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Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente nurses and health professionals across Northern California are preparing to strike Oct. 14 in what union leaders say will be the largest work stoppage in the company’s history. The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), which represents 31,000 workers, issued a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser executives Friday. (Vaziri, 10/7)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California’s Nursing Shortage Is Getting Worse. Front-Line Workers Blame Management

California, like much of the nation, is not producing enough nurses working at bedsides to meet the needs of an aging and diverse population, fueling a workforce crunch that risks endangering quality patient care. Nearly 60% of California counties, stretching between the borders with Mexico and Oregon, face a nursing shortage, according to state data. (Hart, 10/8)

Mask requirements are returning to health care settings across parts of the Bay Area, as local health officials brace for the annual surge in respiratory illnesses — including COVID-19, influenza and RSV — that typically arrives with colder weather. Starting Nov. 1, several counties — including Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Napa, San Mateo and Santa Cruz — will again require health care workers, and in some cases patients and visitors, to wear masks in patient care areas through the winter and early spring. (Vaziri, 10/7)

Reports of an active shooter at a hospital in Newport Beach turned out to be a case of swatting, authorities confirmed Tuesday. Officers responded to Hoag Hospital and searched the facility, but eventually determined that there was no shooter, according to the Newport Beach Police Department. Police said there was not threat to the hospital or surrounding community. The department added that there was a similar false report at another nearby hospital Monday night, but details about that incident were not available. (10/7)

BillionToOne Inc. filed for a US initial public offering, becoming the second notable health-care company to advance public listing plans despite the US government shutdown. The Menlo Park, California-based company had a net loss of $4.23 million on revenue of $125.54 million in the six months ending June 30, compared with a net loss of $15.19 million on revenue of $69.09 million a year earlier, according to a Tuesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. (Lipschultz, 10/7)

Geisinger, which runs 10 hospitals and in 2024 was acquired by Kaiser Permanente’s Risant Health, told Fierce Healthcare in an emailed statement that it disagrees with the allegations of running a no-poach agreement with Evangelical Community Hospital and that its settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. (Muoio, 10/7)

Urban explorers love vacant hospitals. Stephanie Botkin should know — she lives across from one, the former St. Alexius Hospital on Jefferson Avenue. “They’re totally attracted to it,” Botkin said. “Because you've got the morgue, and how scary is that? You've got the old operating rooms with all the equipment still in them. “There's something about abandoned hospitals, like where people lived and died,” she continued. “Are there ghosts? Are there spirits?” (Fentem, 10/8)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: This Geriatrics Training Program Escaped The Ax. For Now

In St. Louis, a team of students aboard a well-equipped van visits senior centers, a nursing home, a church, and other sites, learning to conduct comprehensive, hourlong geriatric assessments. The team — future doctors, social workers, psychologists, and therapists — looks for such common problems as frailty, muscle weakness, and cognitive decline. The patients they evaluate, free of charge, receive printed plans to help guide their care. (Span, 10/8)