RECOGNIZING EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS): This week (May 15-21) is the 47th annual National EMS Week, which was established by President Gerald Ford in 1974 to celebrate EMS practitioners and the important work they do in our nation’s communities. The week includes theme days, and throughout the week, San Diego County EMS will be driving to hospital sites to hand out goodies to EMS staff.
EXPANDING EHR TECHNOLOGIES: In 2019, San Diego County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) began replacing its electronic health records (EHR) systems with Cerner Millennium technology in the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital, outpatient behavioral health, and Edgemoor Skilled Nursing Facility. Now, San Diego County’s Public Health Services is seeking to use existing county applications, services, tools, components, and functions to expand the use of Cerner’s EHR technologies beyond BHS to support efficient data flows within the public health lab and its partners. Implementation of this system will provide coordinated and person-centered care through integrated systems that have an impact on the lives of Black, indigenous, people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, youth, the LGBTQ community, and the economically disadvantaged.
BLOOD BANK RIBBON CUTTING: The San Diego Blood Bank will hold a ribbon cutting for its new donation location in Chula Vista on June 8 from 8:45 to 9:30 a.m. (PT). This site is expected to see hundreds of blood donors each month, impacting thousands of lives each year. Attendees are asked to help celebrate this important milestone in the blood bank’s continued mission to meet the health care needs of our community. The blood bank serves hospitals in San Diego, Imperial, Orange, and Los Angeles counties with safe, high-quality blood products that are available to patients of all ages, socioeconomic statuses, and ethnic backgrounds. In August 2020, the San Diego Blood Bank opened a temporary site in the South Bay to help collect blood at the height of the pandemic. The location has been so popular with donors that the blood bank decided to move to a larger suite and make a permanent home there to make donating more convenient for those in the South Bay. The ribbon cutting ceremony is expected to include a check presentation from the San Diego Women’s Club, and the CEO of Sharp Chula Vista will be a guest speaker. Those who are interested in attending are asked to RSVP to marketing@sdbb.org or (619) 455-7785.
CHA CONGRESSIONAL ZOOM MEETINGS: Thank you to all the hospital leaders who attended recent virtual meetings with members of Congress. The feedback from both elected officials and members has been overwhelmingly positive. The participation from members of Congress (as opposed to staff) was significantly higher on Zoom compared to the in-person meetings that were held during previous American Hospital Association annual meetings. A total of 25 Zoom meetings were held statewide, including five for members in San Diego and Imperial counties; 109 hospital leaders participated statewide, including 34 from San Diego and Imperial counties.
NEW HASD&IC WEBSITE: In case you haven’t seen it, HASD&IC recently launched a new and updated website. The site is organized by issues, which includes topics from workforce and behavioral health to Medi-Cal and post-acute care. It’s also the place to find all the past issues of the Biweekly Briefing, along with HASD&IC’s Twitter feed and more. We are working on adding additional features that spotlight members and the work you do. If you have any ideas, please send them our way. Email Lisa Sontag at lsontag@hasdic.org.