SEE PAGE 2 for marine takes road trip to help shelter animals
ANAHEIM PRESS
MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014 - AUGUST 24, 2014
anaheimpress.com
SEE PAGE 4 for water use restriction measures VOLUME 1, NO. 16
Urgent care facilities pick up business The as public hospitals still overwhelmed Recording by Vickie Vértiz Academy Many patients are finding remembers quick care at the ubiquitous urgent care facilities that have been cropping up all over the Robin country as large hospitals still struggle with long lines and exWilliams orbitant charges. The Orange County Register talked with one such patient who went to an urgent care clinic belonging to MemorialCare in Long Beach and was seen almost immediately. The patient got four stitches and in a week she returned without an appointment to have them removed. The patient said that, if the same care was needed a few years ago, she would have gone to the emergency room at Long Beach Memorial and probably waited several hours to be seen. Curiously, Long Beach Memorial is also owned by MemorialCare. One reason for the trend shift is that large hospitals are pressured to deliver care at lower costs and are effectively discouraging the use of their emergency rooms for conditions that are not threatening to life or limb, providing a market share to outpatient settings such as urgent care clinics.
By Terry Miller
-Photo by Terry Miller
“They would have charged me $200, I’m sure,” said the patient Tina Melgar to the OC Register. Her co-pay for the urgent care was $20, and Melgar added that “because I was in such misery, they didn’t ask me for any money at the time.” It turns out, urgent care clinics are extremely profitable. They are opening at huge numbers nationally through venture capitalists, real estate developers, large health companies, and sometimes insurance companies see how this share of the patient market provides strong returns on investment, also
signaling an increased privatization in urgent care, a major driving force to meet the demand of patients who have not received the care they needed at public or large hospitals due to budget cuts and other limitations. Franz Ritucci, president of the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine in Orlando, Florida told the OC Register that the number of urgent care centers nationwide grew 25 percent since 2010 to approximately 10,000.
a target in 65 percent or rather 75 percent of all robberies in 2013, estimates the San Francisco city district attorney’s office. Oakland police data reveals that in the first half of this year over 80 percent of armed
Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams apparently took his own life at his Northern California home Monday, law enforcement officials said. Williams was 63. “He has been battling severe depression of late,” publicist Mara Buxbaum told CNN. “This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.” Coroner investigators suspect “the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia,” according to a statement from the Marin County, California, Sheriff’s
Please see page 4
Please see page 2
Please see page 4
Mandatory “kill-switches” for smartphones to prevent theft? by Jennifer schlueter With our smartphones being worth up to $700, $800 or even more, they have become favorable objects for thieves. Black market resales for stolen phones are lucrative for robbers, especially overseas, where American smartphones are more expensive.
According to Consumer Reports, smartphone thefts in the US have almost doubled from 2012 to 2013 making them the leading property crime. Major cities in California are highly affected by this epidemic. In San Francisco and Oakland, cellphones were
Robin Williams, circa 1990, at Santa Barbara’s Biltmore Hotel at a special event honoring his comedic mentor Jonathan Winters – Photo by Terry Miller