DONATION OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES FOR UKRAINE: The Naval Medical Center’s Zachary Alexander, MD, is working with the House of Ukraine, a local organization, to help obtain donations of medical supplies to send to Ukraine for humanitarian aid. The organization has established two flights per week from Los Angeles to Ukraine, and they are seeking all kinds of medical supplies, including expired and near-expired materials. A priority list of critically needed supplies is available; contact Dr. Alexander at Zac.alexander@gmail.com or (240) 426-3708 for more information about donating.
ALL-HAZARD HEALTH SERVICES CAPACITY MANAGEMENT PLAN DE-ESCALATION: As metrics have demonstrated a slow, but steady, return of health care system stabilization, San Diego County’s activation level has moved from Level 2 Escalated Activation to Level 3 Partial Activation. The county has been at activation Level 1 or 2 since the pandemic began, so this is a big improvement; however, ongoing challenges to the continuum of care require continuous surveillance.
APOT MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR HOSPITALS: As CHA and HASD&IC continue to work on hospitals’ behalf to help educate about ambulance patient offload times (APOT), CHA has developed materials that members can use when talking with the public, media, lawmakers or other key stakeholders about this issue. These include an infographic called How an Emergency Department Works and a Myths vs. Facts overview, which give a high-level summary of what the public can expect when they come to an emergency department, explain why some offload delays may be occurring, and seek to dispel some common misconceptions about APOT.
SKILLED-NURSING FACILITY (SNF) UPDATE: The county of San Diego Long-Term Care Taskforce continues its work to address challenges discharging patients from general acute care hospitals (GACHs) to SNFs. At the peak, 271 patients in GACHs were waiting for placements at SNFs; as of March 13 that number was at 151 — an approximately 44% decrease in seven weeks.
FUNDING FOR MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS: On March 9, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Office of Minority Health — announced nearly $35 million in funding opportunities to strengthen and expand community mental health services and suicide prevention programs for children and young adults. This announcement is part of a new administration-wide initiative to tackle the nation’s mental health crisis. The seven grant programs are designed to expand access to proven treatments, interventions, and other recovery supports, while developing new and innovative solutions to strengthen mental health services for children and young adults.
