"U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will call Wednesday for a national campaign centered on walking, an effort he said is intended to combat chronic disease and obesity, and to surmount obstacles that stand in the way of simply taking a walk.

Murthy said the government will partner with schools, nonprofit organizations and the private sector to promote walking at home, at school and in the workplace.

His “call to action” seeks to make walking a national priority, promote development of communities where it is safe and easy to walk, develop walking programs, and conduct research on walking."

Read more at The Washington Post

"California public health officials have released a report highlighting how demographic disparities across the state affect physical and mental health, Payers & Providers reports.

Details of Report The 96-page report was released by the California Department of Public Health's Office of Health Equity.

Overall, OHE Deputy Director Jahmal Miller said the report demonstrates how health outcomes are affected by:

• Education;
• Employment status;
• Gender identity;
• Income;
• Race and ethnicity; and
• Sexual orientation."

Read more at California Healthline

"Paramedic Jacob Modglin parks on a palm-lined street in Oxnard and jumps out of his ambulance. He is prepared for any kind of emergency.

But his patient is standing in the driveway of a one-story house, holding a thermos, and smiling. It's time for his 8 p.m. appointment.

Modglin is part of a new cadre of "community paramedics" working in a dozen pilot programs across California. Their jobs are to treat patients before they get sick enough to need emergency care.

The paramedics are still first responders, just deployed to prevent a crisis rather than react to one."

Read more at The Los Angeles Times

"Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to consolidate three sprawling health agencies under a single director.

The action caused some advocates to fear that the change would favor county hospitals at the expense of agencies providing mental health and public health services.

Proponents of the new structure include many county psychiatrists and physicians and Health Services Director Mitchell H. Katz, who will probably be tapped to lead the organization. Supporters say a unified agency will save money on administrative costs and better coordinate services to people who may have a combination of physical, mental health and substance abuse issues.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said it would "improve access, health outcomes and system efficiency.""

Read more on L.A. Times