Kaiser Permanente gets into new negotiations with workers’ unions

National Bargaining Training - Oakland Marriott City Center - Oakland, California - April 18, 2019 Image Courtesy of Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (CKPU)

Representatives from health giant Kaiser Permanente and unions representing its workers returned to the bargaining table late last week to resume contract talks with over 80,000 union members across the nation. Some 63,800 of those members are from California, and they are asking their employer for a renewal of their national agreement, which expired last…

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Therapist Isadora Alman wants doctors to ask patients: “Are you enjoying your sex life?”

Stethoscope on open book on a white background. Photo source: "PHYSICIAN" by Dr.Farouk on Flickr, shared via Creative Commons

“Are you enjoying your sex life?” That’s a question sex therapist Isadora Alman would like primary healthcare providers to ask their patients, along with other basic questions often asked of people coming in for a check-up, like inquiries about smoking or drinking. But this doesn’t happen, said Alman, who is also a California licensed marriage…

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MedShare saves surgical tools from landfills

What happens to the unused surgical tools from Kaiser Oakland’s operating room? They end up at healthcare agencies such as Roots Community Health Center in Oakland, CA, one of 20 safety net clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area benefitting from MedShare’s medical surplus donations.

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Nearly half of students in Oakland and Richmond overweight, study finds

A study of the average weight of students in middle schools throughout California reveals that cities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties have a high number of children who fall into the category of overweight or obese, including nearly half of the kids in Oakland and Richmond.

“It’s a problem that is impacting so many of the kids in the whole country, even though our study focused on California,” said Susan Babey, a UCLA Health Center for Policy Research senior research scientist who was one of the co-authors of the study.

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At Destiny Arts Center, East Bay youth learn how to deal with danger through martial and performing arts

Growing Peaceful Warriors

“Love, respect, care, responsibility, honor, and peace”—that’s the Warrior’s Code that East Bay youth are being taught at Destiny Arts Center as part of the Growing Peaceful Warriors Program. Instructors teach young people self-defense and conflict management skills to deal with possible real-life dangerous situations through the martial and performing arts.

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