Diana Dooley may have led the largest agency in California’s government as secretary of health and human services for the past eight years, a job that led to her current post as Gov. Jerry Brown’s chief of staff—but she’s also a country gal from Hanford, in the Central Valley.

One in five adults in this country will experience a diagnosable mental illness during their lifetime. Here, in Sacramento County, an estimated 300,000 residents are living with mental illness, which impacts every ethnic, racial, cultural, economic, religious, gender, sexual orientation and age group.

Need to fill a prescription? Pick up a medication for your pet? Get a professional review of a complicated list of meds? How about a facial? Tackling this list could take all morning and require several stops around town, but one specific stop could do it.

Clean carpets, proper ventilation and special filters may help keep allergens out of the workplace. Another strategy entails sealing cracks in a building to make sure unwanted particles can’t sneak in.

Allergies are the sixth-leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S and result in nearly 4 million missed or lost workdays each year and over $700 million in lost productivity. We talk to local experts about ways to keep them at bay, both medical and holistic.

Dr. Travis Miller, medical director of The Allergy Station in Roseville, offers his insight into regional allergies.

Carmela Castellano-Garcia, president and CEO of the California Primary Care Association, offers her insight into the challenges facing the California health care industry, and the changes to come.

Gov. Jerry Brown wants to add millions in new spending on programs to help former inmates stay out of jail—a proposal generating bipartisan praise because of concern they are returning to prison in large numbers. But some say it still isn’t enough.

In recent years, the Sacramento region has seen the rise of businesses offering alternative approaches to health and wellness such as float centers, cryotherapy services and community acupuncture practices.

Yet, one has to wonder: Can the market sustain these types of businesses?

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. I was on the phone with my dad; we were witnessing history together. Not since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the bill that would eventually become Medicare and Medicaid had we experienced such a monumental healthcare shift.