Community Care

About Community Care

Conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play — things like housing instability, access to healthy foods, and community violence — significantly affect their health risks and outcomes. Hospitals recognize and work hard to address these conditions, often referred to as the social and environmental determinants of health, with a focus on eliminating disparities in care delivery and health outcomes. The community care programs offered by hospitals and their partners, however, may only scratch the surface of deeper social factors that affect individual health outcomes. More focused state and federal policies will be required if progress is to be made in mitigating people’s health care risks before they become critical care needs.

Hospitals Play an Important Role in Helping the Hungry

Imagine being hungry and unable to afford food, or having to choose between buying groceries for your family or paying for medication to treat a chronic condition. Or perhaps having to decide between buying healthy fruits and vegetables or cheap processed foods for your kids. These are daily dilemmas for millions of people across California, including in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Take the 2025 CHNA Survey and Help Shape the Future of Community Health

Hospitals are part of the fabric of the community, uniquely positioned to support residents’ health and social needs. To do this effectively, they must have a comprehensive understanding of the health challenges and resources needed in San Diego. That is why the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is such an essential tool — and with your help, we can ensure that our community partners and the communities we serve have the opportunity to share their perspectives.  

5 Things To Know: San Diego County Plans to Transition January Storm Victims to Long-Term Housing

San Diego County, the city of San Diego’s Housing Commission, and the National City Housing Authority have agreed on plans to help residents affected by the January storms to transition out of the county’s Emergency Temporary Lodging program to longer-term housing solutions. This program currently supports over 1,500 people by providing temporary housing, food, and access to mental health services. 

5 Things To Know: Study Finds CA Bridge Program is Highly Effective, Funding to Continue; San Diego TB Prevention Education and Community Engagement Summit; San Diego Workforce Partnerships Substance Use Counselor Program; DHCS Publishes Quality Ratings for Managed Care Plans and County Behavioral Health Plans; Medicare Coverage for Behavioral Health Expanded

STUDY FINDS CA BRIDGE PROGRAM IS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE, FUNDING TO CONTINUE: JAMA Network recently published a study highlighting the impact of the CA Bridge Program on opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in emergency departments (EDs). The study found that 86% of OUD patients received buprenorphine in participating hospitals, with 50% continuing treatment 30 days after […]

5 Things To Know: San Diego City Council Declares Behavioral Health Bed Crisis, County of San Diego Emergency Medical Services, San Diego County Releases Draft APOT Policy, CDPH Releases New AFL on Covid-19 Vaccinations,CHA Releases FAQs on Implementing AB 1882 Requirements

SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL DECLARES BEHAVIORAL HEALTH BED CRISIS: On Dec. 5, the San Diego City Council declared a behavioral health crisis due to the lack of available behavioral health beds in the city. A recent survey of hospital members found that on any given day in the HASD&IC region, about 50 patients who are […]

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:

  • Sepsis management
  • High-reliability organizations — deep dives, learnings/opportunities, and next steps
  • Staffing — employee engagement/resiliency/burnout
  • Medication reconciliation — during transitions
  • Diagnostic delay/error
  • Respiratory syncytial virus
  • Pulse oximeter use
  • Hospital “never” events
  • 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. 

    5 Things To Know: Fentanyl Screening, Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), CHA Forum, State of Emergency, Behavioral Health

    FENTANYL SCREENING: The California Department of Public Health has issued an All Facilities Letter (AFL) 22-25 on fentanyl screening. The AFL notifies general acute care hospitals (GACH) of the passage of Senate Bill 864 (Chapter 169, Statutes of 2022) and its requirement that a GACH that is conducting a diagnostic urine drug screening must also include testing for fentanyl, until Jan. 1, 2028. For questions about this AFL, hospitals should contact their respective district office.

    5 Things To Know: Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), Nursing Grants, Report on State Legislation, Medi-Cal RX Expansion, AHA Suicide Prevention Resources

    COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT (CHNA): Please join HASD&IC and CHNA-participating hospitals, health systems, and health districts for a community stakeholder briefing  from 10 to 11:30 a.m. (PT) Nov. 29. The briefing will include a presentation on the 2022 CHNA as well as a discussion about potential future research and the next steps to address the identified community needs. Please forward this information to anyone in your network who might be interested in attending. The 2022 CHNA report is available on the HASD&IC website. After reviewing the report, please consider sharing your feedback through our survey.