Northern California was well represented at the Hospital
Quality Institute’s (HQI) annual conference earlier
last week, with Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC)
honored with the 2019 C. Duane Dauner Award.
John Muir Health was also recognized – as a finalist for the
award, which highlights outstanding achievement in
patient safety, quality improvement, and patient
experience. (CHA News)
Hospital Council is pleased to partner on a new program, to be
held November 19 in Sacramento, that will address the California
Department of Public Health’s plan to improve its Center for
Health Care Quality. More information is available on the
California
Hospital Association website.
In the Monterey Bay area, hospitals are strong drivers in the
local economy, deliver high quality patient care, provide safety
net services to residents in need, improve community health
outcomes, and serve as a vital element in the region’s emergency
services plans.
Here is a sampling of partnerships, programs and services
designed to deliver quality patient care, increase access to
primary care services, and improve health outcomes in Monterey
County, San Benito County and Santa Cruz County.
Behavioral health is a public policy priority with a significant
impact on other policy priorities: access, financial challenges,
emergency services, governmental mandates, and workforce.
Community health is impacted by myriad policy issues including
access to care, care coordination, pre- and post-acute service
availability, community support service availability, as well as
the social determinants of health status such as poverty, housing
instability/affordability, food insecurity, lack of physical
activity, race/ethnicity, education, health literacy, and
documentation status.
Many of the barriers to effective emergency care systems are also
barriers to effective population health management and the
Associations’ vision of an optimally healthy society.
Pre-hospital care and services, emergency department crowding,
alternate destinations and treatment sites as well as post-acute
transfer options impact the effectiveness of emergency
departments and the ability of residents to receive the right
care, at the right time, in the right place.
Secure, effective exchange of patient health information is
critical to increase coordination of care and decrease costly
duplication of services. Issues involved include: data
ownership; privacy; connectivity; access; and local vs. statewide
HIEs.
Without sufficient, well-trained health care professionals at all
levels of the care continuum, access, quality, timeliness and
safety for patients and staff is compromised. Shortages include
specialty nurses, clinical lab scientists, respiratory and
physical therapists, radiology technologists and more.
Mercy Medical Center in Redding is leading the fight against
opioid epidemic through a new program they’ve started with the
Redding Rancheria.
The program identifies patients who come into Mercy Medical
Center’s emergency room who are suffering from an overdose or who
are experiencing withdrawal. (KRCRTV.com)
It was early Friday morning, and most of the city was asleep when
Kern Medical, Bakersfield’s only trauma center and teaching
hospital pulled the switch, fired up what they consider the
Cadillac of medical record keeping, the Ferrari of digital
patient information — and began a new era. (Bakersfield.com)
Hands-on training is invaluable in the medical field. Some high
school students in Fresno Unified School District had the
opportunity to tour Community Regional Medical Center and see
various facets of the hospital.
Suited up in their scrubs, various students got to walk in the
shoes of a health professional for a day and see what happens at
the busiest hospital in the Central
Valley. (yourcentralvalley.com)
As fire blazed just eight miles away from Sutter Santa Rosa
Regional Hospital, its chief executive Mike Purvis received a
phone call from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and Cal Fire,
the state’s fire agency. The hospital was officially being
ordered to evacuate.
After nine overdoses in the past nine days, local law enforcement
officials, health care providers and partners are calling for
community help in mitigating the resurgence of the opioid crisis
in Monterey County.
The county Health Department reported 29 opioid-related deaths in
2019 as of Sept. 29, a sharp spike from the nine fatalities in
2018 and seven in 2017. That number doesn’t include the overdose
death of a 16-year-old girl in Seaside on
Saturday. (montereyherald.com)
The Hospital Council – Northern and Central California is the
unified voice of our members, acting as a catalyst to empower
hospitals to act together on issues affecting patient care and
the health status of communities. We are dedicated to advocating
for our member hospitals at the
local and regional level and in support of California
Hospital Association (CHA) at the State and Federal level.
We strive to be an invaluable partner, convening groups across
multiple sectors to address health and quality of life challenges
within our communities.
