Clinical Care

About Clinical Care

Taking care of patients and their communities is at the heart of what hospitals do, and that wouldn’t be possible without the clinical services that hospitals provide. These services touch all aspects of a hospital’s operations, ranging from the emergency department to behavioral health. Through its numerous area-specific groups, CHA provides advocacy and representation on all aspects of operations — guiding hospitals in meeting regulatory, legal, and licensing requirements.

5 Things To Know: Webinar Speakers Needed, Care Court Implementation Funding, CHA Advocacy Materials, Medi-Cal RX, Scholarship Applications

WEBINAR SPEAKERS NEEDED: As part of their commitment to advancing safe, quality care, the Hospital Quality Institute/Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization, are launching a campaign to identify and recruit experts/front-line professionals who can speak on a variety of topics. Those topics include:

Please reach out to Asma Ahmad at aahmad@chpso.org or (916) 552-2601 if there are individuals within your organization who have expertise in these subject areas (or on a topic that’s not listed) and would be willing to present for a one-hour webinar. In addition to the presentation, when appropriate, HQI/CHPSO intends to present real cases from the CHPSO database that will augment and enhance these forums. 

A Special First for Sharp Mary Birch 

After Annie Keeling’s placenta abrupted while giving birth to her son, Leo, he became the first baby at Sharp Mary Birch to receive therapeutic hypothermia in the neurologic intensive care nursery to reduce swelling to his brain and any long-term damage.

2022 CHNA Highlights Top Community Needs

Yesterday, some of you may have received an email with an advance copy of the 2022 HASD&IC Community Health Needs Assessment. While it’s not available publicly yet, wanted to share a few thoughts ahead of its upcoming release.

5 Things To Know: Behavioral Health Hub, GED Accreditation, ICYMI – Medical Baseline Customers, MonkeyPox, and Medi-Cal Enrollment

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HUB: Last week, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan for a less-expensive behavioral health facility at Alvarado Hospital Medical Center. When it opens in late 2023, the Central Regional Behavioral Health Hub will feature 44 new acute inpatient beds and a crisis stabilization unit. The county is also looking at other opportunities to expand other continuum capacities at sites such as the Rosecrans and Parcel/Third Avenue psychiatric facilities. Under the plan, Alvarado Hospital is the license holder/operator; UCSD will provide medical direction, clinical oversight, and clinical training capacity; and the county will be the capital investor, staffer, and payer. Plans call for investing capital in the project with expectations that future capacity will increase to 60 beds total.

The discussion will be continued at future Board of Supervisors meetings. On Sept. 27, Luke Bergmann, PhD, behavioral health services director for San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency, will present an analysis of the urgent needs of different service areas (post-acute and long-term care). On Oct. 11, Dr. Bergmann will present a report on concrete action to expand capacity in identified areas.  

Addressing the Needs of a Growing Aging Population

As San Diego County’s population ages, so do this demographic’s health needs. Consider that by the year 2030, one in four San Diegans will be age 60 or older. That’s why in 2019, the San Diego Senior Emergency Care Initiative was launched. This first-of-its-kind public-private partnership — spearheaded by the County of San Diego and West Health — is designed to ensure this growing population has access to high-quality, senior-friendly care before.

5 Things To Know: CalAIM Incentive Payment Plan, Retention Payment Program, Monkeypox Resources

CALAIM INCENTIVE PAYMENT PLAN PROGRAM UPDATE: The California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Incentive Payment Program is intended to support the implementation and expansion of enhanced care management and community supports by incentivizing managed care plans (MCPs) to drive MCP delivery system investment in provider capacity and delivery system infrastructure. It is also intended to bridge current silos across physical and behavioral health care service delivery; reduce health disparities and promote health equity; achieve improvements in quality performance; and encourage take-up of community supports. More information on the MCP Incentive Payment Plan Program Year 1 Gap Filling Plan is available by county (San Diego and Imperial included) on the Department of Health Care Services website. Additional general information on the Incentive Payment Program can be found on the CalAIM Roundtables by Region web pages for San Diego and Imperial counties. 

5 Things To Know: Health Services Task Force, Cybersecurity Project, Health Care Scholarships

HEALTH SERVICES CAPACITY TASK FORCE: The All-Hazard Health Services Capacity Management Plan activation level has been elevated from Level 3 Partial Activation to Level 2 Escalated Activation. Over the last week, system metrics have suggested increasing stresses on health care capacity. These indicators include increased emergency department boarders, larger emergency medical services system volumes, and rising wastewater viral detections. Close system monitoring is ongoing to determine the need to escalate to a higher plan level and various mitigation tools may be activated if necessary. Maintaining masking, physical distancing, and other protective practices are vital to minimizing the level of the current patient surge, and vaccinations and boosters against COVID-19 and influenza are strongly encouraged. The Health Services Capacity Task Force Operational Group continues to meet regularly, and sector representatives will provide important updates, facilitate information sharing, and recommend coordinated plan actions to optimize health care delivery countywide.

Celebrating Efforts to Improve Care for Our Aging Population 

At our board meeting earlier this month, we heard about the statewide health equity focus that will involve not just HASD&IC but also CHA, the Hospital Association of Southern California, and Hospital Council – Northern & Central California. This important work entails collaboration among the four associations and their member hospitals to ensure care is inclusive and equitable for all. It includes:

5 Things To Know: Pharmacy Fraud Scheme, Behavioral Health Access, Vaccine Administration Claims

SAN DIEGO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: On June 28, the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a $7.36 billion budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, with significant investments in behavioral health, homelessness, equity, racial justice, and climate change. Additionally, the board unanimously declared fentanyl as a public health crisis, which will direct county staff to develop a comprehensive strategy to address this crisis and devote more resources to fentanyl education, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction strategies. Board Chair Nathan Fletcher also indicated the county is expected to receive $100 million from a lawsuit settlement with opioid manufacturers, and funding could be directed toward the effort. From August to October, the county will host workshops to get feedback from the community on how to prioritize settlement dollars, and the board will meet in October to consider a framework. Lastly, the board unanimously approved all recommendations and actions to enhance human trafficking prevention and service coordination efforts to support survivors. With this action, the county also authorized procurement to establish peer support navigation services for adult survivors

5 Things To Know: AFL on Infant Formula, EMSA and CDPH Waivers, Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

EMSA AND CDPH WAIVERS: CHA is seeking the extension of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) COVID-19 waivers from June 30 to Sept. 30. With a projected summer wave of COVID-19 threatening to strain an already stressed health care delivery system, these flexibilities are critical to maintaining the current health care capacity in California. Specifically, the waivers at risk are: 

Both waivers will need an executive order to be issued by the governor’s office to update the most recent executive order’s provisions that otherwise will expire. CHA is advocating for these executive order provisions, and corresponding CDPH and EMSA waivers, to be renewed as soon as possible. CHA has developed talking points that hospitals may want to use in outreach to state legislators and department officials about the impacts to their communities if these flexibilities are not extended. HASD&IC submitted feedback from members to help with CHA’s advocacy efforts.