A story of why it pays to keep analyzing the data, even if it isn’t cooperative at first.
A Sun-Star analysis of obesity and demographic data from thousands of schools in the state show that low income and Latino students are at a substantially increased risk of developing obesity.
Because childhood obesity is a condition depending on many factors, some are taking simplified but powerful approaches to the problem.
Data shows children in Merced County are three times more likely to be obese than the average California kid.
A reporter set out to do a set of stories on the difficulties Merced County residents already faced in accessing care. Then, eight health clinics serving Medicaid patients in the county closed.
Even if the county ever gets a medical school, it is a long-term goal years away and many low-income patients need solutions now.
Horisons Unlimited Health Care filed for bankruptcy and closed all eight of its clinics, including five in Merced County. About 80 percent of Horisons patients were on Medi-Cal.
For years Merced County has struggled to convince doctors to come live and work in the rural, impoverished Central Valley community, resulting in a ratio of about 45 doctors for every 100,000 residents.
For many families struggling to navigate the maze of available mental-health treatment, the story of Everest Hickey highlights the desperate lengths to which they must go to get needed help.
In California’s Merced County, residents are more likely to be exposed to tobacco, suffer from poor air quality, or die of heart disease. At the same time, the region faces a long-running shortage of doctors.
