a statement. “This is another instance of the Trump administration prioritizing its political agenda above the needs of our most vulnerable community members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County and San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/NAEH-v-HUD-25-cv-636-Complaint-with-civil-cover-sheet-and-summons.pdf\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> this week, in conjunction with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/001_Cmplt.pdf\">separate lawsuit\u003c/a> was filed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and a handful of other states. It marked the 47th time California sued the Trump administration in 44 weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, homeless service providers are waiting anxiously to see how the litigation plays out and wondering if the impending legal battle will further delay the money they desperately need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954915\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\" alt=\"A unhoused encampment is seen in Los Angeles. There are tents, belongings scattered and stacked, RVs in the background, a random shopping cart, and more. Many blue tarps cover the tops of the encampment area.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An encampment, in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Julie A Hotz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s just the matter of how long it’s going to take that concerns me,” said Robert Ratner, director of Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health, which coordinates the county’s homelessness response. “Because while we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement last month, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the changes are aimed at “stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/trump-homeless-funds-cuts/\">changes\u003c/a> the Trump administration made to its funding policy last month. Jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds now can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a significant decrease. Los Angeles County, for example, currently spends more than 80% on permanent housing. Instead, the federal government wants localities to prioritize emergency shelter and temporary housing programs that require participants to be sober or participate in treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While shelters offer a temporary respite from the streets, permanent housing can end someone’s homelessness. For years, the federal government has prioritized funding permanent housing using the “housing first” method — a strategy that moves people into housing as quickly as possible, without requiring them to first get sober or agree to addiction treatment. Veering away from both of those principles marks a major policy shift.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last year, California communities won more than $683 million in federal homelessness funds through what is called the Continuum of Care program. About 90% of that went to permanent housing projects, which currently house tens of thousands of Californians, according to Newsom. The new rule threatens to put those people back out onto the street, he said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/11/25/governor-newsom-sues-trump-administration-for-cruel-cuts-to-homeless-housing-funding-that-will-hurt-families/\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policy also prohibits the use of federal funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely. And it gives preference for projects in cities, counties and states that ban homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both lawsuits allege that the Trump administration’s funding changes violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by defying the rules Congress set out for distributing the funds. Congress authorized a two-year grant cycle in 2024, meaning local jurisdictions wouldn’t have to reapply for funds in 2025. The Trump administration flouted that decision when it suddenly forced jurisdictions to reapply, the lawsuits allege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits also claim the administration didn’t go through proper protocol before enacting the changes to its funding strategy, which would have included giving cities and counties more time to comply with the new rules, and allowing stakeholders to comment on the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Santa Cruz County, Ratner is of two minds about the lawsuits. On one hand, he believes the abrupt way the Trump administration rolled out the funding changes was “very inappropriate.” But he worries a lengthy court battle could tie up funds his county needs to pay people’s rents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Alliance to End Homelessness \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/09/ca-homelessness-funding-population/\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> over similar allegations tied to a smaller, $75 million pot of homelessness funding in September. A judge \u003ca href=\"https://endhomelessness.org/media/court-blocks-trump-vance-administrations-unlawful-housing-grant-restrictions/\">sided with the Alliance\u003c/a>, and temporarily barred the federal government from distributing those funds. But now that money is frozen, unable to help unhoused residents as the case moves forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“While we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccite>Robert Ratner, director, Housing for Health\u003c/cite>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ratner worries that could happen again in this case. Santa Cruz County is set to start hitting serious financial problems as soon as February, Ratner said. That’s when a $1.2 million supportive housing grant, which currently houses about 50 people in different apartments around the county, is set to expire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration doesn’t expect to start awarding Continuum of Care money until May. It’s unclear how the lawsuits will affect that timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Ratner and other homeless service providers are trying to remain optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this point, we don’t know how long the litigation process will take, but we’re hopeful it leads to a more workable path forward,” Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Lisa Bates said in a statement. “Of course, any delay in federal funding would have real impacts on communities across the country, including ours, to operate shelters, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and essential system coordination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/12/homelessness-funding-lawsuits/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The State Found Red Flags in Nursing Homes But Licensed Them Anyway. 4 Things to Know",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065126/he-built-a-nursing-home-empire-despite-state-investigations-now-lawsuits-are-piling-up\">California nursing homes owned by Shlomo Rechnitz\u003c/a> and his companies has faced state scrutiny for years. Now, a series of recent lawsuits is bringing renewed attention to his companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say Rechnitz’ companies are Exhibit A in how regulators at the Department of Public Health are failing some of California’s most vulnerable citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-oversight-nursing-homes/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> documented that the state Department of Public Health allowed Rechnitz and his companies to operate 18 nursing homes while delaying a decision on granting licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state had kept the license applications in a “pending” status for seven years after he acquired them. Rechnitz and his companies were allowed to continue operating five additional homes even after the state denied licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles entrepreneur Shlomo Rechnitz owns one of California’s largest nursing home chains. Several of the nursing homes are in court over patient allegations of neglect and negligence. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters. Source image: Sacramento Bee photo by Paul Kitagaki)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/09/nursing-home-licensing-bill/\">signed a law\u003c/a> meant to address the issue, but state regulators in 2023 granted Rechnitz’ companies the licenses to operate the homes just before the measure took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are key takeaways from CalMatters’ most recent coverage:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Newly licensed homes now subjects of patient lawsuits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several homes that received licenses in 2023 are now being sued by patients and their family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February 2024, a Los Angeles County jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26277158-jury-verdict/\">awarded $2.34 million\u003c/a> to an 84-year-old nursing home resident named Betsy Jentz, finding that Country Villa Wilshire had violated her rights on 132 occasions, at times leading to serious injuries.[aside postID=news_12064768 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/008_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023_qed.jpg']This coming February, a jury in Shasta County is scheduled to hear a case against Windsor Redding, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21069802-complaint-2/\">accused of negligence\u003c/a> in the 2020 COVID-19 deaths of 24 patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another upcoming case involves 78-year-old Barbara Pendley, who allegedly died after \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276972-pendley-complaint-fac-8-4-23/\">suffering severe dehydration\u003c/a> at \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284983-northpoint-answer/\">North Point Healthcare & Wellness Centre\u003c/a> in Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And trial is scheduled to begin next spring in the case of a 79-year-old dementia patient, referred to as \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284981-answer-to-cheryl-doe/\">Cheryl Doe\u003c/a>, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276978-doe-complaint-2-2-24/\">allegedly raped twice \u003c/a>at Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland; a second case against the same facility alleges that \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276976-williams-complaint-6-26-24/\">excessive sedation\u003c/a> of 64-year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284980-williams-defendants-answer-to-plaintiffs-complaint1455624141/\">Alando Williams\u003c/a> led to his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rechnitz and his companies have denied allegations in all of these cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is accurate that nursing homes are the target of abusive lawsuits that accomplish nothing but depleting resources for patient care,” said Mark Johnson, an attorney for the facilities and their holding company, Brius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On average, more citations at Rechnitz homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A CalMatters analysis of data from both the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/CalHealthFind/Pages/Home.aspx\">state health department\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/4pq5-n9py\">federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services\u003c/a> found 78 California facilities in which Shlomo Rechnitz or his wife, Tamar, were listed among the owners. On average the facilities fared poorly on several key quality metrics compared to the state overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>In the past three years, these 78 nursing homes received an average of 12.4 citations for facility-reported incidents, compared with 6.1 for all nursing homes statewide.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A higher proportion of the facilities has received a federal fine in the last three years than the state’s overall rate. Two-thirds of these facilities received at least one federal fine in the last three years, compared to half of all facilities across the state.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The facilities have been fined an average of $47,897 during the last three years, compared to an average of $29,573 for all California facilities.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Johnson, the attorney for Rechnitz’ facilities, said in his email that a large percentage of these facilities are located in Los Angeles County, which issues deficiencies at a higher rate than any county in California, many of which are overturned on appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said that “Mr. Rechnitz’s facilities self-report at a significantly higher rate than other comparable facilities,” which, in turn, could lead them to have a higher number of deficiencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rechnitz is wealthy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In August 2024, an Alameda County jury found that Alameda Healthcare & Wellness had violated the rights of 71-year-old James Doherty, Sr. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26092434-60650058-08-18-2025-special-verdict-form-1-from-jurors-v3/\">more than 1,400 times\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12064693 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-01-KQED-1.jpg']That included seven instances in which staff failed to transport him, causing him to miss chemotherapy treatments, court documents said. Doherty died following the development of a large pressure sore. His family was awarded $7.6 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another key revelation from that case: Rechnitz and his wife disclosed their net worth. According to financial documents filed in court, it comes to $786 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Chicotel, a senior staff attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said that dollar figure hasn’t been divulged publicly before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At least in some of these chains, the money that was meant to go for patient care is being stripped away and sent up top to the ownership,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Advocates say the state is not doing its job\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say the state Department of Public Health could push for greater accountability, including withholding licenses from owners they deem to be bad actors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wendy York, a Sacramento attorney specializing in nursing home abuse, said that watching elderly and disabled residents repeatedly suffer the same types of injuries in these facilities “feels like a broken record. It feels like Groundhog Day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are “government agencies who are responsible for their oversight,” York said, but “at the end of the day, it feels like we’re the ones who are doing the enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Public Health spokesman Mark Smith said in an emailed statement that the department “remains committed to transparency and accountability for all providers, and to the health and safety of all nursing home residents in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2025/11/nursing-home-takeaways/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065126/he-built-a-nursing-home-empire-despite-state-investigations-now-lawsuits-are-piling-up\">California nursing homes owned by Shlomo Rechnitz\u003c/a> and his companies has faced state scrutiny for years. Now, a series of recent lawsuits is bringing renewed attention to his companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say Rechnitz’ companies are Exhibit A in how regulators at the Department of Public Health are failing some of California’s most vulnerable citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-oversight-nursing-homes/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> documented that the state Department of Public Health allowed Rechnitz and his companies to operate 18 nursing homes while delaying a decision on granting licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state had kept the license applications in a “pending” status for seven years after he acquired them. Rechnitz and his companies were allowed to continue operating five additional homes even after the state denied licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles entrepreneur Shlomo Rechnitz owns one of California’s largest nursing home chains. Several of the nursing homes are in court over patient allegations of neglect and negligence. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters. Source image: Sacramento Bee photo by Paul Kitagaki)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/09/nursing-home-licensing-bill/\">signed a law\u003c/a> meant to address the issue, but state regulators in 2023 granted Rechnitz’ companies the licenses to operate the homes just before the measure took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are key takeaways from CalMatters’ most recent coverage:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Newly licensed homes now subjects of patient lawsuits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several homes that received licenses in 2023 are now being sued by patients and their family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February 2024, a Los Angeles County jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26277158-jury-verdict/\">awarded $2.34 million\u003c/a> to an 84-year-old nursing home resident named Betsy Jentz, finding that Country Villa Wilshire had violated her rights on 132 occasions, at times leading to serious injuries.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This coming February, a jury in Shasta County is scheduled to hear a case against Windsor Redding, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21069802-complaint-2/\">accused of negligence\u003c/a> in the 2020 COVID-19 deaths of 24 patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another upcoming case involves 78-year-old Barbara Pendley, who allegedly died after \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276972-pendley-complaint-fac-8-4-23/\">suffering severe dehydration\u003c/a> at \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284983-northpoint-answer/\">North Point Healthcare & Wellness Centre\u003c/a> in Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And trial is scheduled to begin next spring in the case of a 79-year-old dementia patient, referred to as \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284981-answer-to-cheryl-doe/\">Cheryl Doe\u003c/a>, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276978-doe-complaint-2-2-24/\">allegedly raped twice \u003c/a>at Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland; a second case against the same facility alleges that \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276976-williams-complaint-6-26-24/\">excessive sedation\u003c/a> of 64-year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284980-williams-defendants-answer-to-plaintiffs-complaint1455624141/\">Alando Williams\u003c/a> led to his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rechnitz and his companies have denied allegations in all of these cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is accurate that nursing homes are the target of abusive lawsuits that accomplish nothing but depleting resources for patient care,” said Mark Johnson, an attorney for the facilities and their holding company, Brius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On average, more citations at Rechnitz homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A CalMatters analysis of data from both the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/CalHealthFind/Pages/Home.aspx\">state health department\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/4pq5-n9py\">federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services\u003c/a> found 78 California facilities in which Shlomo Rechnitz or his wife, Tamar, were listed among the owners. On average the facilities fared poorly on several key quality metrics compared to the state overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>In the past three years, these 78 nursing homes received an average of 12.4 citations for facility-reported incidents, compared with 6.1 for all nursing homes statewide.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A higher proportion of the facilities has received a federal fine in the last three years than the state’s overall rate. Two-thirds of these facilities received at least one federal fine in the last three years, compared to half of all facilities across the state.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The facilities have been fined an average of $47,897 during the last three years, compared to an average of $29,573 for all California facilities.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Johnson, the attorney for Rechnitz’ facilities, said in his email that a large percentage of these facilities are located in Los Angeles County, which issues deficiencies at a higher rate than any county in California, many of which are overturned on appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said that “Mr. Rechnitz’s facilities self-report at a significantly higher rate than other comparable facilities,” which, in turn, could lead them to have a higher number of deficiencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rechnitz is wealthy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In August 2024, an Alameda County jury found that Alameda Healthcare & Wellness had violated the rights of 71-year-old James Doherty, Sr. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26092434-60650058-08-18-2025-special-verdict-form-1-from-jurors-v3/\">more than 1,400 times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That included seven instances in which staff failed to transport him, causing him to miss chemotherapy treatments, court documents said. Doherty died following the development of a large pressure sore. His family was awarded $7.6 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another key revelation from that case: Rechnitz and his wife disclosed their net worth. According to financial documents filed in court, it comes to $786 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Chicotel, a senior staff attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said that dollar figure hasn’t been divulged publicly before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At least in some of these chains, the money that was meant to go for patient care is being stripped away and sent up top to the ownership,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Advocates say the state is not doing its job\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say the state Department of Public Health could push for greater accountability, including withholding licenses from owners they deem to be bad actors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wendy York, a Sacramento attorney specializing in nursing home abuse, said that watching elderly and disabled residents repeatedly suffer the same types of injuries in these facilities “feels like a broken record. It feels like Groundhog Day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are “government agencies who are responsible for their oversight,” York said, but “at the end of the day, it feels like we’re the ones who are doing the enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Public Health spokesman Mark Smith said in an emailed statement that the department “remains committed to transparency and accountability for all providers, and to the health and safety of all nursing home residents in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2025/11/nursing-home-takeaways/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘It’s Just Cruel’: Bay Area Parents Say Sutter Health Is Set to Halt Trans Youth Care",
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"headTitle": "‘It’s Just Cruel’: Bay Area Parents Say Sutter Health Is Set to Halt Trans Youth Care | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After six months of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050618/california-sues-trump-administration-over-efforts-to-deny-gender-affirming-health-care\">gender-affirming care\u003c/a> and a first puberty blocker shot for her 10-year-old son in September, Julie noticed him carrying himself differently. His back was straight, he was no longer hiding his body, and he was confident with eye contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But last Friday, the East Bay parent received a call and an email from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sutter-health\">Sutter Health\u003c/a> caregiver that she’s afraid to tell her son about. She asked KQED to use only her first name because she is afraid of retribution against her and her son’s caregiver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day prior, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, hospital higher-ups informed Julie’s son’s caregiver that they would no longer offer gender-affirming care to patients younger than 19. That care could stop as soon as Dec. 10, they said, according to the caregiver’s messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That left Julie with just over two weeks, including a major holiday, to find a new physician for her son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just cruel, and I continue to be heartbroken, overwhelmed and livid,” Julie said. “It’s the week of Thanksgiving. Everyone’s gone, and they knew that that was going to be the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030056\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030056\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sutter Health CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco on Feb. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Julie isn’t the only parent gutted by the potential decision. At least 10 families are working through the emotions and the looming reality of finding new care for their kids, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.rainbowfamiliesaction.org/about\">Rainbow Families Action\u003c/a>, a group made up of parents and allies of trans youth. More than a dozen advocacy groups are pressuring Sutter Health, a nonprofit health care system serving more than 3.5 million Californians, to provide more details about the information their children’s physicians relayed to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter Health would not confirm or deny what parents told KQED. In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson wrote that the hospital network is “working to ensure compliance with recent federal actions” and remains “committed to approaching this with compassion, physician guidance, and compliance with applicable requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other hospital groups, the network had already halted gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19, and officials are now prioritizing “open and thoughtful conversations between physicians and their patients to determine the best path forward for individual care plans,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the decision is true, Sutter Health would join a growing list of health care providers moving to limit care for trans youth under building pressure from the Trump administration. In June, Stanford Medicine \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997491/stanford-scales-back-trans-care-for-minors-amid-federal-crackdown\">paused gender-affirming surgeries\u003c/a> and stopped prescribing puberty blockers to youth. In July, Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente, which serves more than 12 million people across eight states, announced it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049666/nowhere-else-to-go-sf-families-protest-kaisers-new-limits-on-gender-affirming-care\">stopped offering surgical gender-affirming treatments\u003c/a> for trans minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocacy groups sent a \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Rainbow-Families-Action-Letter-to-Sutter-Health.pdf\">letter on \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Rainbow-Families-Action-Letter-to-Sutter-Health.pdf\">Tuesday to Sutter Health\u003c/a>, demanding that the network “reverse course on this decision immediately” and provide a meeting between leaders and families, a commitment to “not pre-capitulate before it’s legally necessary,” as well as a formal plan if the network ends gender-affirming care for youth.[aside postID=news_12053773 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-14_qed.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We refuse to stand by while Sutter pre-emptively bows to political pressure instead of standing up for our kids,” Rainbow Families Action wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arne Johnson, a lead advocate with the group, said parents and allies are planning a series of actions to protest the potential cessation and have asked Sutter Health leadership “to clarify before this becomes a much bigger thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are offering to have those conversations because they are saying we’re going to do this in thoughtful consideration, but they have not actually done that,” Johnson said. “We are going to consider that an invitation, and assume that they are in fact going to meet with patients and families and make a real plan for their care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson said the group has also reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta over the legality of the potential decision. State law prohibits health care discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and earlier this month, the attorney general’s office \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/know-your-rights-attorney-general-bonta-issues-guidance-gender-affirming-care\">issued a guidance\u003c/a> reminding Californians that they “have the right to receive medically necessary gender-affirming care or any other medically necessary healthcare without discrimination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another mother, Nikki, also from the East Bay, found out on her 14-year-old son’s birthday that his care could end. A caregiver said they would return from vacation early to ensure Julie’s son had at least one more visit before the cutoff. She also asked KQED to only use her first name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s terrifying, and I haven’t told my son because the news came on his birthday,” Nikki said. “Psychologically, it makes you not trust your doctors. It makes you not trust the government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nikki is angry that the move would come after open enrollment, when the family could have joined another health care network to ensure her son could continue to receive his weekly medication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a queer person who sought the Bay Area more than two decades ago as a place of refuge, Nikki said she is flabbergasted by the potential decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m kind of frozen,” she said. “I don’t know that I’m moving forward other than making some phone calls right before the holidays, just [to] desperately see what doctors can help us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Julie said she hasn’t been able to reach any new doctors yet in her search for a new care team for her son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have taken away our ability to have care that goes in alignment with my doctor’s recommendation,” Julie said. “I have to move forward. We have to find another doctor, and who is that going to be with? I don’t know of anyone who is going to take this kid. And that sucks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She sees this as a sign that other care for the general public could be next on the chopping block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they can take evidence-based care that is legal in the state of California and is medically necessary, lifesaving care for my child, what the f— is next?” Julie said. “It’s just a slippery slope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After six months of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050618/california-sues-trump-administration-over-efforts-to-deny-gender-affirming-health-care\">gender-affirming care\u003c/a> and a first puberty blocker shot for her 10-year-old son in September, Julie noticed him carrying himself differently. His back was straight, he was no longer hiding his body, and he was confident with eye contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But last Friday, the East Bay parent received a call and an email from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sutter-health\">Sutter Health\u003c/a> caregiver that she’s afraid to tell her son about. She asked KQED to use only her first name because she is afraid of retribution against her and her son’s caregiver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day prior, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, hospital higher-ups informed Julie’s son’s caregiver that they would no longer offer gender-affirming care to patients younger than 19. That care could stop as soon as Dec. 10, they said, according to the caregiver’s messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That left Julie with just over two weeks, including a major holiday, to find a new physician for her son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just cruel, and I continue to be heartbroken, overwhelmed and livid,” Julie said. “It’s the week of Thanksgiving. Everyone’s gone, and they knew that that was going to be the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030056\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030056\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sutter Health CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco on Feb. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Julie isn’t the only parent gutted by the potential decision. At least 10 families are working through the emotions and the looming reality of finding new care for their kids, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.rainbowfamiliesaction.org/about\">Rainbow Families Action\u003c/a>, a group made up of parents and allies of trans youth. More than a dozen advocacy groups are pressuring Sutter Health, a nonprofit health care system serving more than 3.5 million Californians, to provide more details about the information their children’s physicians relayed to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter Health would not confirm or deny what parents told KQED. In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson wrote that the hospital network is “working to ensure compliance with recent federal actions” and remains “committed to approaching this with compassion, physician guidance, and compliance with applicable requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other hospital groups, the network had already halted gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19, and officials are now prioritizing “open and thoughtful conversations between physicians and their patients to determine the best path forward for individual care plans,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the decision is true, Sutter Health would join a growing list of health care providers moving to limit care for trans youth under building pressure from the Trump administration. In June, Stanford Medicine \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997491/stanford-scales-back-trans-care-for-minors-amid-federal-crackdown\">paused gender-affirming surgeries\u003c/a> and stopped prescribing puberty blockers to youth. In July, Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente, which serves more than 12 million people across eight states, announced it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049666/nowhere-else-to-go-sf-families-protest-kaisers-new-limits-on-gender-affirming-care\">stopped offering surgical gender-affirming treatments\u003c/a> for trans minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocacy groups sent a \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Rainbow-Families-Action-Letter-to-Sutter-Health.pdf\">letter on \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Rainbow-Families-Action-Letter-to-Sutter-Health.pdf\">Tuesday to Sutter Health\u003c/a>, demanding that the network “reverse course on this decision immediately” and provide a meeting between leaders and families, a commitment to “not pre-capitulate before it’s legally necessary,” as well as a formal plan if the network ends gender-affirming care for youth.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We refuse to stand by while Sutter pre-emptively bows to political pressure instead of standing up for our kids,” Rainbow Families Action wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arne Johnson, a lead advocate with the group, said parents and allies are planning a series of actions to protest the potential cessation and have asked Sutter Health leadership “to clarify before this becomes a much bigger thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are offering to have those conversations because they are saying we’re going to do this in thoughtful consideration, but they have not actually done that,” Johnson said. “We are going to consider that an invitation, and assume that they are in fact going to meet with patients and families and make a real plan for their care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson said the group has also reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta over the legality of the potential decision. State law prohibits health care discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and earlier this month, the attorney general’s office \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/know-your-rights-attorney-general-bonta-issues-guidance-gender-affirming-care\">issued a guidance\u003c/a> reminding Californians that they “have the right to receive medically necessary gender-affirming care or any other medically necessary healthcare without discrimination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another mother, Nikki, also from the East Bay, found out on her 14-year-old son’s birthday that his care could end. A caregiver said they would return from vacation early to ensure Julie’s son had at least one more visit before the cutoff. She also asked KQED to only use her first name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s terrifying, and I haven’t told my son because the news came on his birthday,” Nikki said. “Psychologically, it makes you not trust your doctors. It makes you not trust the government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nikki is angry that the move would come after open enrollment, when the family could have joined another health care network to ensure her son could continue to receive his weekly medication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a queer person who sought the Bay Area more than two decades ago as a place of refuge, Nikki said she is flabbergasted by the potential decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m kind of frozen,” she said. “I don’t know that I’m moving forward other than making some phone calls right before the holidays, just [to] desperately see what doctors can help us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Julie said she hasn’t been able to reach any new doctors yet in her search for a new care team for her son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have taken away our ability to have care that goes in alignment with my doctor’s recommendation,” Julie said. “I have to move forward. We have to find another doctor, and who is that going to be with? I don’t know of anyone who is going to take this kid. And that sucks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She sees this as a sign that other care for the general public could be next on the chopping block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they can take evidence-based care that is legal in the state of California and is medically necessary, lifesaving care for my child, what the f— is next?” Julie said. “It’s just a slippery slope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "How to Improve Indoor Airflow at Your Holiday Gathering",
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"content": "\u003cp>Back in 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11846759/saying-no-to-a-covid-thanksgiving-holidays-how-to-break-it-to-family-or-friends\">a huge number of people chose to say no to gathering for the holidays \u003c/a>because of the dangers posed by COVID-19 pre-vaccines, especially to older or immunocompromised family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years on, many folks now feel much safer when it comes to fears of getting sick from a holiday gathering — especially if they’ve recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055165/where-can-i-find-new-updated-2025-covid-vaccine-near-me-moderna-pfizer-cvs-walgreens-safeway-vaccinations-health-insurance-cost\">received an updated COVID-19 vaccine\u003c/a> and flu shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the fact remains that at times like Thanksgiving, you’re gathering a large amount of people in the same room. And in crowded indoor spaces, the risk of transmitting respiratory viruses like COVID-19, flu and RSV increases if someone in that room has the virus, whether they know it or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#openwindows\">The best way to open your windows to help reduce respiratory virus risks\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>While \u003ca href=\"https://data.wastewaterscan.org/tracker/?charts=Ci0QACABSABSBmU5ZTg3ZVIGMzc0MzBhWgZOIEdlbmV41AGKAQZjNjg1ZjfAAQE%3D&selectedChartId=c685f7\">rates of COVID-19 in Bay Area wastewater\u003c/a> are low heading into Thanksgiving 2025, levels of flu and RSV are beginning to tick up, according to Stanford University’s WastewaterSCAN team, who monitor virus presence in human sewage.[aside postID='news_12064296,news_11967137,news_11970450' label='More Holiday Guides']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And one way to help reduce the risks of respiratory virus transmission in an indoor space is to ensure that an indoor space has clean air — because particles of COVID-19, flu and RSV can hang in the air of places that aren’t ventilated properly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other than cracking a window, what \u003ci>does \u003c/i>“ventilating your space” really mean in practice for your own holiday dinner, especially if you’re hosting friends and family who may be more vulnerable to sickness? Keep reading for practical tips about filtering and ventilating your home for your holiday dinner to reduce the risks of your loved ones catching a respiratory virus like flu, RSV or COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Filtering the air for the holidays\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Clean air makes it harder for the particles that cause respiratory viruses to hang around and infect you — and it can be achieved by filtering those particles from the air with a filtration device or by ventilating the space with fresh air. (This principle of fresh, ventilated air is also why being outdoors makes your risk of viral transmission drop significantly.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/29/1106822268/coronavirus-faq-got-any-tips-on-improving-indoor-air-flow-to-reduce-infection-ri\">“If people could see COVID in the air\u003c/a>, it would make a lot more sense that what you need to do is clean the air in your house,” Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University, told NPR in 2022. The basic idea: “Exchange the air out, get fresh air in, improve ventilation so that you don’t have a lot of air hanging around where other people can breathe it in and get infected,” Karan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some ways to filter in the air inside your home:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use an air purifier\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023 Catherine Gorle, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, told KQED that if you have a filtration device in your home — perhaps an air purifier you purchased in the past to combat wildfire smoke — then that is probably the best way to improve air quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gorle said this comes with two caveats, though. First, “you need to make sure that you replace the filter frequently enough that the system can work optimally,” she said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/even-better/23299793/clean-your-filters-hepa-water\">The recommended time limit for filter use may depend on the specific appliance\u003c/a>, but it’s probably time if you can’t remember when you last replaced it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, make sure that “the capacity is rated for the room [size] that you have,” Gorle said. That is, don’t rely on a tiny filtering device intended for a small space to clean the air inside a really big room — because it just won’t do the job. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/air-cleaners-and-air-filters-home\">Read more from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about effectively using an indoor air purifying unit.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use your air conditioning (if you have it)\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may hear the filtration systems built \u003ci>into \u003c/i>homes called HVAC systems, an acronym for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our usually temperate climate, Bay Area homes typically don’t have air conditioning, so this tip may not apply to many locals. But if your home does have AC, those systems can have “really high-grade filters as well,” Gorle said — “HEPA filters that will filter out particles, just the way that you do it with any indoor air filtering system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re conscious of your energy use (and your bills), Gorle notes that your AC “will consume a bit more energy because at the same time they’re conditioning the air [to be] cooling it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11932984\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11932984 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183.jpg\" alt=\"A shot taken from above of a group of people around a table, eating dinner and raising their glasses in a toast.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As the holiday season arrives, there are things you can do to help reduce your risk of exposure to indoor COVID-19. \u003ccite>(fauxels via Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>No air purifier? Try making your own\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have access to a box fan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating\">a MERV filter\u003c/a> and some duct tape, you can make your own DIY air filter device. Find our instructions — first published for wildfire smoke — in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1976551/how-to-get-or-make-a-free-low-cost-air-purifier-for-your-home#air\">this KQED guide, “How to make your own air purifier.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NPR also has another \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/29/1106822268/coronavirus-faq-got-any-tips-on-improving-indoor-air-flow-to-reduce-infection-ri\">guide to making your own DIY air filter using a box fan\u003c/a>, or you can consult this \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/how-to-diy-an-air-purifier/\">“How to DIY an Air Purifier” explainer \u003c/a>from the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> Wirecutter blog.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"openwindows\">\u003c/a>How to open your windows to create maximum airflow\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have a filtration device or AC, it’s time to open your windows, Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basically, you’re going to focus on “how you can maximize that airflow” through your space, she said. But it’s not just a case of cracking a solitary window open. Gorle’s expert advice is as follows:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Try to open more than one window around a room\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more windows you can open, the more ventilation you are going to get,” Gorle said — because it’s not enough to bring fresh air into your space. Ideally, you want to then help get that air out through \u003ci>another \u003c/i>window — and “the more windows, the better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opening windows on the opposite sides of a room is particularly effective for creating cross-ventilation, Gorle said. In other words, opening two windows that are side-by-side will be less useful at this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if you can’t — or don’t want to — open your windows all the way? In this instance, even just cracking windows a bit is still a good idea, Virginia Tech professor of civil and environmental engineering Linsey Marr told NPR. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/29/1106822268/coronavirus-faq-got-any-tips-on-improving-indoor-air-flow-to-reduce-infection-ri\">Your windows “don’t have to be wide open,” Marr said.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>…but think carefully about where you seat your guests\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider the airflow direction in and out of your space when you have two or more windows open. “Because if you’re sitting at the window where the air is coming in, you’re getting all that clean air,” Gorle said. “But you’re sitting at the window where the air is going \u003ci>out\u003c/i>, you’re actually getting all the air that people have been breathing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Try to seat your guests as close as possible to the fresh air coming in — and don’t park them all by the window where airflow is going out. Because if respiratory virus particles are in that airflow, that “air out” area will be heavy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967991\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967991\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a window with short grey curtains set into brown walls. There is soft yellow light coming through.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">If you’re hosting guests this holiday season, opening your windows can help reduce the risk of indoor transmission of COVID-19. \u003ccite>(Carlos Caamal Can/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Run a test to see how air is coming in — or out\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How do you know which is the “air in” window and which is the “air out” one? Gorle has a few tricks up her sleeve for this. The simplest is to stand in front of the open window and hold up a small piece of string, ribbon, or anything similar in front of it, letting it hang down. This way, “you can kind of see which way the stream moves and then understand if the air is coming in or going out,” Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You could also use a candle for this — although, of course, be careful with the lit flame (especially if you and your guests have already begun the holiday celebrations with a drink or two.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you’ve established how air is coming in and out of your space through the windows, you know where best to seat your guests closest to that fresh incoming air and furthest from the outflow — especially those at higher risk for severe disease or hospitalization from viruses like COVID-19, flu and RSV. “That’s what I’ve done with my mom, who was at risk as well,” Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Only got one window? Still open that\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t panic if you only have one window to open, Gorle said — you’ll still “get some air exchanged depending on where the wind is coming from.” And some fresh air in your space is better than none.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you get lucky, “you might have enough pressure differences between indoor and outdoor that you do actually get some ventilation with just one window open, she said — “so it is always better to open your window than to keep it closed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use portable fans to help that existing airflow move\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you’ve worked out how air is coming in and out of your open windows, you could try using portable fans — like a box fan — to help push the existing airflow along, Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll be “using the fan to help the airflow in that same direction because you don’t want to start counteracting the natural driving force,” Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967994\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967994\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds a bottle of olive oil, drizzling the oil over a raw turkey against the backdrop of a kitchen\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Improving ventilation in your indoor space over the holidays can help reduce COVID-19 risks. \u003ccite>(RDNE Stock project/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Got a skylight? Check if it opens\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have a skylight with a manual or remote-controlled way of opening it, do it. Opening an overhead window like a skylight will create airflow really easily, Gorle said — “because of temperature differences between indoors and outdoors, the air will move vertically as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, in addition to windows on your walls, “you can actually use buoyancy effects to try and create that airflow through openings that are at different heights,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use your bathroom fan\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This tip is particularly good for smaller homes, or if you don’t have many windows, you can open them: Keep all the doors in your home open, and run any bathroom fan that’s extracting air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is going to help bring air in through any windows that you can open as well,” and then push the air out, Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Getting chilly inside? Don’t be afraid of using a heater\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your family or friends complain about the cold indoors from all your open windows, rest assured that it’s okay to turn on your space heater — you won’t be undoing all your good ventilation work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It might be that you’re actually increasing the airflow if you heat up the indoors a little bit better,” Gorle said. “Bigger temperature differences usually cause more airflow” — unless you’ve got unlucky, and the air buoyancy (that is, the upward force) and the wind are fighting each other. But ultimately, it’s worth turning on a heater just to be able to \u003ci>keep \u003c/i>those windows open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-homes-and-coronavirus-covid-19\">Read even more about ways to ventilate and filter the air inside your home from the EPA\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published on November 21, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Back in 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11846759/saying-no-to-a-covid-thanksgiving-holidays-how-to-break-it-to-family-or-friends\">a huge number of people chose to say no to gathering for the holidays \u003c/a>because of the dangers posed by COVID-19 pre-vaccines, especially to older or immunocompromised family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years on, many folks now feel much safer when it comes to fears of getting sick from a holiday gathering — especially if they’ve recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055165/where-can-i-find-new-updated-2025-covid-vaccine-near-me-moderna-pfizer-cvs-walgreens-safeway-vaccinations-health-insurance-cost\">received an updated COVID-19 vaccine\u003c/a> and flu shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the fact remains that at times like Thanksgiving, you’re gathering a large amount of people in the same room. And in crowded indoor spaces, the risk of transmitting respiratory viruses like COVID-19, flu and RSV increases if someone in that room has the virus, whether they know it or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#openwindows\">The best way to open your windows to help reduce respiratory virus risks\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>While \u003ca href=\"https://data.wastewaterscan.org/tracker/?charts=Ci0QACABSABSBmU5ZTg3ZVIGMzc0MzBhWgZOIEdlbmV41AGKAQZjNjg1ZjfAAQE%3D&selectedChartId=c685f7\">rates of COVID-19 in Bay Area wastewater\u003c/a> are low heading into Thanksgiving 2025, levels of flu and RSV are beginning to tick up, according to Stanford University’s WastewaterSCAN team, who monitor virus presence in human sewage.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And one way to help reduce the risks of respiratory virus transmission in an indoor space is to ensure that an indoor space has clean air — because particles of COVID-19, flu and RSV can hang in the air of places that aren’t ventilated properly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other than cracking a window, what \u003ci>does \u003c/i>“ventilating your space” really mean in practice for your own holiday dinner, especially if you’re hosting friends and family who may be more vulnerable to sickness? Keep reading for practical tips about filtering and ventilating your home for your holiday dinner to reduce the risks of your loved ones catching a respiratory virus like flu, RSV or COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Filtering the air for the holidays\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Clean air makes it harder for the particles that cause respiratory viruses to hang around and infect you — and it can be achieved by filtering those particles from the air with a filtration device or by ventilating the space with fresh air. (This principle of fresh, ventilated air is also why being outdoors makes your risk of viral transmission drop significantly.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/29/1106822268/coronavirus-faq-got-any-tips-on-improving-indoor-air-flow-to-reduce-infection-ri\">“If people could see COVID in the air\u003c/a>, it would make a lot more sense that what you need to do is clean the air in your house,” Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University, told NPR in 2022. The basic idea: “Exchange the air out, get fresh air in, improve ventilation so that you don’t have a lot of air hanging around where other people can breathe it in and get infected,” Karan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some ways to filter in the air inside your home:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use an air purifier\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023 Catherine Gorle, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, told KQED that if you have a filtration device in your home — perhaps an air purifier you purchased in the past to combat wildfire smoke — then that is probably the best way to improve air quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gorle said this comes with two caveats, though. First, “you need to make sure that you replace the filter frequently enough that the system can work optimally,” she said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/even-better/23299793/clean-your-filters-hepa-water\">The recommended time limit for filter use may depend on the specific appliance\u003c/a>, but it’s probably time if you can’t remember when you last replaced it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, make sure that “the capacity is rated for the room [size] that you have,” Gorle said. That is, don’t rely on a tiny filtering device intended for a small space to clean the air inside a really big room — because it just won’t do the job. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/air-cleaners-and-air-filters-home\">Read more from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about effectively using an indoor air purifying unit.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use your air conditioning (if you have it)\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may hear the filtration systems built \u003ci>into \u003c/i>homes called HVAC systems, an acronym for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our usually temperate climate, Bay Area homes typically don’t have air conditioning, so this tip may not apply to many locals. But if your home does have AC, those systems can have “really high-grade filters as well,” Gorle said — “HEPA filters that will filter out particles, just the way that you do it with any indoor air filtering system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re conscious of your energy use (and your bills), Gorle notes that your AC “will consume a bit more energy because at the same time they’re conditioning the air [to be] cooling it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11932984\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11932984 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183.jpg\" alt=\"A shot taken from above of a group of people around a table, eating dinner and raising their glasses in a toast.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/pexels-fauxels-3184183-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As the holiday season arrives, there are things you can do to help reduce your risk of exposure to indoor COVID-19. \u003ccite>(fauxels via Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>No air purifier? Try making your own\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have access to a box fan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating\">a MERV filter\u003c/a> and some duct tape, you can make your own DIY air filter device. Find our instructions — first published for wildfire smoke — in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1976551/how-to-get-or-make-a-free-low-cost-air-purifier-for-your-home#air\">this KQED guide, “How to make your own air purifier.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NPR also has another \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/29/1106822268/coronavirus-faq-got-any-tips-on-improving-indoor-air-flow-to-reduce-infection-ri\">guide to making your own DIY air filter using a box fan\u003c/a>, or you can consult this \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/how-to-diy-an-air-purifier/\">“How to DIY an Air Purifier” explainer \u003c/a>from the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> Wirecutter blog.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"openwindows\">\u003c/a>How to open your windows to create maximum airflow\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have a filtration device or AC, it’s time to open your windows, Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basically, you’re going to focus on “how you can maximize that airflow” through your space, she said. But it’s not just a case of cracking a solitary window open. Gorle’s expert advice is as follows:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Try to open more than one window around a room\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more windows you can open, the more ventilation you are going to get,” Gorle said — because it’s not enough to bring fresh air into your space. Ideally, you want to then help get that air out through \u003ci>another \u003c/i>window — and “the more windows, the better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opening windows on the opposite sides of a room is particularly effective for creating cross-ventilation, Gorle said. In other words, opening two windows that are side-by-side will be less useful at this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if you can’t — or don’t want to — open your windows all the way? In this instance, even just cracking windows a bit is still a good idea, Virginia Tech professor of civil and environmental engineering Linsey Marr told NPR. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/29/1106822268/coronavirus-faq-got-any-tips-on-improving-indoor-air-flow-to-reduce-infection-ri\">Your windows “don’t have to be wide open,” Marr said.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>…but think carefully about where you seat your guests\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider the airflow direction in and out of your space when you have two or more windows open. “Because if you’re sitting at the window where the air is coming in, you’re getting all that clean air,” Gorle said. “But you’re sitting at the window where the air is going \u003ci>out\u003c/i>, you’re actually getting all the air that people have been breathing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Try to seat your guests as close as possible to the fresh air coming in — and don’t park them all by the window where airflow is going out. Because if respiratory virus particles are in that airflow, that “air out” area will be heavy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967991\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967991\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a window with short grey curtains set into brown walls. There is soft yellow light coming through.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-carlos-caamal-can-910458-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">If you’re hosting guests this holiday season, opening your windows can help reduce the risk of indoor transmission of COVID-19. \u003ccite>(Carlos Caamal Can/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Run a test to see how air is coming in — or out\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How do you know which is the “air in” window and which is the “air out” one? Gorle has a few tricks up her sleeve for this. The simplest is to stand in front of the open window and hold up a small piece of string, ribbon, or anything similar in front of it, letting it hang down. This way, “you can kind of see which way the stream moves and then understand if the air is coming in or going out,” Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You could also use a candle for this — although, of course, be careful with the lit flame (especially if you and your guests have already begun the holiday celebrations with a drink or two.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you’ve established how air is coming in and out of your space through the windows, you know where best to seat your guests closest to that fresh incoming air and furthest from the outflow — especially those at higher risk for severe disease or hospitalization from viruses like COVID-19, flu and RSV. “That’s what I’ve done with my mom, who was at risk as well,” Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Only got one window? Still open that\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t panic if you only have one window to open, Gorle said — you’ll still “get some air exchanged depending on where the wind is coming from.” And some fresh air in your space is better than none.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you get lucky, “you might have enough pressure differences between indoor and outdoor that you do actually get some ventilation with just one window open, she said — “so it is always better to open your window than to keep it closed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use portable fans to help that existing airflow move\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you’ve worked out how air is coming in and out of your open windows, you could try using portable fans — like a box fan — to help push the existing airflow along, Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll be “using the fan to help the airflow in that same direction because you don’t want to start counteracting the natural driving force,” Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967994\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967994\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds a bottle of olive oil, drizzling the oil over a raw turkey against the backdrop of a kitchen\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/pexels-rdne-stock-project-5847615-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Improving ventilation in your indoor space over the holidays can help reduce COVID-19 risks. \u003ccite>(RDNE Stock project/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Got a skylight? Check if it opens\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have a skylight with a manual or remote-controlled way of opening it, do it. Opening an overhead window like a skylight will create airflow really easily, Gorle said — “because of temperature differences between indoors and outdoors, the air will move vertically as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, in addition to windows on your walls, “you can actually use buoyancy effects to try and create that airflow through openings that are at different heights,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use your bathroom fan\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This tip is particularly good for smaller homes, or if you don’t have many windows, you can open them: Keep all the doors in your home open, and run any bathroom fan that’s extracting air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is going to help bring air in through any windows that you can open as well,” and then push the air out, Gorle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Getting chilly inside? Don’t be afraid of using a heater\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your family or friends complain about the cold indoors from all your open windows, rest assured that it’s okay to turn on your space heater — you won’t be undoing all your good ventilation work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It might be that you’re actually increasing the airflow if you heat up the indoors a little bit better,” Gorle said. “Bigger temperature differences usually cause more airflow” — unless you’ve got unlucky, and the air buoyancy (that is, the upward force) and the wind are fighting each other. But ultimately, it’s worth turning on a heater just to be able to \u003ci>keep \u003c/i>those windows open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-homes-and-coronavirus-covid-19\">Read even more about ways to ventilate and filter the air inside your home from the EPA\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published on November 21, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "sf-to-pay-5-8-million-in-class-action-settlement-over-elder-abuse-at-laguna-honda",
"title": "SF to Pay $5.8 Million in Class Action Settlement Over Elder Abuse at Laguna Honda",
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"headTitle": "SF to Pay $5.8 Million in Class Action Settlement Over Elder Abuse at Laguna Honda | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> is poised to pay out $5.8 million after reaching a settlement in a lawsuit claiming staff at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/laguna-honda-hospital\">Laguna Honda Hospital\u003c/a> and Rehabilitation Center took explicit photos of patients and disseminated them for non-medical purposes, along with other abuse and privacy violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement is the latest rectification and first class action for the patient abuse scandal at Laguna Honda Hospital, one of the nation’s largest public nursing homes, following reports between 2016 and 2019 that thrust the facility into turmoil. Both parties have agreed to the payment, which will go before the city’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Thursday for approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The $5.8 million settlement will be distributed among 735 current and former Laguna Honda patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This on its face says, ‘Look, you had a systemic problem. This was going on and this was hurting everybody,’” said Kathryn Stebner, who represented plaintiffs in the case. “We bring class actions to make a political statement, to try to make social change. And I think this does send that message.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 159-year-old hospital has long served as a safety net for some of the city’s poorest and most vulnerable residents, with some living at Laguna Honda for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 on behalf of a Laguna Honda resident, claiming staff took photos of his genital area during an enema procedure and that staff circulated the image for non-medical purposes. Another named plaintiff, Tommy O. Johnson, alleged his health information was also wrongly used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11958178\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut.jpg\" alt='The entryway to a hospital driveway with a sign that reads, \"Main Hospital Entrance and Residences.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign points to the main entrance to the Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco on Jan. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attorneys later filed a class action motion in 2024 alleging that all patients at the hospital between 2022 and 2023 were subject to compromised care. The period of time was while the hospital was uncertified and undergoing major changes, after regulators with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found several health and safety issues across multiple inspection surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Laguna Honda is unwavering in our commitment to resident safety and wellbeing,” a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Public Health, which oversees the massive facility, said in an email. “The 2019 patient mistreatment incidents were antithetical to what Laguna Honda stands for as the safety-net healthcare facility caring for San Franciscans most in need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The class action is one of three recent lawsuits over the abuse scandal that broke out just before the pandemic. Another lawsuit was filed on behalf of individual residents who had fallen and suffered injuries such as broken hips, Stebner said. The third lawsuit, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952012/san-francisco-to-pay-2-2-million-settlement-to-victims-in-laguna-honda-patient-abuse-scandal\">settled in 2023 for $2.2 million\u003c/a>, focused on 11 individual patients at Laguna Honda after a group of nurses were found to have taken nude photos of some patients and drugged and abused others.[aside postID=news_12026662 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/014_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023_qed-1020x680.jpg']Nursing home reform supporters with the Gray Panthers, a group of advocates focused on long-term care and other issues facing older San Franciscans, estimate that the city has had to pay nearly $12 million in fines and lawsuit settlements relating to the sexual abuse scandal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the San Francisco City Attorney said the class action settlement is an “appropriate response.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility took several steps after uncovering evidence of patient mistreatment and privacy violations between 2016 and 2019, including firing staff who took part in abuse and reorganizing the hospital’s leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But problems for Laguna Honda didn’t end there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, two non-fatal overdoses occurred on-site involving methamphetamine and fentanyl, triggering a series of inspections. Federal regulators then decertified Laguna Honda in April 2022 after finding issues with staff hygiene and other problems, such as smoking and drug use on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hospital was forced to pause admissions while it worked to regain certification with Medicare and Medi-Cal, which covers the vast majority of the elderly and low-income residents at Laguna Honda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, federal regulators had the hospital begin discharging patients in anticipation of a possible shutdown. More than 50 people were discharged or transferred to other skilled nursing facilities, and some ended up in homeless shelters. Twelve frail and elderly patients died shortly after their transfer out of the facility to other nursing homes.”State and federal regulators agreed to pause the mandated discharges in 2022, after an outcry from San Francisco officials and advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility achieved recertification again in 2024 after undergoing rigorous inspections and retraining for staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11757927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11757927\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/Laguna_Honda_Hospital_and_Rehabilitation_Center_-_San_Francisco_CA_-_DSC03931-e1561745657127.jpg\" alt=\"Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco, where a group of former staff members allegedly abused nearly two dozen patients for years.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1324\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco, where a group of former staff members allegedly abused nearly two dozen patients for years. \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laguna_Honda_Hospital_and_Rehabilitation_Center_-_San_Francisco,_CA_-_DSC03931.jpg#/media/File:Laguna_Honda_Hospital_and_Rehabilitation_Center_-_San_Francisco,_CA_-_DSC03931.jpg\">Daderot/Wikipedia\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Laguna Honda has undergone significant restructuring and has been the focus of extensive improvements facility-wide, including new policies, enhanced quality management protocols, and new programs that align with national best practices,” the Public Health Department spokesperson said. “This is all with the goal of creating a lasting culture of safety, transparency, and continuous improvement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The population at Laguna Honda has dropped from more than 700 residents in November 2020 to 541 as of September 2025, according to city data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teresa Palmer, a physician who worked at Laguna Honda for nearly three decades, said the class action settlement underscores the need for more staffing at the facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All kinds of abuse and neglect are expressions of understaffing of both supervisory staff and direct care staff,” Palmer said. “People are so overworked and fear retaliation, and things are covered up because staff are just trying to get through the day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> is poised to pay out $5.8 million after reaching a settlement in a lawsuit claiming staff at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/laguna-honda-hospital\">Laguna Honda Hospital\u003c/a> and Rehabilitation Center took explicit photos of patients and disseminated them for non-medical purposes, along with other abuse and privacy violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement is the latest rectification and first class action for the patient abuse scandal at Laguna Honda Hospital, one of the nation’s largest public nursing homes, following reports between 2016 and 2019 that thrust the facility into turmoil. Both parties have agreed to the payment, which will go before the city’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Thursday for approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The $5.8 million settlement will be distributed among 735 current and former Laguna Honda patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This on its face says, ‘Look, you had a systemic problem. This was going on and this was hurting everybody,’” said Kathryn Stebner, who represented plaintiffs in the case. “We bring class actions to make a political statement, to try to make social change. And I think this does send that message.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 159-year-old hospital has long served as a safety net for some of the city’s poorest and most vulnerable residents, with some living at Laguna Honda for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 on behalf of a Laguna Honda resident, claiming staff took photos of his genital area during an enema procedure and that staff circulated the image for non-medical purposes. Another named plaintiff, Tommy O. Johnson, alleged his health information was also wrongly used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11958178\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut.jpg\" alt='The entryway to a hospital driveway with a sign that reads, \"Main Hospital Entrance and Residences.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS62466_012_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign points to the main entrance to the Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco on Jan. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attorneys later filed a class action motion in 2024 alleging that all patients at the hospital between 2022 and 2023 were subject to compromised care. The period of time was while the hospital was uncertified and undergoing major changes, after regulators with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found several health and safety issues across multiple inspection surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Laguna Honda is unwavering in our commitment to resident safety and wellbeing,” a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Public Health, which oversees the massive facility, said in an email. “The 2019 patient mistreatment incidents were antithetical to what Laguna Honda stands for as the safety-net healthcare facility caring for San Franciscans most in need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The class action is one of three recent lawsuits over the abuse scandal that broke out just before the pandemic. Another lawsuit was filed on behalf of individual residents who had fallen and suffered injuries such as broken hips, Stebner said. The third lawsuit, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952012/san-francisco-to-pay-2-2-million-settlement-to-victims-in-laguna-honda-patient-abuse-scandal\">settled in 2023 for $2.2 million\u003c/a>, focused on 11 individual patients at Laguna Honda after a group of nurses were found to have taken nude photos of some patients and drugged and abused others.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Nursing home reform supporters with the Gray Panthers, a group of advocates focused on long-term care and other issues facing older San Franciscans, estimate that the city has had to pay nearly $12 million in fines and lawsuit settlements relating to the sexual abuse scandal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the San Francisco City Attorney said the class action settlement is an “appropriate response.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility took several steps after uncovering evidence of patient mistreatment and privacy violations between 2016 and 2019, including firing staff who took part in abuse and reorganizing the hospital’s leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But problems for Laguna Honda didn’t end there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, two non-fatal overdoses occurred on-site involving methamphetamine and fentanyl, triggering a series of inspections. Federal regulators then decertified Laguna Honda in April 2022 after finding issues with staff hygiene and other problems, such as smoking and drug use on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hospital was forced to pause admissions while it worked to regain certification with Medicare and Medi-Cal, which covers the vast majority of the elderly and low-income residents at Laguna Honda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, federal regulators had the hospital begin discharging patients in anticipation of a possible shutdown. More than 50 people were discharged or transferred to other skilled nursing facilities, and some ended up in homeless shelters. Twelve frail and elderly patients died shortly after their transfer out of the facility to other nursing homes.”State and federal regulators agreed to pause the mandated discharges in 2022, after an outcry from San Francisco officials and advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility achieved recertification again in 2024 after undergoing rigorous inspections and retraining for staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11757927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11757927\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/06/Laguna_Honda_Hospital_and_Rehabilitation_Center_-_San_Francisco_CA_-_DSC03931-e1561745657127.jpg\" alt=\"Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco, where a group of former staff members allegedly abused nearly two dozen patients for years.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1324\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco, where a group of former staff members allegedly abused nearly two dozen patients for years. \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laguna_Honda_Hospital_and_Rehabilitation_Center_-_San_Francisco,_CA_-_DSC03931.jpg#/media/File:Laguna_Honda_Hospital_and_Rehabilitation_Center_-_San_Francisco,_CA_-_DSC03931.jpg\">Daderot/Wikipedia\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Laguna Honda has undergone significant restructuring and has been the focus of extensive improvements facility-wide, including new policies, enhanced quality management protocols, and new programs that align with national best practices,” the Public Health Department spokesperson said. “This is all with the goal of creating a lasting culture of safety, transparency, and continuous improvement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The population at Laguna Honda has dropped from more than 700 residents in November 2020 to 541 as of September 2025, according to city data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teresa Palmer, a physician who worked at Laguna Honda for nearly three decades, said the class action settlement underscores the need for more staffing at the facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All kinds of abuse and neglect are expressions of understaffing of both supervisory staff and direct care staff,” Palmer said. “People are so overworked and fear retaliation, and things are covered up because staff are just trying to get through the day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "advocates-call-for-urgent-changes-in-countertop-industry-to-help-prevent-silicosis",
"title": "Advocates Call For Urgent Changes In Countertop Industry To Help Prevent Silicosis",
"publishDate": 1763580811,
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"headTitle": "Advocates Call For Urgent Changes In Countertop Industry To Help Prevent Silicosis | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, November 19, 2025…\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asbestos, lead, coal dust. All of those posed big health hazards to workers before legal protections finally rolled out. Now, thousands of stoneworkers in California who make our kitchen and bathroom countertops are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033036/california-bill-moves-forward-protect-stonecutters-deadly-disease\">breathing in something so toxic\u003c/a>, nearly 50 had lung transplants. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Farmworker communities and environmental groups across the state are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcbx.org/environment-and-energy/2025-11-18/farmworker-communities-call-new-california-pesticide-rules-unscientific-and-demand-stronger-protections\">calling for stronger protections\u003c/a> from a pesticide they say endangers public health.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064693/california-doctors-urge-ban-on-engineered-stone-as-silicosis-cases-surge\">\u003cstrong>California Doctors Urge Ban On Engineered Stone As Silicosis Cases Surge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A former stoneworker named Lopez sat confined to his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/east-bay\">East Bay\u003c/a> home, breathing with the help of a whirring oxygen supply machine through clear tubes pronged to his nostrils. After years of making kitchen countertops from engineered stone, the 43-year-old was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-vote-on-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety\">diagnosed with silicosis\u003c/a>, an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust the material releases when powercut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The once-active father of four now awaits a double lung transplant. He can no longer support his family or walk a few steps without pausing to catch his breath. Two stonecutter friends died after working with the man-made material, also known as artificial stone or quartz. Three others are on a waitlist for lung transplants, he said. “I feel desperate just sitting here unable to do anything,” said Lopez, an undocumented immigrant who worked in California for more than two decades. KQED is withholding his full name, as he fears losing vital medical care if arrested by federal authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As silicosis cases surge in California’s countertop fabrication industry, medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers like Lopez from contracting the incurable illness. The state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops, as Australia did, they say, to stem a growing health crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australia banned the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone benchtops in July 2024, forcing major manufacturers to switch to silica-free alternatives in that market, though they still sell their higher-silica products in the U.S. The companies maintain that their products are safe if fabrication shops follow protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants. To save lives, the Governor’s Office could issue an emergency declaration pausing the processing of artificial stone until a permanent ban is pursued through rulemaking, according to a Sept. 4 memorandum obtained by KQED. Drafted by a committee of doctors, occupational safety experts and worker advocates convened by Cal/OSHA, the letter was addressed to the state board responsible for adopting new workplace safety regulations, but was not sent. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office did not respond to requests for comment about his position on banning engineered stone in fabrication shops. A spokesperson with the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees press requests for both Cal/OSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, said the draft had not been vetted.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kcbx.org/environment-and-energy/2025-11-18/farmworker-communities-call-new-california-pesticide-rules-unscientific-and-demand-stronger-protections\">\u003cstrong>Farmworker Communities Call New CA Pesticide Rules “Unscientific,” Demand Stronger Protections\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Farmworker families, teachers and environmental justice groups across California are demanding stronger protections from the fumigant pesticide 1,3-dichloropropene, saying the state’s newest regulation allows exposure far above what health experts consider safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical, also known as 1,3-D or by its brand name Telone, is a cancer-causing soil fumigant widely used on berry, grape, almond and walnut crops. It is banned in several countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians for Pesticide Reform and partner organizations held a statewide online news conference Tuesday, paired with simultaneous rallies in agricultural regions including Modesto, Watsonville, Fresno and Oxnard. Speakers said the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s recently finalized rules fail to protect farmworker families and schoolchildren who live, work and attend school near treated fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community groups also raised concerns that the highest exposures occur in predominantly Latino and Indigenous neighborhoods, describing the regulation as a form of environmental racism. The Department of Pesticide Regulation said in a statement that it is committed to protecting public health and is working with toxicologists to reduce exposure. The agency says additional protections will take effect in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, November 19, 2025…\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asbestos, lead, coal dust. All of those posed big health hazards to workers before legal protections finally rolled out. Now, thousands of stoneworkers in California who make our kitchen and bathroom countertops are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033036/california-bill-moves-forward-protect-stonecutters-deadly-disease\">breathing in something so toxic\u003c/a>, nearly 50 had lung transplants. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Farmworker communities and environmental groups across the state are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcbx.org/environment-and-energy/2025-11-18/farmworker-communities-call-new-california-pesticide-rules-unscientific-and-demand-stronger-protections\">calling for stronger protections\u003c/a> from a pesticide they say endangers public health.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064693/california-doctors-urge-ban-on-engineered-stone-as-silicosis-cases-surge\">\u003cstrong>California Doctors Urge Ban On Engineered Stone As Silicosis Cases Surge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A former stoneworker named Lopez sat confined to his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/east-bay\">East Bay\u003c/a> home, breathing with the help of a whirring oxygen supply machine through clear tubes pronged to his nostrils. After years of making kitchen countertops from engineered stone, the 43-year-old was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-vote-on-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety\">diagnosed with silicosis\u003c/a>, an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust the material releases when powercut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The once-active father of four now awaits a double lung transplant. He can no longer support his family or walk a few steps without pausing to catch his breath. Two stonecutter friends died after working with the man-made material, also known as artificial stone or quartz. Three others are on a waitlist for lung transplants, he said. “I feel desperate just sitting here unable to do anything,” said Lopez, an undocumented immigrant who worked in California for more than two decades. KQED is withholding his full name, as he fears losing vital medical care if arrested by federal authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As silicosis cases surge in California’s countertop fabrication industry, medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers like Lopez from contracting the incurable illness. The state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops, as Australia did, they say, to stem a growing health crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australia banned the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone benchtops in July 2024, forcing major manufacturers to switch to silica-free alternatives in that market, though they still sell their higher-silica products in the U.S. The companies maintain that their products are safe if fabrication shops follow protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants. To save lives, the Governor’s Office could issue an emergency declaration pausing the processing of artificial stone until a permanent ban is pursued through rulemaking, according to a Sept. 4 memorandum obtained by KQED. Drafted by a committee of doctors, occupational safety experts and worker advocates convened by Cal/OSHA, the letter was addressed to the state board responsible for adopting new workplace safety regulations, but was not sent. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office did not respond to requests for comment about his position on banning engineered stone in fabrication shops. A spokesperson with the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees press requests for both Cal/OSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, said the draft had not been vetted.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kcbx.org/environment-and-energy/2025-11-18/farmworker-communities-call-new-california-pesticide-rules-unscientific-and-demand-stronger-protections\">\u003cstrong>Farmworker Communities Call New CA Pesticide Rules “Unscientific,” Demand Stronger Protections\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Farmworker families, teachers and environmental justice groups across California are demanding stronger protections from the fumigant pesticide 1,3-dichloropropene, saying the state’s newest regulation allows exposure far above what health experts consider safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical, also known as 1,3-D or by its brand name Telone, is a cancer-causing soil fumigant widely used on berry, grape, almond and walnut crops. It is banned in several countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians for Pesticide Reform and partner organizations held a statewide online news conference Tuesday, paired with simultaneous rallies in agricultural regions including Modesto, Watsonville, Fresno and Oxnard. Speakers said the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s recently finalized rules fail to protect farmworker families and schoolchildren who live, work and attend school near treated fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community groups also raised concerns that the highest exposures occur in predominantly Latino and Indigenous neighborhoods, describing the regulation as a form of environmental racism. The Department of Pesticide Regulation said in a statement that it is committed to protecting public health and is working with toxicologists to reduce exposure. The agency says additional protections will take effect in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A former stoneworker named Lopez sat confined to his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/east-bay\">East Bay\u003c/a> home, breathing with the help of a whirring oxygen supply machine through clear tubes pronged to his nostrils. After years of making kitchen countertops from engineered stone, the 43-year-old was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-vote-on-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety\">diagnosed with silicosis\u003c/a>, an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust the material releases when powercut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The once-active father of four now awaits a double lung transplant. He can no longer support his family or walk a few steps without pausing to catch his breath. Two stonecutter friends died after working with the man-made material, also known as artificial stone or quartz. Three others are on a waitlist for lung transplants, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel desperate just sitting here unable to do anything,” said Lopez, an undocumented immigrant who worked in California for more than two decades. KQED is withholding his full name, as he fears losing vital medical care if arrested by federal authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s agonizing waiting for the hospital to call me so I can finally get the transplant I’m waiting for and be able to go back to work,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As silicosis cases surge in California’s countertop fabrication industry, medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers like Lopez from contracting the incurable illness. The state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops, as Australia did, they say, to stem a growing health crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australia banned the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone benchtops in July 2024, forcing major manufacturers to switch to silica-free alternatives in that market, though they still sell their higher-silica products in the U.S. The companies maintain that their products are safe if fabrication shops follow protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of a pair lungs with silicosis used in a Cal/OSHA presentation slide about the disease, and rising number of cases in California, at a public meeting on Nov. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Museomed via Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Silicosis is preventable when proper safety and health measures are in place to protect workers against inhalation of silica dust in the workplace,” a spokesperson for Cosentino North America said in a statement. “The company continues its efforts in research and development for the ongoing improvement of its products.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artificial stone in the U.S. market often contains more than 90% pulverized crystalline silica, far more than natural stones such as marble and granite. When workers powercut, polish and grind slabs of the material, tiny silica particles are released. If inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs and cause tissue scarring that progressively impedes breathing. Respirable silica can also lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other illnesses.[aside postID=news_12033036 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/StonecutterGetty-1020x680.jpg']To save lives, the Governor’s Office could issue an emergency declaration pausing the processing of artificial stone until a permanent ban is pursued through rulemaking, according to a Sept. 4 memorandum obtained by KQED. Drafted by a committee of doctors, occupational safety experts and worker advocates convened by Cal/OSHA, the letter was addressed to the state board responsible for adopting new workplace safety regulations, but was not sent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office did not respond to requests for comment about his position on banning engineered stone in fabrication shops. A spokesperson with the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees press requests for both Cal/OSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, said the draft had not been vetted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The memo referenced … is an incomplete working draft by the Silica Technical Committee and not by Cal/OSHA. None of the recommendations are final,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Cal/OSHA continually works to protect the health and safety of California’s workers and enforces all regulations adopted by the Board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several board members have publicly expressed dismay for months at the steep climb in silicosis cases, but the agenda for their next meeting on Thursday does not include decision-making on artificial stone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maegan Ortiz, director of the Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California, said that although the state approved stricter standards nearly two years ago, California has made little progress in protecting stoneworkers still inhaling engineered stone dust on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064281\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064281\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lopez adjusts the breathing tube connected to his oxygen tank in his home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We need to ban this. I think the concern is great, but it is kind of like thoughts and prayers in the face of other crises that don’t go far enough,” said Ortiz, whose organization has been surveying stoneworkers in Los Angeles County, the state’s silicosis epicenter. “We’ve seen the conditions ourselves on the ground in terms of the amount of dust that is there, even in these bigger shops that are following the regulations. Workers see the dust, they carry it on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, more than 430 workers have been confirmed with silicosis in California, including 25 who died and 48 who underwent a lung transplant, according to state public health officials tracking \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/OHB/Pages/essdashboard.aspx\">reported cases\u003c/a>. Half of those sick are located in Los Angeles County. Nearly all are Latino men, some in their 20s, who said they didn’t know how dangerous artificial stone dust could be. About 40% of silicosis cases were identified this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez said he worked in licensed shops using safety gear and methods his supervisors said would protect him. He wore filter masks and cut and polished engineered stone with machines that covered slabs with water to suppress dust. But mounting evidence shows silica particles in artificial stone dust are so small and toxic that it doesn’t take much to hurt workers. Silica can penetrate filter masks and remain on workers’ clothes and tools when water dries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australia tried banning drycutting of engineered stone, similar to Cal/OSHA rules in place since December 2023 and a bill Newsom signed last month, SB 20. Australia also tried additional safeguards, including full-face powered air-purifying respirators, ventilation systems and monitoring, like California’s strict \u003ca href=\"https://worksafewithsilica.org/employer-information#rp\">regulations\u003c/a> that go beyond federal requirements. But in both places, experts say, the sophisticated and costly measures are not realistic for an industry made up of mostly small shops with only a few workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064282\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064282\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lopez coils the breathing tube connected to his oxygen tank in his home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s completely unfeasible,” said Dr. Ryan Hoy, a respiratory physician and researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. “I often use the analogy that you can work with asbestos safely, you can work with uranium safely, but you need to have in place very sophisticated control measures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, most fabrication shops are not complying with drycutting bans, respiratory protection, monitoring or other requirements. About 94% of 107 worksites investigated by Cal/OSHA had violations of the silica regulations as of Oct. 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s wife said she wished her husband had more accurate information from manufacturers, vendors and employers before working with artificial stone so he could have chosen whether to take on the risk. Considering the impact of his disease on her family, the 41-year-old choked back tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s painful because I’ve always seen him working. He’s always looked out for us. He’s the pillar of our family,” she said in Spanish, adding that her youngest son is 3. “It hurts us deeply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lopez’s wife draws in a coloring book with their 3-year-old in their home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s state disability benefits have run out, he said, and the family relies on financial support from their oldest daughter, a 20-year-old medical assistant. He became one of hundreds of workers in the U.S. and other countries who have sued top manufacturers of engineered stone — including Minnesota-based Cambria, Israel-based Caesarstone and Cosentino, headquartered in Spain — claiming silica-related injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caesarstone, which generated nearly half of its $303 million in revenue so far this year in the U.S. market, reported claims by more than 500 individuals in its latest \u003ca href=\"https://ir.caesarstone.com/news/news-details/2025/Caesarstone-Reports-Third-Quarter-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx\">financial results\u003c/a>. The company recorded a $46 million provision for probable losses, with $24.3 million covered by insurance. But costs could grow, as most of the 320 U.S. claims are awaiting trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caesarstone won one case in the U.S., which remains under appeal, and settled another this year, according to Nahum Trust, Caesarstone’s chief financial officer, during an earnings call this month. Last year, a jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-08-07/jury-finds-stone-companies-at-fault-in-suit-by-countertop-cutter-with-silicosis\">awarded\u003c/a> a 34-year-old stoneworker $52 million after finding Caesarstone and other companies liable, a decision the company has appealed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company developed crystalline silica-free countertop surfaces in preparation for restrictions in Australia and recently unveiled what it advertises as safer alternatives for fabrication workers in the U.S. Caesarstone’s sales were down this quarter in the U.S. and Canada, due to softness in the market and competitive pressures, according to Trust, but sales are up in Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033047\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033047\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stone fabricator places his hand on a table that he cut at his home in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Our first year of real growth in this market since the silica ban implementation,” Trust said. “This reflects early recovery and the successful launch of our zero silica collection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cosentino said it has also moved to offer newer products due to safety concerns, including a new mineral-surface product with zero crystalline silica that will be available next year globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cosentino, Caesarstone and associations representing manufacturers declined to comment on why they continue selling their high-silica engineered stone products in the U.S. if they have alternatives for the Australian market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global demand for artificial stone, a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S., is expected to significantly grow. In California, sales are expected to increase even more due to efforts to rebuild the more than 16,000 homes and buildings destroyed by January wildfires in Los Angeles.[aside postID=news_12063843 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty.jpg']Consumers prefer the stain-resistant material because it’s often cheaper than natural stone and offers diverse colors and designs. But many homeowners don’t know of the potential health impacts to the workers who make their countertops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulmonologists predict silicosis cases will keep rising, even if exposure to silica dust stopped immediately. By the time workers feel symptoms, the disease has often advanced, Hoy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, that is definitely the tip of the iceberg of workers that are currently affected,” said Hoy, who screened stoneworkers in Australia for silicosis and treats diagnosed patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As manufacturers switched to silica-free products in Australia, costs increased, but consumers still purchased countertops for renovations and new buildings. The industry carried on without the old material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Hayley Barnes, a pulmonologist who studied silicosis in Australia, said that initially, talking about banning the material in that country felt like a huge ordeal, with predictions that the building industry would collapse and jobs would disappear. But that didn’t happen, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The companies just made a low-silica or no-silica product, which is currently available in Australia and many other countries,” Barnes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now medical director of UCSF’s Interstitial Lung Disease Program, she worries many cases in California have not yet been diagnosed, and stoneworkers are suffering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037908\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037908\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1236\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-800x494.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-1020x630.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-1536x949.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-1920x1187.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay in San Francisco on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We could do better. It’s been done elsewhere,” Barnes said. “People would still get their houses and apartments built and workers would be better protected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi, an assistant professor of medicine at UCSF and a colleague of Barnes who treats dozens of silicosis patients, said she wants California to begin phasing out artificial stone countertops. The move would ensure consumers purchase materials that also protect workers, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve tried all these regulations, but we still are seeing that the cases are going up,” Gandhi said. “We need to move towards the more effective strategies of elimination or substitution, where we really go for safer alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, Gandhi must wade through a stack of about 40 additional cases of very sick workers she has been referred.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just like every month, my mailbox is full of more referrals of silicosis cases,” she said. “The number of cases is exploding. It’s insane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California stoneworkers are becoming severely ill from silica dust exposure from cutting engineered stone, prompting urgent warnings from doctors and workplace safety experts as Australia’s 2024 ban underscores the urgency.",
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"title": "California Doctors Urge Ban on Engineered Stone as Silicosis Cases Surge | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A former stoneworker named Lopez sat confined to his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/east-bay\">East Bay\u003c/a> home, breathing with the help of a whirring oxygen supply machine through clear tubes pronged to his nostrils. After years of making kitchen countertops from engineered stone, the 43-year-old was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-vote-on-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety\">diagnosed with silicosis\u003c/a>, an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust the material releases when powercut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The once-active father of four now awaits a double lung transplant. He can no longer support his family or walk a few steps without pausing to catch his breath. Two stonecutter friends died after working with the man-made material, also known as artificial stone or quartz. Three others are on a waitlist for lung transplants, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel desperate just sitting here unable to do anything,” said Lopez, an undocumented immigrant who worked in California for more than two decades. KQED is withholding his full name, as he fears losing vital medical care if arrested by federal authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s agonizing waiting for the hospital to call me so I can finally get the transplant I’m waiting for and be able to go back to work,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As silicosis cases surge in California’s countertop fabrication industry, medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers like Lopez from contracting the incurable illness. The state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops, as Australia did, they say, to stem a growing health crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australia banned the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone benchtops in July 2024, forcing major manufacturers to switch to silica-free alternatives in that market, though they still sell their higher-silica products in the U.S. The companies maintain that their products are safe if fabrication shops follow protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251119-Miners-Lung-silicosis-01-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of a pair lungs with silicosis used in a Cal/OSHA presentation slide about the disease, and rising number of cases in California, at a public meeting on Nov. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Museomed via Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Silicosis is preventable when proper safety and health measures are in place to protect workers against inhalation of silica dust in the workplace,” a spokesperson for Cosentino North America said in a statement. “The company continues its efforts in research and development for the ongoing improvement of its products.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artificial stone in the U.S. market often contains more than 90% pulverized crystalline silica, far more than natural stones such as marble and granite. When workers powercut, polish and grind slabs of the material, tiny silica particles are released. If inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs and cause tissue scarring that progressively impedes breathing. Respirable silica can also lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other illnesses.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>To save lives, the Governor’s Office could issue an emergency declaration pausing the processing of artificial stone until a permanent ban is pursued through rulemaking, according to a Sept. 4 memorandum obtained by KQED. Drafted by a committee of doctors, occupational safety experts and worker advocates convened by Cal/OSHA, the letter was addressed to the state board responsible for adopting new workplace safety regulations, but was not sent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office did not respond to requests for comment about his position on banning engineered stone in fabrication shops. A spokesperson with the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees press requests for both Cal/OSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, said the draft had not been vetted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The memo referenced … is an incomplete working draft by the Silica Technical Committee and not by Cal/OSHA. None of the recommendations are final,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Cal/OSHA continually works to protect the health and safety of California’s workers and enforces all regulations adopted by the Board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several board members have publicly expressed dismay for months at the steep climb in silicosis cases, but the agenda for their next meeting on Thursday does not include decision-making on artificial stone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maegan Ortiz, director of the Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California, said that although the state approved stricter standards nearly two years ago, California has made little progress in protecting stoneworkers still inhaling engineered stone dust on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064281\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064281\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-04-KQED-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lopez adjusts the breathing tube connected to his oxygen tank in his home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We need to ban this. I think the concern is great, but it is kind of like thoughts and prayers in the face of other crises that don’t go far enough,” said Ortiz, whose organization has been surveying stoneworkers in Los Angeles County, the state’s silicosis epicenter. “We’ve seen the conditions ourselves on the ground in terms of the amount of dust that is there, even in these bigger shops that are following the regulations. Workers see the dust, they carry it on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, more than 430 workers have been confirmed with silicosis in California, including 25 who died and 48 who underwent a lung transplant, according to state public health officials tracking \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/OHB/Pages/essdashboard.aspx\">reported cases\u003c/a>. Half of those sick are located in Los Angeles County. Nearly all are Latino men, some in their 20s, who said they didn’t know how dangerous artificial stone dust could be. About 40% of silicosis cases were identified this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez said he worked in licensed shops using safety gear and methods his supervisors said would protect him. He wore filter masks and cut and polished engineered stone with machines that covered slabs with water to suppress dust. But mounting evidence shows silica particles in artificial stone dust are so small and toxic that it doesn’t take much to hurt workers. Silica can penetrate filter masks and remain on workers’ clothes and tools when water dries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australia tried banning drycutting of engineered stone, similar to Cal/OSHA rules in place since December 2023 and a bill Newsom signed last month, SB 20. Australia also tried additional safeguards, including full-face powered air-purifying respirators, ventilation systems and monitoring, like California’s strict \u003ca href=\"https://worksafewithsilica.org/employer-information#rp\">regulations\u003c/a> that go beyond federal requirements. But in both places, experts say, the sophisticated and costly measures are not realistic for an industry made up of mostly small shops with only a few workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064282\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064282\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-05-KQED-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lopez coils the breathing tube connected to his oxygen tank in his home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s completely unfeasible,” said Dr. Ryan Hoy, a respiratory physician and researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. “I often use the analogy that you can work with asbestos safely, you can work with uranium safely, but you need to have in place very sophisticated control measures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, most fabrication shops are not complying with drycutting bans, respiratory protection, monitoring or other requirements. About 94% of 107 worksites investigated by Cal/OSHA had violations of the silica regulations as of Oct. 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s wife said she wished her husband had more accurate information from manufacturers, vendors and employers before working with artificial stone so he could have chosen whether to take on the risk. Considering the impact of his disease on her family, the 41-year-old choked back tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s painful because I’ve always seen him working. He’s always looked out for us. He’s the pillar of our family,” she said in Spanish, adding that her youngest son is 3. “It hurts us deeply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lopez’s wife draws in a coloring book with their 3-year-old in their home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s state disability benefits have run out, he said, and the family relies on financial support from their oldest daughter, a 20-year-old medical assistant. He became one of hundreds of workers in the U.S. and other countries who have sued top manufacturers of engineered stone — including Minnesota-based Cambria, Israel-based Caesarstone and Cosentino, headquartered in Spain — claiming silica-related injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caesarstone, which generated nearly half of its $303 million in revenue so far this year in the U.S. market, reported claims by more than 500 individuals in its latest \u003ca href=\"https://ir.caesarstone.com/news/news-details/2025/Caesarstone-Reports-Third-Quarter-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx\">financial results\u003c/a>. The company recorded a $46 million provision for probable losses, with $24.3 million covered by insurance. But costs could grow, as most of the 320 U.S. claims are awaiting trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caesarstone won one case in the U.S., which remains under appeal, and settled another this year, according to Nahum Trust, Caesarstone’s chief financial officer, during an earnings call this month. Last year, a jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-08-07/jury-finds-stone-companies-at-fault-in-suit-by-countertop-cutter-with-silicosis\">awarded\u003c/a> a 34-year-old stoneworker $52 million after finding Caesarstone and other companies liable, a decision the company has appealed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company developed crystalline silica-free countertop surfaces in preparation for restrictions in Australia and recently unveiled what it advertises as safer alternatives for fabrication workers in the U.S. Caesarstone’s sales were down this quarter in the U.S. and Canada, due to softness in the market and competitive pressures, according to Trust, but sales are up in Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033047\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033047\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-002-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stone fabricator places his hand on a table that he cut at his home in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Our first year of real growth in this market since the silica ban implementation,” Trust said. “This reflects early recovery and the successful launch of our zero silica collection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cosentino said it has also moved to offer newer products due to safety concerns, including a new mineral-surface product with zero crystalline silica that will be available next year globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cosentino, Caesarstone and associations representing manufacturers declined to comment on why they continue selling their high-silica engineered stone products in the U.S. if they have alternatives for the Australian market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global demand for artificial stone, a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S., is expected to significantly grow. In California, sales are expected to increase even more due to efforts to rebuild the more than 16,000 homes and buildings destroyed by January wildfires in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Consumers prefer the stain-resistant material because it’s often cheaper than natural stone and offers diverse colors and designs. But many homeowners don’t know of the potential health impacts to the workers who make their countertops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulmonologists predict silicosis cases will keep rising, even if exposure to silica dust stopped immediately. By the time workers feel symptoms, the disease has often advanced, Hoy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, that is definitely the tip of the iceberg of workers that are currently affected,” said Hoy, who screened stoneworkers in Australia for silicosis and treats diagnosed patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As manufacturers switched to silica-free products in Australia, costs increased, but consumers still purchased countertops for renovations and new buildings. The industry carried on without the old material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Hayley Barnes, a pulmonologist who studied silicosis in Australia, said that initially, talking about banning the material in that country felt like a huge ordeal, with predictions that the building industry would collapse and jobs would disappear. But that didn’t happen, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The companies just made a low-silica or no-silica product, which is currently available in Australia and many other countries,” Barnes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now medical director of UCSF’s Interstitial Lung Disease Program, she worries many cases in California have not yet been diagnosed, and stoneworkers are suffering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037908\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037908\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1236\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-800x494.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-1020x630.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-1536x949.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250424_UCSFFILE_GC-12-KQED-1920x1187.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay in San Francisco on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We could do better. It’s been done elsewhere,” Barnes said. “People would still get their houses and apartments built and workers would be better protected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi, an assistant professor of medicine at UCSF and a colleague of Barnes who treats dozens of silicosis patients, said she wants California to begin phasing out artificial stone countertops. The move would ensure consumers purchase materials that also protect workers, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve tried all these regulations, but we still are seeing that the cases are going up,” Gandhi said. “We need to move towards the more effective strategies of elimination or substitution, where we really go for safer alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, Gandhi must wade through a stack of about 40 additional cases of very sick workers she has been referred.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just like every month, my mailbox is full of more referrals of silicosis cases,” she said. “The number of cases is exploding. It’s insane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sutter-health\">Sutter Health\u003c/a> announced plans on Monday for a new flagship medical center in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/santa-clara\">Santa Clara,\u003c/a> part of a multibillion-dollar investment to expand health care access in Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The centerpiece of the $2.8 billion dual-campus plan is an eight-story medical center to be built on a 13.63-acre site near Levi’s Stadium. Sutter Health President and CEO Warner Thomas called the facility the “digital hospital of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today marks a turning point … for the future of health care here in Santa Clara and in Silicon Valley,” Thomas said, describing the new 272-bed hospital, which will replace an existing office park at 2831 and 2841 Mission College Blvd. “This will be the largest investment in the history of Sutter Health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new facility, slated to open in late 2031, will feature all private patient rooms, a full-service emergency department, intensive care units, advanced operating rooms and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit. Officials emphasized that the investment is designed to fill a critical gap in a region underserved by health systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking at Monday’s event, Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg described the county’s emergency response system as being “under extraordinary strain,” noting that the county has the second-lowest ratio of ER treatment stations per resident in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This level of demand clearly cannot be sustained by county facilities alone,” Ellenberg said. “The addition of a Sutter Health Medical Center … will help reduce the enormous pressure on county-operated facilities. It will also improve ambulance response times, access to care and provide more options for people who depend on us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas reinforced the point, stating that the county’s hospital infrastructure has not “kept pace” with the region’s growth, lagging behind state and national averages for beds per capita.[aside postID=news_12062794 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251104-MEASUREA-JG-1_qed.jpg']Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor called Sutter’s expansion “a very exciting day for Santa Clara” and a key step in meeting the needs of a growing population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The addition of the Sutter Health Hospital expands access, it increases capacity and gives our residents more choice, ensuring that more families can receive excellent care right here in Santa Clara, close to home,” Gillmor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project, which includes the recently opened Sutter East Santa Clara Care Center, will create hubs for specialty care in cancer, women’s health and orthopedics. It will be integrated with the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group to help with recruitment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the 29 years I’ve worked here [in Santa Clara County], we haven’t had good enough access for our patients,” said Dr. Kurt VandeVort, CEO of PAFMG. “This is really a landmark investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initiative also includes a significant focus on workforce development. Thomas announced a new, multimillion-dollar partnership with the Santa Clara Unified School District to create “Health Career Pathways” to help prepare students for careers in health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SCUSD Superintendent Damon Wright said the collaboration would provide students with “hands-on, real-world experiences” and training for certification-eligible roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter also plans to expand its Graduate Medical Education programs, aiming to train 1,000 residents and fellows annually by 2030, and is partnering with the West Valley-Mission Community College District on nursing and emergency services programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to an independent analysis by \u003ca href=\"https://www.ey.com/en_us\">EY\u003c/a>, the new facilities are projected to support more than 5,000 jobs by 2031.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This new medical center and the broader Santa Clara project represent a promise to this community to make accessing sought-after health care so much easier,” said Dr. Rebecca Fazilat, Board Chair of PAFMG.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sutter-health\">Sutter Health\u003c/a> announced plans on Monday for a new flagship medical center in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/santa-clara\">Santa Clara,\u003c/a> part of a multibillion-dollar investment to expand health care access in Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The centerpiece of the $2.8 billion dual-campus plan is an eight-story medical center to be built on a 13.63-acre site near Levi’s Stadium. Sutter Health President and CEO Warner Thomas called the facility the “digital hospital of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today marks a turning point … for the future of health care here in Santa Clara and in Silicon Valley,” Thomas said, describing the new 272-bed hospital, which will replace an existing office park at 2831 and 2841 Mission College Blvd. “This will be the largest investment in the history of Sutter Health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new facility, slated to open in late 2031, will feature all private patient rooms, a full-service emergency department, intensive care units, advanced operating rooms and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit. Officials emphasized that the investment is designed to fill a critical gap in a region underserved by health systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking at Monday’s event, Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg described the county’s emergency response system as being “under extraordinary strain,” noting that the county has the second-lowest ratio of ER treatment stations per resident in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This level of demand clearly cannot be sustained by county facilities alone,” Ellenberg said. “The addition of a Sutter Health Medical Center … will help reduce the enormous pressure on county-operated facilities. It will also improve ambulance response times, access to care and provide more options for people who depend on us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas reinforced the point, stating that the county’s hospital infrastructure has not “kept pace” with the region’s growth, lagging behind state and national averages for beds per capita.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor called Sutter’s expansion “a very exciting day for Santa Clara” and a key step in meeting the needs of a growing population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The addition of the Sutter Health Hospital expands access, it increases capacity and gives our residents more choice, ensuring that more families can receive excellent care right here in Santa Clara, close to home,” Gillmor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project, which includes the recently opened Sutter East Santa Clara Care Center, will create hubs for specialty care in cancer, women’s health and orthopedics. It will be integrated with the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group to help with recruitment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the 29 years I’ve worked here [in Santa Clara County], we haven’t had good enough access for our patients,” said Dr. Kurt VandeVort, CEO of PAFMG. “This is really a landmark investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initiative also includes a significant focus on workforce development. Thomas announced a new, multimillion-dollar partnership with the Santa Clara Unified School District to create “Health Career Pathways” to help prepare students for careers in health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SCUSD Superintendent Damon Wright said the collaboration would provide students with “hands-on, real-world experiences” and training for certification-eligible roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter also plans to expand its Graduate Medical Education programs, aiming to train 1,000 residents and fellows annually by 2030, and is partnering with the West Valley-Mission Community College District on nursing and emergency services programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to an independent analysis by \u003ca href=\"https://www.ey.com/en_us\">EY\u003c/a>, the new facilities are projected to support more than 5,000 jobs by 2031.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This new medical center and the broader Santa Clara project represent a promise to this community to make accessing sought-after health care so much easier,” said Dr. Rebecca Fazilat, Board Chair of PAFMG.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "uc-service-workers-strike-saying-wages-arent-enough-to-afford-cost-of-living",
"title": "UC Service Workers Strike, Saying Wages Aren’t Enough to Afford Cost of Living",
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"content": "\u003cp>Tens of thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/university-of-california\">University of California\u003c/a> workers began a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064154/uc-workers-plan-two-day-strike-as-wage-talks-stall-and-staffing-shortages-deepen\">two-day strike\u003c/a> on Monday as yearslong negotiations with the university system over wages and benefits remain stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents more than 40,000 custodians, food service workers, patient care assistants and hospital technicians, said wage increases haven’t kept up with the cost of living as employees’ health care costs have skyrocketed, making it nearly impossible to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s an affordability crisis that is crushing UC’s most vulnerable workers, workers that UC once called heroes during the pandemic,” said Carmen Lee, a UCSF transportation worker. “I feel completely disrespected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UCSF Health said in a statement that it did not expect significant disruptions to essential operations thanks to contingency plans, although radiology and lab services could still see delays, along with transportation and custodial services across the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Negotiations between AFSCME and the UC, which began in January 2024, have been deadlocked since April, when the university presented a “best and final” offer that was far from the union’s demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064421\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carmen Lee (left), a shuttle operator, and Betty Yee, California State Controller, walk the picket line alongside patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 at the UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay campus on Nov. 17, 2025, striking for living wages, affordable health care, housing benefits and safe staffing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The five-year contract proposal includes a 5% wage increase in 2025; 4% in 2026; and 3% in 2027, 2028 and 2029. AFSCME has asked for increases of 8.5% this year and 7.5% in each of the next two years, citing post-pandemic inflation, rising cost of living and increasing health care premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to bring home six bags of groceries to feed my family. … I had to give that up,” Lee said. “My health care went up $200. With the low wage that they’ve imposed on us so far, I’m not going to be able to afford that health care. I should be able to live and thrive in the city that I grew up in and raised my two sons in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Todd Stenhouse, AFSCME’s statewide spokesperson, said union members are making at least 7% less than they did seven years ago when accounting for the rising cost of living. That’s forcing people to move farther from their workplaces, including as far as El Dorado County, north of Sacramento, or crowd into homes and apartments that aren’t large enough for their families.[aside postID=news_12064154 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/RS61791_GettyImages-1244836327-qut-1020x680.jpg']“In the last three years, a third of [AFSCME members] have voluntarily left their jobs. Why? Because they can’t afford to stay,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, the university increased its best and final offer to make up for “potentially catastrophic state and federal funding cuts,” UC Associate Vice President for Systemwide Labor and Employee Relations Missy Matella said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The UC said its offer was $113 million higher than its initial offer in February 2024, and meets the union’s demand to raise minimum wage to $25 an hour. AFSCME had asked that the wage hike be retroactive to 2023. It was implemented in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university also implemented terms from its offer to add monthly health insurance premium credits up to $125 to reduce costs for Kaiser and UC Blue and Gold HMO enrollees. Under its offer, some employees could have access to $0 premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Joanna Marie Fernandez, who’s been an ophthalmic technician at UCSF for 11 years, said the deal doesn’t keep up with rising insurance and housing costs. At the same time, she said, she and her colleagues have had to take on more work because they are understaffed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have double-booked, triple-booked patients in our clinic,” she told KQED. “I came out here [to UC] because of these incredible doctors, this incredible institution, and the thing is, we’re not even able to take care of our own health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064418\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064418\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 picket at the UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay campus on Nov. 17, 2025, striking for living wages, affordable health care, housing benefits and safe staffing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This month, two other bargaining groups have come to agreements with the UC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These outcomes show that UC can and has quickly closed deals when both parties actively participate in solutions-oriented bargaining,” the university said in a statement. “Despite UC’s continued outreach, AFSCME has not presented any substantive counterproposals since April 2025. Absent AFSCME’s engagement, the University cannot engage in meaningful negotiations for this critical workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 8, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034098/nearly-60000-uc-workers-hit-picket-lines-in-3rd-statewide-strike-in-recent-months\">UPTE-CWA\u003c/a>, which represents 21,000 research and technical professionals across the UC, announced a tentative deal with the university, prompting them to pull out of Monday’s strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064415\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064415\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fredrieka Michael (center), a shuttle operator, strikes alongside patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 at the UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay campus on Nov. 17, 2025, for living wages, affordable health care, housing benefits and safe staffing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And over the weekend, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which had planned a sympathy strike with AFSCME, also came to a tentative agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC nurses will vote on the tentative agreement this week, and thousands said they still planned to join picket lines off duty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stenhouse said it’s telling that AFSCME workers, who are some of the UC’s lowest-paid, are still negotiating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It says a lot that as we’re here today after a week where we saw two contracts settle, the most economically vulnerable workers are the last ones standing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/eromero\">\u003cem>Ezra David Romero\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "UC Service Workers Strike, Saying Wages Aren’t Enough to Afford Cost of Living | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Tens of thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/university-of-california\">University of California\u003c/a> workers began a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064154/uc-workers-plan-two-day-strike-as-wage-talks-stall-and-staffing-shortages-deepen\">two-day strike\u003c/a> on Monday as yearslong negotiations with the university system over wages and benefits remain stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents more than 40,000 custodians, food service workers, patient care assistants and hospital technicians, said wage increases haven’t kept up with the cost of living as employees’ health care costs have skyrocketed, making it nearly impossible to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s an affordability crisis that is crushing UC’s most vulnerable workers, workers that UC once called heroes during the pandemic,” said Carmen Lee, a UCSF transportation worker. “I feel completely disrespected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UCSF Health said in a statement that it did not expect significant disruptions to essential operations thanks to contingency plans, although radiology and lab services could still see delays, along with transportation and custodial services across the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Negotiations between AFSCME and the UC, which began in January 2024, have been deadlocked since April, when the university presented a “best and final” offer that was far from the union’s demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064421\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carmen Lee (left), a shuttle operator, and Betty Yee, California State Controller, walk the picket line alongside patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 at the UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay campus on Nov. 17, 2025, striking for living wages, affordable health care, housing benefits and safe staffing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The five-year contract proposal includes a 5% wage increase in 2025; 4% in 2026; and 3% in 2027, 2028 and 2029. AFSCME has asked for increases of 8.5% this year and 7.5% in each of the next two years, citing post-pandemic inflation, rising cost of living and increasing health care premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to bring home six bags of groceries to feed my family. … I had to give that up,” Lee said. “My health care went up $200. With the low wage that they’ve imposed on us so far, I’m not going to be able to afford that health care. I should be able to live and thrive in the city that I grew up in and raised my two sons in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Todd Stenhouse, AFSCME’s statewide spokesperson, said union members are making at least 7% less than they did seven years ago when accounting for the rising cost of living. That’s forcing people to move farther from their workplaces, including as far as El Dorado County, north of Sacramento, or crowd into homes and apartments that aren’t large enough for their families.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“In the last three years, a third of [AFSCME members] have voluntarily left their jobs. Why? Because they can’t afford to stay,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, the university increased its best and final offer to make up for “potentially catastrophic state and federal funding cuts,” UC Associate Vice President for Systemwide Labor and Employee Relations Missy Matella said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The UC said its offer was $113 million higher than its initial offer in February 2024, and meets the union’s demand to raise minimum wage to $25 an hour. AFSCME had asked that the wage hike be retroactive to 2023. It was implemented in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university also implemented terms from its offer to add monthly health insurance premium credits up to $125 to reduce costs for Kaiser and UC Blue and Gold HMO enrollees. Under its offer, some employees could have access to $0 premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Joanna Marie Fernandez, who’s been an ophthalmic technician at UCSF for 11 years, said the deal doesn’t keep up with rising insurance and housing costs. At the same time, she said, she and her colleagues have had to take on more work because they are understaffed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have double-booked, triple-booked patients in our clinic,” she told KQED. “I came out here [to UC] because of these incredible doctors, this incredible institution, and the thing is, we’re not even able to take care of our own health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064418\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064418\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 picket at the UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay campus on Nov. 17, 2025, striking for living wages, affordable health care, housing benefits and safe staffing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This month, two other bargaining groups have come to agreements with the UC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These outcomes show that UC can and has quickly closed deals when both parties actively participate in solutions-oriented bargaining,” the university said in a statement. “Despite UC’s continued outreach, AFSCME has not presented any substantive counterproposals since April 2025. Absent AFSCME’s engagement, the University cannot engage in meaningful negotiations for this critical workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 8, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034098/nearly-60000-uc-workers-hit-picket-lines-in-3rd-statewide-strike-in-recent-months\">UPTE-CWA\u003c/a>, which represents 21,000 research and technical professionals across the UC, announced a tentative deal with the university, prompting them to pull out of Monday’s strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064415\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064415\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-UCStrike-02-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fredrieka Michael (center), a shuttle operator, strikes alongside patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 at the UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay campus on Nov. 17, 2025, for living wages, affordable health care, housing benefits and safe staffing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And over the weekend, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which had planned a sympathy strike with AFSCME, also came to a tentative agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC nurses will vote on the tentative agreement this week, and thousands said they still planned to join picket lines off duty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stenhouse said it’s telling that AFSCME workers, who are some of the UC’s lowest-paid, are still negotiating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It says a lot that as we’re here today after a week where we saw two contracts settle, the most economically vulnerable workers are the last ones standing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/eromero\">\u003cem>Ezra David Romero\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
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"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"source": "WaitWhat"
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
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