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From CalMatters health reporter Kristen Huang:
Gov. Gavin Newsom has tapped two prominent former officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch a new public health initiative — though details on exactly what the initiative will accomplish in the coming months are scarce.
Former CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez and former chief medical officer Dr. Debra Khoury, both of whom have publicly opposed Trump administration policies, will advise the newly created Public Health Network Innovation Exchange.
Monarez was fired in August after reportedly refusing to rubber-stamp recommendations made by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a select committee on vaccines that includes prominent vaccine skeptics. Khoury tendered his partial resignation in protest.
“It’s not a shadow CDC that we’re creating, but it’s a shield for what’s going on,” Newsom said.
So what will the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange, or PHNIX, do?
- At a news conference, Newsom said the goal is to restore public trust in public health institutions and improve the technology public health uses to track disease and monitor trends.
- Monarez will oversee innovation and technology for the new program. The state could partner with the private sector and academia to create real-time data-sharing systems for health departments or use AI, she said.
- Houry will help the state develop partnerships with other public health organizations, building on existing ones in California West Coast Health Alliancewhich he does vaccine recommendationsand the Governor’s Alliance for Public Health.
- The group will also seek funding, both public and private, to strengthen public health.
To begin with, California lawmakers allocated $4 million for the initiative in this year’s budget.
Not yet clear:
- How the $4 million will be spent and what portion will go to pay Monarez and Khouri;
- Whether other states or public health organizations have formally agreed to partner with California;
- When PHNIX is expected to achieve its goals by;
- What kind of additional funding does he expect to need to do these things.
“It’s about maintaining science, integrity and trust,” said state public health official Dr. Erica Pan.
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Other stories you should know
Job’s fears fuel community college enrollment
Early data from California community colleges shows enrollment up. College leaders attribute the trend mostly to fears about the economy and unemploymentAdam Echelman of CalMatters reports.
With rising unemployment rates, weak labor market and the cost of living and consumer goods becoming more expensive, more students, especially returning adults, want to upgrade their skills.
- Enrollment at Los Rios Community College District is up more than 5 percent from last fall.
- Enrollment of students ages 35 to 54 in the Los Angeles Community College District is up 28 percent over last year.
- The president of Chula Vista Southwestern College said the district had more than 32,000 students in the last academic year — the highest enrollment rate since the Great Recession.
But as these colleges serve the influx of new students, many say the state isn’t providing them with enough funding. Mario Rodriguez, Los Rios’ executive vice chancellor, said the Sacramento-area district serves about 5,000 more students than the system is funded to support, accounting for about $20 million in lost revenue.
What causes dry fire hydrants
After wildfires broke out in Southern California in January, reports of water shortages and dry fire hydrants prompted state and federal investigations. On Monday, a team of researchers from UCLA and Arizona State University published a brief finding that when fires burn urban areas, hydrant streams can go out and lead to poor hydrant performancewrites Rachel Becker of CalMatters.
When a forest fire rages in a city, every burned house pours water from the water supply system, and too many hoses are simultaneously fed with a limited supply – resulting in a loss of pressure. Fire after fire, the researchers found reports of loss of water pressureechoing the conclusions of a recent state investigation at the Palisade Fire.
- Kevin Phillipsdistrict manager of the Paradise Irrigation District: “Every one of these homes that are burned is an open wound on the outside. Your system is basically dying as every one of these homes is destroyed.”
California passed a law this year requiring water systems in California’s fire-prone regions to have sufficient backup power or alternate water supplies to keep water pumps running. However, some water suppliers argue that complying with the law costs too much.
And finally: Rob Reiner dies at 78
Hollywood actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife were found stabbed to death on Sunday. Reiner was a longtime Democratic activist who played a critical role in legalizing same-sex marriage and California’s early childhood development program. Read more by Ryan Sabalow of CalMatters.
California voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: The University of California’s attempt to improve its pension system highlights how the university system, like other state agencies, is failing successfully adopt information technology.
State policy chooses highways over keeping people in housing, as emphasized by Caltrans, forcing families out of their homes to widen highways, write Yesenia Perez and Hana Cregersenior program manager and associate director of climate equity at the Greenlining Institute, respectively.
State regulators are expected to end a subsidy program for biomass energy – electricity produced by burning trees – which is an expensive relic that relies on industry misinformation, Shay Wolf writesdirector of climate science at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Other things worth your time:
The legal battle starts all over again Republican Challenge to Proposition 50 // Los Angeles Times
Pelosi opposed the stock trading ban as wealth grows, fueling suspicions // New York Times
U.S. Representative Eric Swawell of California is absent from Congress since entering the race for governor // The Sacramento Bee
Navy apologizes for 11-month delay when reporting radioactive material at SF’s Hunters Point //KQED
Saugus High shooting survivornow at Brown University, relives campus tragedy // Los Angeles Times
Four are charged with conspiracy New Year’s Eve bombings in Southern California, prosecutors say // AP news
This single mother is squeezed by the cost of living in LA. Now running for mayor // The Los Angeles Public Press
After years of delaySan Diego County jails to eliminate triple bunks blamed for deaths // San Diego Union Tribune
