Who
- North state hospitals
- State agencies
- Payers
- Patient advocates
- Patient guardians
What
In rural Northern California, patients with dual diagnoses, challenging medical or behavioral health issues, or those who are experiencing homelessness are not as common as in urban areas. However, they are present and significantly impact hospital staff and resources, with some staying months or even years.
Many times, the case’s complexity has never been seen before or only rarely, making placement next to impossible as there is no history to have drawn from. In the last two months, Hospital Council has convened two multi-agency and multi-disciplinary groups to get patients out of emergency departments and into facilities designed and staffed to care for them. These groups included hospitals, counties, state agencies, payers, CHA staff, patient advocates, and patient guardians — all of which needed to work collaboratively to get patients the care they desperately needed. A lesser but still significant challenge is reimbursement: determining the responsible party and/or getting them to act is often challenging. Fortunately, considerable progress has been made in that area as well.
Also, in the north state, Seneca Healthcare District held a groundbreaking for its new hospital in Chester. It is scheduled to open in 2025 and will replace the current hospital, which was built in 1954. The building campaign that the community helped fund will ensure that this critical access is available for the area.