April Dembosky
April Dembosky is the health reporter for The California Report and KQED News. She covers health policy and public health, and has reported extensively on the economics of health care, the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act in California, mental health and end-of-life issues. Her work is regularly rebroadcast on NPR and has been recognized with awards from the Society for Professional Journalists (for sports reporting), and the Association of Health Care Journalists (for a story about pediatric hospice). Her hour-long radio documentary about home funeralswon the Best New Artist award from the Third Coast International Audio Festival in 2009. April occasionally moonlights on the arts beat, covering music and dance. Her story about the first symphony orchestra at Burning Man won the award for Best Use of Sound from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. Before joining KQED in 2013, April covered technology and Silicon Valley for The Financial Times, and freelanced for Marketplace and The New York Times. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Smith College.
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California is battling over getting vaccines to essential farmworkers, who are hard to reach. Prioritizing them could slow overall efforts, but advocates say equity demands they must be prioritized.
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With hospitals overwhelmed, California has suspended its unique law limiting nurse-to-patient ratios. Nurses are protesting, and worry it could lead to the law being changed or scrapped.
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California says it wants to consider "historic and contemporary injustices" as a factor in who gets priority after health care workers for a COVID-19 vaccine. Experts warn of legal problems.
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Research shows that doctors' unconscious bias can hurt patients of color. Some hospitals are trying to train doctors and stop disparate treatment.
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Planned power outages in Northern California are entering their third day. People who depend on electricity for medical devices are struggling to cope.
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California is close to passing a law allowing campus health centers to dispense the pills used for medication abortions. If it passes, it would be the first state to do so.
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The Death Certificate Project aims to weed out doctors who are overprescribing opioids, but some physicians say the investigations are having a chilling effect on the legitimate treatment of pain. -
Fire victims are putting up Christmas trees in lots where their homes used to be in Santa Rosa, Calif. The working-class neighborhood was razed by the Wine Country fires earlier this year. -
California is spending $111 million on advertising its ACA exchange — and 30 percent of its media buy on Latinos. But the messages are basic and educational in light of the ACA being under attack all year. Will a message of just "We're here, we're open" resonate with Latinos?
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Since the Trump administration slashed outreach funds and shortened the enrollment period to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans, local groups struggle to get the word out to Latinos and others.
