Coach stepping down
Santa Barbara turns 70
SBHS’ Corey Adam has served as school’s head basketball coach for four years - A3
Orchestra celebrates with Grammy-nominated soloist during Mendelssohn violin concerto - B1
Our 167th Year
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F R I DAY, M AY 12 , 2 023
New era for Sansum Clinic Local healthcare system plans partnership with Sutter Health
Texas National Guard, DPS block illegal entry south of El Paso Port of Entry By BETHANY BLANKLEY THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) – South of an El Paso port of entry in the West Bridge downtown area and along the Rio Grande River stretching to New Mexico, Texas Department of Public Safety officers and Texas National Guard officers working through Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, have effectively blocked illegal entry, Texas authorities say. The Texas National Guard erected several miles of concertina wire to fill a gap where construction in the border wall existed. When President Joe Biden came into office, he immediately halted construction of the border wall and a gap was left in the area. People from all over the world who didn’t want to legally enter through a port of entry roughly a mile down a Juárez, Mexico, highway would walk across the highway down a ditch, across a shallow Rio Grande River that resembles more of a stream, and into Texas, authorities say. A partial steel wall and the river were the only barrier between Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, until the Texas National Guard stepped in. Just after midnight, when the public health authority Title 42 ends, Texas Department of Public Safety will have a show of force in this area, Please see EL PASO on A4 Sansum Clinic, a healthcare system in Santa Barbara County, has announced plans for a partnership with Sutter Health.
By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Sansum Clinic and Sutter Health, two local medical establishments, have announced plans to enter a strategic partnership to provide greater access to high-quality care to the Central Coast. In technical terms, as Dr. Kurt Ransohoff, the CEO and chief medical officer at Sansum Clinic, explained, “Sutter Health will acquire the assets of Sansum Clinic yet remain its own entity” and it is easy to think of it as Sansum Clinic “getting a new parent.” This past week, both institutions signed a non-binding letter of intent and expect to formalize the partnership in the coming weeks.
This partnership has officially been in the works over the past few years, but as Dr. Ransohoff said, this has been a desire of both companies for 15 years. Due to the recession, the deal could not formally proceed, but he said the companies are both delighted with the current timing of the agreement. Both of these not-for-profit health establishments have been dedicated to improving the wellbeing of residents of the Central Coast for years. As health systems across the country face increasing industry and financial hardships, those involved with the partnership hope to provide the necessary resources to better serve the community.
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“We think there is a demand for healthcare services that are having a hard time getting met,” Dr. Ransohoff said. “There is a shortage in doctors, mostly being primary care doctors, and we think this is a way to attract more doctors. We think this will be great for our current patients.” When it comes to current patients of the clinic, Dr. Ransohoff explained that they will continue to work under the same system. “Although things can always change, we are envisioning patients continuing to come to Sansum Clinic without any switches.” Sansum Clinic said it is hoping to provide updates in the near future. email: abahnsen@newspress.com
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“There is a shortage in doctors, mostly being primary care doctors, and we think this is a way to attract more doctors,” Dr. Kurt Ransohoff, the CEO and chief medical officer at Sansum Clinic, said about a partnership with Sutter Health.
Chumash elder named Fiesta Parade grand marshal By ANNIKA BAHNSEN Ernestine De Soto, whose ancestors An elder of the Chumash community has been selected as Fiesta Parade grand marshal have been a part of the for the first time in Fiesta history. Ernestine De Soto, whose the Santa Barbara ancestors have been a part of the Santa Barbara community for community for generations, will have a prominent in this year’s El Desfile generations, will position Histórico (Historical Parade) as it along Cabrillo Boulevard have a prominent travels and passes through her ancestral Syuxtun, otherwise known as Ambassador Park. position in this village, The announcement of Ms. De appointment took place year’s El Desfile Soto’s From left are Tony Miller, division chief of pageantry for Fiesta; Ernestine De Soto, at the site where the important Barbareño tribal elder and the 2023 Fiesta Parade grand marshal; and El Presidente Please see FIESTA on A2 David Bolton. Histórico. NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the COVID-19 public health emergency officially over on Thursday. This marks the end of the almost three and a halfyear pandemic. Changes will now come to various health department procedures and data collection. First, there will be different coverage for COVID-19 testing. Coming to an end is the requirement for private insurance companies to cover COVID-19 tests without cost sharing, both for over-the-counter and laboratory tests. Community members should reach out to their insurance provider for additional details, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department said. Residents are encouraged to order free COVID19 testing kits still available through the federal government. With the end of the federal public health emergency declaration, the operations of the three expanded COVID-19 testing trailers located in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc will terminate on June 23. That’s according to the county public health department. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and California Department of Public Health will transition their publicly available COVID data after today. As a result, the local publicly available COVID data for Santa Barbara County will also be modified. The public health department encourages residents to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. Individuals with primary care should call their provider’s office for more information or to set up an appointment, the health department said in a news release. COVID-19 vaccines, testing and treatment will continue to be available for patients at the county’s Health Care Centers in Carpinteria, the Franklin Center, Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Santa Maria. The FDA has recently authorized the bivalent booster for all brands of doses starting at six months of age, as well as a second bivalent booster for individuals aged 65 and older who have had their primary vaccination series and are at least four months out from a previous bivalent booster shot. For more information, visit hhs.gov. Last week the World Health Organization declared an end to the global COVID-19 emergency. email: abahnsen@newspress.com
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HHS says COVID-19 emergency is over
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