Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
We’ve learned a lot over the last year. While there’s been tragedy, we’ve also
adapted as a society and hopefully we can use some of that knowledge going
forward to help those in need.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the limits of healthcare access in our
rural San Diego County communities. There are many homebound seniors who
struggle to get the proper care they need and we are taking steps to bring
services to them.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the County began to provide COVID-19 related
services in the unincorporated communities, including COVID-19 tests, COVID-19 vaccinations and eventually expanded to offer flu vaccinations.
Because of the success, I proposed a Board letter to look at expanding this effort to help reach our rural communities with more services. This could include connecting patients to primary care, conducting post-hospital visits, and expanding public health education. Also, staff could conduct more home visits focused on reducing falls in the home and providing hospice care.
We call it “Community Paramedicine” and it is our hope that by delivering
services to those hard-to-reach places, we can eliminate the need to drive or
transport patients via ambulance, cut down on hospital readmissions and most
importantly, save lives.
I’m pleased to report my colleagues unanimously voted to explore the feasibility
of establishing a Community Risk Reduction – Community Paramedicine medical
services program and return to the Board within 180 with their recommendations
for implementation. I’ll keep you updated with the effort and hopefully soon we
will be able to provide these services to those who need it!
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