July, 2004
New Bioterrorism Preparedness Training Unit debuts in Santa Ana - Page 1
Estuary Awareness Day Celebrated - Page 1
Students recognized for winning essays - Page 2
LMC Team Excellence Awards - Page 2
Prevention a Key to Agency Compliance - Page 3
HIPAA myths and realities - Page 3
TUPP Youth Coalition receives honors - Page 4
Welcome home, Manny and Carla! - Page 4
WIC increases collaborative efforts - Page 5
PH Nurses/Support Staff honored at luncheon - Page 5
Richard Kite receives recognition for research - Page 6
H/LaTEN honors Juan Montes for contributions - Page 6
Spotlight on Excellence - Page 6
Jeopardy Challenge 2004 - Page 6
August Health Observances - Page 6
HCA is pleased to announce the formation of a new Bioterrorism Preparedness Training Unit (BPTU) that will serve as the Agency's clearinghouse for emergency response-related trainings and as a bioterrorism learning resource center for employees and for HCA's community partners.
The new unit is conveniently located on the third floor of the 405 W. 5th Street building in Santa Ana in Room 357, formerly the home of HCA Volunteer Services. With a current staff of five HCA employees - John Van Sky, Ph.D., Barry Havlick, MA, Lani Orr, RN, Jocelyn Argame, RN, and Silvya Gomez, OS, trainings will be provided internally to HCA employees, and externally to Orange County ambulance companies, hospitals and community clinics.
"The BPTU works hand in hand with HCA's Bioterroism Planning Unit, located next door in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), to ensure that HCA employees receive the learning resources and proper training they need to be prepared in case of an emergency, disaster or terrorist incident," said John Van Sky, BPTU Program Manager.
HCA's Public Health Water Quality Laboratory at Shellmaker Island in Newport Beach participated in a free public event hosted by the Upper Newport Bay Naturalists on May 1 to celebrate Estuary Awareness Day 2004. The event aimed to educate adults and children about water quality and provide an understanding of how estuaries link the land and the ocean.
With daylong activities designed to be an educational and hands-on experience for attendees, HCA's water quality staff provided demonstrations at the Shellmaker Laboratory on how ocean water is tested for bacterial levels to protect public health.
City of Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway served as Honorary Chairman for the day's festivities, which included boat tours, opportunity drawings, poster contests, environmental exhibits, and a variety of interactive programs offered by the California Department of Fish and Game, Harbors, Beaches and Parks, Naturalists, and the Coastal Commission at Upper Newport Bay.
An estuary is a coastal wetland where salt water from the ocean mixes with nutrient-rich fresh water
from inland sources. Upper Newport Bay is one of the few remaining natural
estuaries in Southern California, and is home to nearly 200 species of birds,
mammals, fish, other creatures and native plants.
Congratulations to local Orange County students, Kyle Ryan, Dewi Harjanto and Kristen Van Dine for the winning essays they submitted to Nutrition Services' 7th annual Health and Nutrition Essay contest. The students were honored at the June 8 Board of Supervisors Meeting, and were presented with certificates from Supervisor Campbell and Supervisor Silva.
Along with the recognition they received from the Board of Supervisors, the students received savings bonds from Nutrition Services to further their education. Their winning essays, which were displayed at the Hall of Administration, featured topics including diet and nutrition, nutrition as a key to cancer prevention, and the role nutrition plays in preventing obesity in schools.
HCA's Nutrition Services program also presented certificates of participation to four special needs students from Costa Mesa High School Annex: Lisa Belware, Rosa Garcia, Michelle Contreras and Cheryl Frolich.
The annual essay contest, held during the month of March to celebrate National Nutrition Month, provides Orange County students with an opportunity to take responsibility for their health and food choices by writing an essay on nutrition-related topics. Each year the contest helps students explore reliable sources of information and think critically about good health.
The Nutrition Services program thanks all students and
schools that participated in helping to make this year's essay contest a
success. For more information about the Nutrition Services program
or the essay contest, visit
www.ochealthinfo.com/public/nutrition or
call (714) 834-7952. Stay tuned for next year's contest!
Attention all HCA teams! It's time to submit entries for the next Labor Management Committee (LMC) Team Excellence Award! As Environmental Health's Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA)/Used Oil Program team can tell you, being selected for the 1st LMC Team Excellence Award was quite an honor. The LMC gave this group the VIP treatment at a special LMC meeting, team members and their accomplishments were featured in HCA's "What's Up" newsletter, and they were also honored at the April HCA Service Awards Ceremony. The Environmental Health team definitely showed that they were committed to clearly defining their goals, creating valuable roles for each team member, practicing positive and creative thinking, and communicating and solving problems effectively.
What does it take to be an award winning team? Just complete an application form including information regarding the team members, supervisor and reference names, and provide additional information addressing how your team meets the following criteria:
• The ability to plan, prioritize, communicate and resolve problems,
• Excels in their responsibilities, and practices the principles of Enlightened Leadership,
• Handles setbacks, overcomes obstacles, and successfully meets challenges, and
• Describe how the team's efforts and accomplishments have provided better service, improved performance and productivity, and improved morale.
Obtain copies of the application form, nomination criteria and one page description of the Characteristics of Excellent Teams from the HCA/LMC Intranet site at http://balsam/intranet/lmc.
It's time to celebrate the accomplishments of the next award winning HCA team!
Make sure your team gets its chance and the recognition it deserves!
What's UP is a newsletter for employees of the County of Orange, CA, Health Care Agency.
Editors Tricia Landquist Landquist
Howard Sutter
Anne Fialcowitz
Your Input
Phone (714) 834-6644
E-mail TLandquist@ochca.com
FAX (714) 834-7644
Pony Bldg. 38-S, 4th Floor
It's summertime, and some of you may be heading off for a family vacation in your car, truck or van. One of the important steps in preparing for your vacation trip is preventive maintenance for your vehicle, which has an important connection to the Health Care Agency Compliance Program's annual risk assessment.
Many of us have experienced that discouraging feeling of standing next to our vehicle, trying to diagnose an engine problem or change a flat tire. That's why it's better to find those potential problems before they actually occur and prevent any untimely interruptions to our trip.
It's much the same with HCA's Compliance Program. Through a risk assessment, we can identify potential problems before they happen and make the changes needed to prevent them from occurring, saving us time, trouble and, potentially, money. So what is a risk assessment? Simply put, the purpose of a risk assessment is to detect weaknesses in an organization that could pose a compliance or operational risk. Given that HCA operates in a highly regulated industry _ healthcare _ it is important to reduce any potential exposure to legal or financial problems. A risk assessment helps (1) identify high-risk areas, (2) prioritize our efforts, (3) establish a baseline for ongoing auditing or monitoring programs and (4) provide a platform for corrective action.
While this sounds straightforward, the challenge is to integrate the risk assessment into the daily operations of the Health Care Agency and to use the knowledge of experts within our programs and services to drive the process. This is where the Compliance Committee comes in. The Compliance Committee consists of 15 people representing a broad cross-section of the Agency. They participate in an annual risk assessment to identify high-risk areas within their areas of operation. Each risk is discussed in committee and evaluated independently. Depending on the level of risk, appropriate steps can be taken to minimize the risk, which may include auditing or monitoring, providing training and educational opportunities, and developing new procedures. While it is never possible to eliminate all potential risks, the annual risk assessment process helps us identify and address some of the major risks that may occur as HCA provides services to our community.
The Compliance Committee members are listed on the Office of
Compliance website at
http://balsam/intranet/compliance/committee_members.asp. Contact your service area representative if you have questions about this process, or have a
compliance concern in your program area. Each one of us has a responsibility to
keep our Agency running smoothly.
The HCA Compliance Program offers a
confidential telephone hotline to voice your concerns about
any situation that may conflict with Compliance
Program principles. You may call the hotline 24 hours a day, 7
days a week at:
(866) 260-5636
For many years, California has had its own set of medical privacy laws, most of which are as stringent, or more so, than the HIPAA Privacy Rule. HIPAA regulations contain a pre-emption clause, which allows that when State privacy laws conflict with HIPAA, the law providing the greater protection of individual's medical information pre-empts the lesser law.
Over the past year, many misconceptions and clarifications regarding HIPAA have come to light. The "myths and realities" shown below were recently addressed in a communication from the United States Department of Health & Human Services.
Myth HIPAA requires patients to sign consent forms before doctors, hospitals, or ambulances can share information for treatment purposes.
Reality HIPAA allows providers to share information with other providers for treatment purposes without getting a signed patient authorization or jumping through other hoops. (Other laws providing greater protection may apply in certain situations.)
Myth HIPAA prevents child abuse reporting.
Reality Doctors must continue to report child abuse or neglect to appropriate government authorities.
continued from page 1
With support and assistance from HCA's Quality Management staff, the BPTU recently launched "Disaster Service Worker/Standardized Emergency Management (SEMS) 101" training, required of all HCA employees. Both online and instructor-led versions were developed.
"There was an overwhelming response by HCA employees who completed the online version of the SEMS 101 training," said John Van Sky. "It was our goal to provide an easily accessible way for employees to complete the training and we're excited to see that so many have taken advantage of the online version of this course."
The BPTU will have a number of on-site computers to enable employees without computer access to complete required trainings. A library containing bioterrorism and emergency related videos and publications will also be available for employees to learn more about various topics, such as anthrax and smallpox. Similar to a public library, employees and members of the Orange County medical community will be able to check out materials for several weeks at a time. Instructor-led trainings will be held in a new "mini" classroom inside the new training unit for certain groups and/or individuals when the nature of the training topics requires "hands on" experience.
Future trainings in the works include preparation for a simulated anthrax drill scheduled next year and a "Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Threats" training based on curricula developed by UCLA under contract with the State Office of Emergency Services.
Newly established in April 2004, the BPTU was created by HCA Administration to provide the Agency's workforce and HCA's community partners with appropriate bioterrorism and emergency response related trainings and resources to meet serious challenges unknown to previous generations of Americans.
John Van Sky adds, "BPTU staff are committed to providing excellent preparedness resources, both to HCA employees and the community. Our goal is nothing short of first-rate customer service."
Stay tuned for an upcoming Bioterrorism Preparedness Training Unit Open House! For more information about the new unit and/or upcoming trainings, e-mail or call John Van Sky, BPTU Program Manager at (714) 834-6587 or JvanSky@ochca.com.
Congratulations to the "Back That Ash Up!" (BTAU) Youth Coalition of HCA's Tobacco Use Prevention Program (TUPP) which received honors from the California Youth Advocacy Network last month as one of the top youth coalitions in California working to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
As a youth-led and youth-driven group of teens aged 11-17, the BTAU coalition received recognition based on their level of dedication and commitment to educating the Orange County community about tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, as demonstrated through projects, campaigns and activities.
Goals of the BTAU coalition include, establishing smoke-free areas at popular outdoor entertainment venues, educating peers on the value of being media literate, and hosting anti-tobacco media events, including bus shelter ads, billboards and poster unveilings to showcase youth-created anti-tobacco artwork in their community.
The coalition also participates in a number of local events and activities such as community health fairs, Red Ribbon Week, World No Tobacco Day and creates public service announcements. Bimonthly and subcommittee workgroup meetings are also held to build leadership, advocacy, communication and teamwork skills.
The BTAU Youth Coalition includes ethnically and regionally diverse members who represent all areas of Orange County. Past and present youth members have come from cities including La Habra, Fullerton, Anaheim, Buena Park, Placentia, Tustin, Los Alamitos, Garden Grove, Westminster, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Irvine.
For more information about the "Back That Ash Up!" Youth Coalition, contact Anabel Garcia at (714)834-5710 or Sherryl Ramos at (714) 834-2909 from TUPP or visit www.ochealthinfo.com/tupp.
HCA welcomes home Manny Hernandez, Building Manager for HCA's 17th Street Facility and Carla Marcinek, Supervising Public Health Nurse for the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health program, after serving on active duty in Iraq.
Manny was away for 6 months and served as an aviation mechanic with the Helicopter Combat Support Squadron. Carla is a reservist with the Aero Medical Evacuation Unit and served more than a year in Iraq. Her unit was responsible for the care of troops being flown from Iraq to hospitals in Germany and other regions. She was also one of the nurses who accompanied the seven freed American POWs on their flight out of Iraq. HCA is glad to have both Manny and Carla safely home.
With the goal of providing services and accessibility to meet client's needs, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program increased its collaborative efforts with Orange County's Community/Family Resource Centers (FRC) through its recent partnership with the Hermosa Village Community Resource Center located in Anaheim.
Nutrition Services provides nutrition education, breastfeeding support and supplemental food vouchers to women who are pregnant, breastfeeding and/or postpartum, or have infants and children up to 5 years of age. Below is a listing of HCA's WIC and Family Resource Center locations throughout the County where clients are served. Client referrals to WIC clinics are always welcome. For more information about the WIC program or to schedule an appointment, call (714) 834-8333 or visit www.ochealthinfo.com/public/nutrition/wic.htm.
WIC Clinics
• Ball Road WIC
2137 E. Ball Rd.
Anaheim, CA 90621
• Buena Park WIC
7342 W. Orangethorpe Ave.
Buena Park, CA 90621
• Costa Mesa WIC
2845 E. Mesa Verde Dr.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Fountain Valley WIC
8570 Warner Ave.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
• Hemlock WIC
1220 Hemlock Way
Santa Ana, CA 92706
• Room 101 WIC
1725 W. 17th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706
• San Juan Capistrano WIC
27512 Calle Arroyo
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
• Sigler Park WIC
7200 Plaza St.
Westminster, CA 92683
• West/Beach WIC
14120 Beach Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683
Family Resource Centers
• Centralia Neighborhood FRC
195 N. Western Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92801
• Danbrook Neighborhood FRC
320 S. Danbrook St.
Anaheim, CA 92804
• El Modena FRC
8672 E. Center St.
Orange, CA 92669
• Hermosa Village Community FRC
1515 Calle del Mar
Anaheim, CA 92802
• Jerome FRC
726 S. Center St.
Santa Ana, CA 92704
• La Independencia FRC
10841 Garza Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92806
• Ponderosa Park FRC
2100 S. Haster Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92802
To honor public health nurses and support staff in the Specialized Public Health Nursing Program, a garden luncheon event was held on June 22 at the Victorian home of Program Manager Sally Wurth, located at Olive Heights.
With best regards from Agency Director Julie Poulson, Sally was joined by Dr. Mark Horton, Dr. Margaret Beed and Steve Thronson and representatives from HCA and SSA programs in recognizing staff from the Perinatal Substance Abuse Services Initiative/Assessment and Coordination Team, Foster Care Public Health Nursing Program, CALWorks Public Health Nursing, Senior Health Outreach & Prevention Program (SHOPP), Preventive Health Care for the Aging (PHCA), and Child Abuse Services Team (CAST).
Thank you to the following HCA nurses and staff for
your dedication and continued commitment to excellence,
integrity and service in the field of public health nursing:
• Irma Anthony
• Jocelyn Argame
• Zinnia Arroyo
• Andrea Arthur
• Debra Barnes
• Ruth Barnett
• Jeanette Beck
• Mary Biedebach
• Lee Boon
• Kathy Brown
• Deborah Browning
• Brenda Butler
• Mai Chiem
• Deborah Chitty
• Denise Cota
• Linda DePriest
• Justine Dinh
• Carla Estrada
• Joan Flinn
• Eleanor Forrest
• Alicia Fuly-Smith
• Lori Funke
• Marilyn Geller
• Sandi Gomez
• Madhu Gupta
• Janellyn Hannah
• Lorena Hermogeno
• Viera Hillis
• Sarah Hoang
• Jane Lee
• Linda Lopez
• Cheryl Lowes
• Cherry Macalino
• Jeanie Ming
• Liza Navarro
• Barbara Neesen
• Mahdere Negash
• Ken Nguyen
• Armida Ocker
• Judy Ogan
• Karen Ribaudo
• Connie Rosplock
• Melanie Sandkamp
• Lynette
Schnur-Rubel
• Kathryn Schwabl
• Deborah Seeley
• Beth Sevey
• Chander Singh
• Kathleen Stockton
• Maya Thona
• Carolyn Wadsworth
• Jennifer Yates
• Gloria Zamarripa
• Michelle Todesco
• Donna Tran
• Yvonne Tran
• Florence Turley
• Darolyn Underwood
• Gary Vicencia
Congratulations to Richard Kite, Ph.D., Analyst for HCA's Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Team (ADEPT) on receiving an award from the County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators Association of California for Outstanding Achievement in the Alcohol and Drug Field for Research and Evaluation .
Richard has worked on several key research projects for ADEPT including the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) Use Prevalence: 2002 Survey of Orange County Adults, and the Circumstances of Last Drink survey.
The data collected from both surveys has enabled ADEPT and other ATOD prevention providers in helping to identify key areas of need, implementing outcomes that address those needs, and monitoring prevention efforts.
As ADEPT's only Research Analyst, Richard has played
an integral role in shaping and guiding the ADEPT program
in planning, implementing and evaluating prevention
programs throughout the county.
Hats off to Juan Montes, Health Education Associate for HCA's Tobacco Use Prevention Program (TUPP), on receiving an award from the Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Network (H/LaTEN) for his outstanding efforts in leadership, guidance, commitment and dedication to the Network and the Latino Community.
Juan has been with TUPP for the past 10 years, working on a variety of tobacco control activities, including contributing technical assistance with the smokefree apartments project. His expertise and interests include providing outreach to the public, developing and translating materials into Spanish, and participating as a Spanish-language interviewee by the media to educate the community about secondhand smoke policies and smoking cessation.
As a consultant to H/LaTEN, Juan has reviewed media pieces developed for the Hispanic/Latino community for comprehension and cultural appropriateness, translating materials into Spanish and providing input on projects for the target population.
On July 1 Juan transferred to HCA's Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Team (ADEPT), where he is now broadening his knowledge and impact regarding alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) issues.
H/LaTEN, located in Alhambra, is a Proposition 99 CA Department of Health Services/Tobacco Control Section funded agency that provides statewide technical assistance and coordination to county health departments to improve the effectiveness of tobacco control in the Hispanic/Latino community.
HCA is once again gearing up for the upcoming 2004 United Way Countywide Jeopardy Tournament! In preparation for the event, the Agency needs your help in deciding how teams and players will be chosen to represent this year's HCA team at the tournament that will take place on October 20 and 21.
Contribute your thoughts and suggestions on how teams
will be chosen as well as contributing ideas on new Jeopardy
categories. Visit HCA's Intranet site at
http://ocintranet.ocgov.com/unitedway/jeopardy.htm to take a mini Jeopardy Challenge survey.
Behavioral Health's Cultural Competency program
presented its June "Spotlight on Excellence" Award
to Andrew Perry, Mental Health Specialist with
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services' (ADAS) Drug Court program.
Andrew began his career with HCA six years ago and is acknowledged by his colleagues as a gentle, humorous soul who consistently assesses cultural issues and individual responsibility to increase connection and understanding.
Cataract Awareness Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
Psoriasis Awareness Month
Spinal Muscular Awareness Month
National Minority Donor Awareness Day - 1
World Breastfeeding Week 1 - 7
Hearing Aid Awareness Week Aug. 29 - Sept. 4
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