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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The Tuskegee syphilis study is often cited as a reason why Black Americans might hesitate on the COVID-19 vaccine. But many say it's current racism in health care and Tuskegee is used as an excuse. -
The Tuskegee syphilis study is used to explain why Black Americans are hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine. But many say Tuskegee is used as an excuse not to address current racism in health care.
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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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When a Latina woman went to a Bay Area hospital, a doctor was dismissive of her COVID symptoms. Is unconscious bias one reason people of color are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus? -
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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Increasing evidence suggests people who smoke are more likely to become severely ill and die from COVID-19 than nonsmokers. Some people are using that as inspiration to quit. -
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.
