Employees at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital are one step closer to a union representation vote, something that could come within a matter of a few weeks.

Steve Sidawi, a volunteer organizer with the National Union of Healthcare Workers, traces the history of the unionization effort at Memorial Hospital.

The administration at Memorial Hospital disputes that version of past events. Katy Hillenmeyer, spokeswoman for St. Joseph’s Health System, Sonoma County, says the company has precisely lived up to their legal responsibilities.

Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane sees taking a high-profile position on labor issues such as this one as part of her job, representing the workers within her district.

Public support for a government-run “public option” health care plan is growing, says Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, and it has her strong backing, too.

Public support for a single-payer system has long been strong across the nation, Woolsey says, and that is now translating into support for the public option concept, even among elected officials.

The Progressive Caucus of House Democrats will be a strong and united voice behind the public option, Woolsey predicts, because on this issue they have started out in agreement on what must be done.

Congresswoman Woolsey has spelled out her position on the pending health care reform issue in op-ed pieces in the Marin Independent Journal and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Listen below to hear the full 30-minute KRCB interview that was broadcast August 28th.

As the above graph shows, Health Care Reform  means different things to different people. The figures are based on a survey conduceted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which has also developed a n interactive website where you can do your own side-by-side comparison of the various health care report plans that have been put forward.

Local activists are urging customers to boycott Whole Foods to protest the company ownership’s opposition to health care reform and organized labor.

With four stores in Sonoma County, one in Napa and two in Marin, Whole Foods is the dominant purveyor of organic groceries in the North Bay. Georgia Kelly says that joining the boycott has meant disruptions in her personal patterns, but she feels living out her personal values is more important.

Ben Boyce (left), director of the Living Wage Coalition, contends that while John Mackey is certainly entitled to his own personal beliefs, others who do not share those beliefs have a responsibility not to provide the financial support to perpetuate them.

"Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments..." wrote Whole Food CEO John Mackey (right)  in his Wall Street Journal essay, "The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare."

"Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health." Read the full article  here.

Will Shonbrun's response, an Open Letter to Whole Foods Market, was first published in the Empire Report. You can view the main Facebook page supporting the boycott here.

Local health officials are bracing for an unusually intense flu season, with  the yearly “seasonal” flu compounded by the so-called swine flu, which is already present in the regional population.

This illustration shows the various symptoms associated with the swine flu or H1N1 200 virus. Dr. Mark Netherda, Sonoma County’s Deputy Public Health Officer, outlines the straightforward steps that anyone can take to minimize their exposure to it.

Is it a good idea to wear a surgical mask when out in public? Only if you’re already sick.

So why is this being called the swine flu? Dr. Netherda explains its based in the molecular history of the virus (shown at left), and has almost nothing to do with pigs.

More extensive information about the swine flu nationwide is available from the Centers for Disease Control, which maintains an online map showing the incidence of the disease on a state-by-state basis.

And, on a less serious note...

Exposure to toxic chemicals in our environment begins early in life--even before birth.

  Ken Cook, President and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group, is a strong proponent for a Kids-Safe Chemical Act, to reduce children's exposure to toxics in the environment.

 Additional online resources from the Environmental Working Group  include the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides, and their Cosmetic Saftety database.

Click here to view Ken Cook's 20-minute video summary presentation on the 10 Americans  study.

The Environmental Working Group is also pressing for the creation of a human "toxome," similar to the genetic map known as the human genome, to identify where and how toxic chemicals affect the body's healthy biological processes.