The HASD&IC Biweekly Briefing provides timely news and information for HASD&IC members and associates and is published on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Key articles and issues of interest from each publication, along with the President’s Message, are included below.
Newsroom
5 Things To Know: Medi-Cal RFP Update, Board Meeting Highlights, Key Messaging on Workforce Shortages
MANAGED CARE PLAN RFP UPDATE: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has adjusted the release date of the Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan Request for Proposal (RFP) to Feb. 2, 2022. Although the RFP was scheduled to be released at the end of this year, the change will not affect the implementation date of Jan. 1, 2024. Additional time is needed to address stakeholder comments received during the comment period for the draft RFP. Updates to the RFP schedule will be posted on the DHCS website. HASD&IC will continue to engage with County of San Diego officials on the process. The Imperial County Board of Supervisors has approved the adoption of a single-managed care plan model through an 1115 Waiver.
5 Things To Know: COVID-19 After Action Report, Price Transparency Key Messages, Immunization Registry
SDHDC COVID-19 AFTER ACTION REPORT: The San Diego Healthcare Disaster Coalition (SDHDC), in coordination with Constant Associates, a health care preparedness consulting firm, is creating COVID-19 After Action Report (AAR) templates for hospitals and other health care facilities on their responses to date. The idea is to help the SDHDC facilities and partners collect lessons learned, identify facility-specific and coalition-wide key strengths and areas for improvement, and complete their own facility-specific AAR.
5 Things To Know: Workforce Relief Letters, Updated Vaccine FAQs, Health Services Task Force
CHA REQUEST FOR WORKFORCE RELIEF: CHA has sent letters to the Health and Human Services Secretary and California’s Attorney General. The letter to Dr. Mark Ghaly asks for direct and immediate relief from the California Department of Public Health to mitigate the workforce challenges you’re facing during this surge. The letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta asks that his office use its resources and expertise to promptly investigate concerns around skyrocketing prices charged by staffing agencies and act accordingly on their findings. In addition, CHA is sharing these FAQs for hospitals that cannot meet the state’s nurse-to-patient staffing ratio requirements.
5 Things To Know: COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign, Hazard Plan, Call for Mask & Vaccine Mandate
SAN DIEGO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: HASD&IC President & CEO Dimitrios Alexiou joined health care leaders from UCSD, Scripps Health, and Sharp HealthCare at the Aug. 31 meeting to provide testimony (starts at 3:22) in support of the proposal to declare health misinformation a public health crisis. After more than 15 hours of debate and more than 250 public speakers who spoke in opposition, the board voted 3-2 to approve the measure. Board Chair Nathan Fletcher said the action makes San Diego County the first in the nation to call medical misinformation a public health crisis. This meeting came on the heels of the Aug. 17 Board of Supervisors meeting in which the board was met with public outcry when hundreds protested the COVID-19 guidelines released by the county and health officials. More than 100 speakers addressed the supervisors during public comment to express their opposition to recommendations that call for people to wear masks indoors and for businesses to require employee vaccinations or regular COVID-19 testing.
5 Things To Know: COVID-19 Testing Sites, Monoclonal Antibody Therapy, Behavioral Health Trailer Bills
COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO EXPANDS COVID-19 TESTING SITES: As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to increase, so too has the demand for COVID-19 testing. To help divert people from coming to emergency departments for testing and make access as convenient as possible, the County of San Diego is reopening some of its former large testing sites, including the site at San Diego State University. Additional COVID-19 testing sites and mobile sites are being added to the list of options. Primary health care providers, community health clinics, and pharmacies all continue to offer testing. To find a site near you, visit the county website at Sites & Appointments.