Who
- Santa Cruz County hospitals
- Central California Alliance for Health
- Housing advocates
- County representatives
What
Santa Cruz County hospitals recently met with Central California Alliance for Health, housing advocates, and county representatives from public health, emergency medical services, behavioral health, and the County Administration Office to discuss homeless support services. The group will be meeting quarterly to discuss issues around shelter availability and data sharing. Our next meeting will be in December, where Hospital Council will work with the county to map out the referral process for homeless services, along with the different referral processes for behavioral health, housing, and respite care.
On Aug. 28, the San Mateo CEOs met with Kismet Baldwin-Santana, MD, the new San Mateo public health officer. Dr. Baldwin requested input from hospitals on a possible mask mandate for health care workers at health care facilities, effective Nov. 1 to March 31 (during respiratory virus season). The Bay Area health officers are considering the possibility of having similar health orders throughout the Bay Area. After the meeting, Dr. Baldwin made a commitment to report back on her final decision before it becomes public. We thanked Dr. Baldwin for her openness and transparency.
We are waiting for Dr. Baldwin’s final decision.