Nuala Bishari

Jan 25, 2025 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

The Walgreens at 4645 Mission St. shut down in 2021 when the chain closed five stores in the city. Walgreens plans to close 12 more San Francisco stores in February. Constanza Hevia H./Special to the Chronicle 2021Do you get monthly prescriptions at Walgreens in San Francisco? If so, you may soon be out of luck. Earlier this month, Walgreens announced it would shut down a dozen locations in the city, citing the rising costs of doing business.

Nov 7, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

On Thursday, San Francisco’s Department of Elections released another round of ballot results confirming what we already suspected: mayoral candidate Mark Farrell’s dismal fourth-place finish and the likely failure of Proposition D, which sought cap the number of city oversight commissions at 65 and increase the mayor’s authority.

Aug 3, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

Last month, California released its annual report on terminally ill Californians who took aid-in-dying drugs to end their lives. All told, 884 people died in California by using end-of-life medication prescribed by their doctors. I knew one of them. My partner’s mother, Linda, chose to end her own life in this manner last year after learning her colon cancer was terminal. In the weeks before her death, she got her affairs in order and said goodbye to her friends.

Jul 22, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

Three years ago, San Francisco launched an experiment to give 150 pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women $1,000 a month, no strings attached, for the duration of their pregnancy and six months after the birth. Half of all maternal deaths in San Francisco each year are Black women, even though they make up only 4% of births. The highest rate of infant deaths — more than 15% — are Black babies, while 10% are Pacific Islander American.

Jun 28, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

Since 1980, Lyon-Martin Community Health has been San Francisco’s most important health service provider to transgender, gender-nonconforming and intersex patients, and it is a refuge for people seeking gender-affirming care. It hasn’t been a smooth ride. For the past decade, every time I’ve heard about Lyon-Martin, it was accompanied by news that the organization was in financial trouble. The clinic nearly closed in 2011 when it buckled under $500,000 of debt.