![Health care and life sciences provide 146,227 jobs in the six-county Sacramento region. (Photo by Mike Graff)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0420_feat_healthcare_mikegraff_lead.jpg?1587581809)
The Might of Medicine
With around 150,000 jobs, a robust provider marketplace and a slew of projects underway, health care helps define the greater Sacramento region
Though service gaps and challenges remain, health care could eventually become the Sacramento region’s calling card.
![The World Health Organization defines burnout as “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” and characterized by three dimensions: feelings of exhaustion, a cynical and negative attitude, and “reduced professional efficacy.” (Illustration by Melinda Arendt)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0420_feat_workplace_melindaarendt.png?1585940904)
Battling Burnout
There are many reasons workers suffer from chronic workplace stress — and ways to overcome it
Too much stress costs employers $300 billion a year, according to The American Institute of Stress, as burnout can lead to employee turnover, lack of motivation and dips in productivity.
![People play basketball at a San Francisco park behind a sign reminders park-goers to maintain social distancing on March 25, 2020. (Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/reopening_california_photo.jpg?1586971238)
Reopen California? That’s the Toughest Phase Yet, Newsom Says
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will not lift his shelter-in-place order until adequate suppression and mitigation measures are in place to prevent future flare-ups. That means tracking down the sick and isolating clusters of new infections, arming hospitals with adequate equipment and setting new guidelines for schools and businesses to reopen.
![Paramedic Jane Smith has applied to come out of retirement and join Gov. Gavin Newsom's health corps to help with an expected surge in coronavirus patients. (Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/health_corps_photo_1.jpg?1586811011)
These California Medical Workers Are Signing Up for Newsom’s Health Corps — Despite Risks
State officials want to build reserves of doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other frontline providers to help staff some of the 66,000 additional beds that might be needed for the anticipated mid-May surge. On numbers alone the health corps already shows promise, far exceeding the state’s expectation.
![Medical student Shreya Thatai holds up a sign outside of Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley asking for mask donations to help health care workers. California Gov. Gavin Newsom promises to have solved the shortage by cutting a massive deal for new masks. (Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/mask_deal_photo.jpg?1586455145)
The Art of the Deal: California’s Alliance Could Solve the Nation’s Mask Shortage
Gov. Gavin Newsom has assembled an unusual alliance of corporations and nonprofits and leveraged California’s massive buying power to reach a deal that will bring hundreds of millions of masks and other protective equipment to hospital workers battling the coronavirus.
![Health care and life sciences account for around 150,000 jobs in the Sacramento region. (Shutterstock photo)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0420_blog_economics_shutterstock.jpg?1585935652)
Health Care Jobs Spur Economic Optimism
Local economist says Capital Region’s strengths in health care sector help insulate it from effects of COVID-19
Health care and life sciences account for around 150,000 jobs in the Sacramento region, making the sector the largest private employer. Experts suggest that the public sector and health care may expand locally, even as the coronavirus pandemic contracts the global economy.
![Newsom issued an executive order that will temporarily allow retired doctors and nurses to return to work, broaden the duties that some nurses may perform and bring medical school and nursing students who are close to graduating into the workforce almost immediately. (Photo: Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/shutterstock_172885721.jpg?1585682090)
California Starts Recruiting Retired and Student Doctors, Nurses to Handle Surge in Severely Sick People
As the number of people hospitalized in California with the coronavirus doubled in just four days, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday sent out an urgent call seeking help from the state’s 37,000 retired and part-time health care professionals.
![Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday his goal is for California to acquire 10,000 ventilators. (File photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/ventilators_photo.jpg?1585593517)
California Ramps up Output of Ventilators as COVID-19 Cases Grow
Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed confidence Saturday that California has the capacity to produce enough ventilators to meet its projected needs in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But he cautioned that the state’s need could expand if the crisis worsens.
![Juan Manuel Virgin, left, and Daniel Lopez Avilez, middle, sit inside a pickup truck as they talk about the difficulties they face when trying to find respiratory protection. March 04, 2020. (Photo by David Rodriguez/The Salinas Californian)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/face_masks_photo_1.jpg?1585249147)
No Face Masks so California’s Farmworkers Are Left Unprotected
Face masks have flown off the shelves around the United States amid the coronavirus outbreak, even though experts have advised people against wearing them unless they are sick. That has triggered a shortage for farmworkers, who wear masks to avoid inhaling pesticides or field dust.
![President Donald Trump said the federal government will ship a number of mobile hospital units to California, which may look like this mobile Red Cross unit. (Shutterstock photo)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/shutterstock_1668414553.jpg?1584997194)
Newsom, Trump: More Beds, Masks, Equipment Ahead for Coronavirus
As California braced for an onslaught of desperately ill coronavirus patients, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans over the weekend to open two new hospitals, and President Donald Trump said the federal government will ship a number of mobile hospital units to the state, pay for National Guard deployments and deploy the San Diego-based naval hospital ship Mercy to Los Angeles.