Who
Members in Santa Cruz County
What
Santa Cruz County has created a new department in the county administrator’s office called Housing for Health, led by Robert Ratner, MD. This department is charged with helping to coordinate housing and homeless services. It will work with the housing/development community, nonprofits, and health care organizations to help coordinate services. Hospitals and Hospital Council are pleased about the potential for this department and look forward to working with Dr. Ratner in his new role. One specific priority in Santa Cruz County is the increased need for shelter services caused by the pandemic. With the focus on temporary shelters, there were not enough resources to secure transitional housing. Currently, these shelters are starting to close and are going back to pre-pandemic levels. This is causing a gap in services for sheltering the unhoused.
Takeaway/Next Steps
None