Health district approves funds to cover emergencies

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

COVID-19 is an example of an emergency where the Fallbrook Regional Health District provided valued services to the area, from vaccines, testing to maintaining essential services to its partners.

If there is another emergency of any type, the agency will be able to provide essential services for at least 18 months, following approval by the district directors on Oct. 13 to set aside $1.6 million. That’s the estimated amount of funding to maintain operations in the district.

District CEO Rachel Mason said her estimate includes the assumption of zero dollars in revenue, no reduction in staff, no reduction in facility operation expenses, maintaining the FRHD Foundation and zero grant funding other than the JPA with North County Fire Protection District.

The $1.6 million would be the total reserve for economic uncertainty in the district’s investment accounts, Mason said.

“Our policy is now updated to include that we will reserve up to 18 months of income in our investment accounts to ensure smooth operations in the event of a disaster,” she explained. “This means that we will not allow the investment portfolio to fall below the $1.6 million mark, to ensure that in the event of a disaster we have operating capital.”

“It’s part of our commitment to the community that we would be able to continue being available and a resource in times of challenge,” she explained. “Our recent COVID-19 lockdown was an example. Even though the world shut down, we were staying present and flexible so that we could facilitate the coordination of local resources where they were needed, negotiated with county sources to secure testing events, and served as an information hub to our stakeholders.”