Hospital Announces Funding for Installation of Defibrillators throughout Los Gatos and Campbell Mountain View, Calif. (September 8, 2015) – El Camino Hospital today commended Gov. Jerry Brown for signing Senate Bill 658 (Hill) into law, recognizing the life-saving importance of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) and making it easier and less expensive for local governments, Read More »
public health
California Lawmaker Renews Efforts for $2 Tobacco Tax Increase
On Wednesday, state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) renewed efforts to increase California’s tobacco tax by $2 per pack, theAP/Sacramento Bee reports (AP/Sacramento Bee, 8/26). The current state tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes is 87 cents, plus a $1.01 federal tax (California Healthline, 5/5). In comparison, the average state tax is $1.60 per pack. Read More »
E-smoke, tobacco bills on the move
Hang on to your hats, California smokers — a cyclone of tobacco legislation is blowing through the Golden State. Moves to crack down on electronic cigarettes, further regulate smokes in the workplace, raise the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 years old and create new tobacco taxes all won support from the Senate health Read More »
Special Session Gives New Life to Tobacco Bills
The legislative move to shift six tobacco-related bills to the special session on health care was a remarkable event in the California Legislature, basically circumventing the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, which had put up strong resistance to two of the bills. “It’s not every year we have a special session on health, so we’re Read More »
Petaluma Earns “HeartSafe Community” Designation
PETALUMA, Calif., June 17, 2015 – Petaluma Health Care District(PHCD) is pleased to announce that the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and Petaluma City Council have designated Petaluma a HeartSafe Community, formally celebrating PHCD’s efforts to address heart health education and provide life-saving CPR trainings to combat Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) outside of hospital walls Read More »
Jerry Brown signs California vaccine bill
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed one of the strictest schoolchild vaccination laws in the country, eliminating personal and religious belief exemptions for vaccines. The governor’s signature came one day after the state Senate moved the bill to his desk, following months of protests and fierce debate at the Capitol. “The science is clear that Read More »
CA Senate sends mandatory vaccines bill to governor
After months of packed committee hearings and lengthy floor debates, California’s controversial mandatory vaccinations proposal finally heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration. In a 24-14 concurrence vote, the state Senate on Monday accepted Assembly amendments to Senate Bill 277, which would eliminate California’s personal and religious belief exemptions for vaccinating schoolchildren, and sent the Read More »
National Public Health Week
April 6-12, 2015 is National Public Health Week! This week is dedicated to highlighting public health achievements and raising awareness of public health issues. Health education can reduce the consequences of many health conditions/diseases through preventative measures, or identifying a health issue early on. This year’s goal is making the US the healthiest nation in Read More »
23 Measles Cases Confirmed; Calif. Lawmakers Plan Vaccine Bill
On Monday, the California Department of Public Health confirmed 107 measles cases in the state, at least 39 of which can be linked directly to an outbreak that began at Disneyland in December 2014, the Los Angeles Times’ “L.A. Now” reports. Health officials have confirmed a total of at least 123 measles cases in several Read More »