Health

While Tuesday is frequently a day off for restaurant industry workers, April 5 was actually quite a hectic one for Tony Loeffler, general manager of the Palms restaurant. The day’s schedule included deep cleaning in the kitchen, and manifesting an Easter buffet brunch—among myriad other...

The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department recently released new data showing a 19% increase in new tuberculosis (TB) diagnoses in the county in 2023, compared to the previous year.  This follows a 6% increase in new TB diagnoses in the county for 2022,...

On Sept. 8, Good Samaritan Hospital “Good Sam” emailed this reporter a press release that proclaimed, “Good Samaritan Hospital (Good Sam) becomes the first hospital in the South Bay to perform a histotripsy procedure—a groundbreaking, non-invasive treatment that destroys liver tumors using sound waves...

The criminal case against a man who ran an artisianal bakery in Los Gatos and is accused of several child sex offenses has been paused as the court decides if he’s mentally fit to stand trial. Ali Asghar Shemirani has been charged with three felonies...

Niku Sedarat, who is just starting her senior year of high school at De Anza College, has been building a mental health organization called Unité over the past year that’s helping West Valley youth who are going through tough times. While the 17-year-old knows she...

This week, a Los Gatos medical start-up announced it had secured new funding to develop technology involved in the filtering of blood, to improve care for people with chronic kidney and end-stage renal diseases. Venova Medical, Inc. was co-founded by Erik van der Burg and...

Despite hospital-acquired infections shooting up as much as 60% nationally during the pandemic, local facilities have managed to maintain safety standards, according to a consumer watchdog organization. Good Samaritan Hospital of San Jose jumped from years of getting a “C” grade, to joining El Camino’s...

Santa Clara County's top health official urged residents Monday to get an updated Covid-19 booster vaccine if they are eligible to do so as the holiday season approaches. According to Health Officer and Public Health Director Dr. Sara Cody, just 11 percent of Santa Clara...

Californians infected with Covid-19 may go about their lives without isolating or testing negative as long as their symptoms are improving, according to new and significantly loosened guidelines from the California Department of Public Health.  California’s top public health official, Dr. Tomás Aragón, last week...

After Los Gatos resident Kathy Bays retired from a long career as a special education instructor and school administrator, she had some time to clean out the closets full of her kids’ old stuff. She ended up with two shoeboxes full of old crayons to...