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North Star Health Alliance, a regional health system in Ogdensburg, N.Y., is facing a financial challenge that could result in program cuts, job losses and facility closures, without funding support from the state. “As the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Division of the Budget and members of your team have heard over the past few months, we are on the precipice of closing programs, eliminating services, cutting jobs and, quite possibly, facing imminent closure,” Richard Duvall, CEO of North Star Health Alliance, said in a Dec. 3 letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, North Country Now reported Dec. 4. “In short, our facilities will not be able to make payroll next week.” (Ashley, 12/4)

“I call them sometimes guard dogs,” said Kenneth Hoagland, principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School on Long Island. “They guard against fear, depression and anxiety.” (Melnick, 12/4)

Other health news from California, Florida, and Missouri —

Oscar-winning actor Halle Berry slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for vetoing bipartisan legislation to increase menopause-related care and coverage within the state for the second year in a row — an action she said should disqualify him from being the next president. “Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one but two years in a row,” Berry said Wednesday at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit. “But that’s OK, because he’s not going to be governor forever.” (Venkat, 12/4)

When Evan Carver shuffled into the chapel of Salvation Army’s Harbor Light rehab center in early April, looking frail and steadying himself with a walker, he wasn’t sure he could quit fentanyl for good. But after a 10-year opioid addiction and five years homeless on the streets of San Francisco, he knew he wanted to “stop hurting.” It wasn’t just the throbbing pain of swollen legs with open sores. It was also the guilt and shame that shadowed his addiction. (Angst and Lurie, 12/4)

The confirmed cases grew by 13 in the final week of November in Orange County, totaling 25 for the month. At least 14 of the confirmed cases were due to "gym exposure." (Pedersen, 12/5)

he U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that three warehouses in the Kansas City metro had thousands of illegal products containing 7-hydroxymitragine (7-OH) seized as part of a government operation. According to a news release, the Justice Department, alongside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seized roughly 73,000 “units” of illegal products containing 7-OH at several warehouses run by two companies in the Kansas City area. (Johnson, 12/4)