If you are a Californian having a baby for the first time, choose your hospital wisely. You might even wish to move. A recent report from the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce revealed alarming discrepancies in outcomes for low-risk pregnancies at high-performing and low-perform
According to dozens of interviews with housing rights lawyers, code enforcement officials and building inspectors, substandard housing conditions are rampant in Sonoma County's poorest neighborhoods. And landlords face little consequences for letting their properties fall into disrepair.
Beaches, sunshine, natural beauty, high-priced homes. In so many ways, Ventura County embodies the affluent, laid-back lifestyle of California’s coastal regions....
Like in many low-income communities, violence is a major concern for residents of Merced County. Just last year, the county recorded its highest number of homicides at 32. For this project, I will explore the short and long-term effects that the increasing violence has on residents’ mental health.
Penalty programs created under the Affordable Care Act are intended to improve quality of care at hospitals. But will they succeed?
Most people wouldn’t think of the San Joaquin Valley - California’s agricultural heartland - as a hotbed for sexually transmitted infections. But the agriculturally rich yet impoverished region has a significant and growing HIV/AIDS problem that’s troubling local health officials.
A leading researcher on the ways in which doctors talk to parents about vaccines has a new suggestion for how we might boost immunization rates. Drawing on the theory of nudges, Dr. Douglas Opel suggests parents should have to "opt-out" of vaccinating their kids rather than "opt-in."
When I started reporting on Montana's "aging tsunami," I wanted to know what solutions held the most promise. But as I delved into the issues, I was forced to reexamine my assumptions. Sometimes the best stories take a fresh look at what we think we know.
Valentine's Day is over, but questions over lead and other heavy metals in chocolate and candy are still around. And while "cocoa puff stories" are the norm around this time of year, some excellent reporting is keeping the spotlight on this bittersweet issue.
We know that kids who grow up with a lot of adversity are far more likely to suffer poor health and early death as adults. But how well do we understand the means by which early trauma is translated into health problems decades later? Researchers are still teasing apart the mechanisms at work.
