issue 07-12
December 2007
Inside this issue …
Olenslager recognized for community collaborations
As the Cities Readiness Coordinator for HCA’s Health
Disaster Management Division, Keith Olenslager is responsible for enhancing each
Orange County city’s ability to dispense medical resources (i.e. vaccines,
ventilators, medications, etc.) to the entire population of the County within a
48-hour time frame. This task is accomplished through the Point of Dispensing
(POD) model in which needed medical resources are dispensed to the public.
“Keith is becoming well known in the community as the POD person. His effective
collaborations with community partners in developing POD operations will assist
in the event of a
public health emergency,” said Terre Duensing, Health Disaster
Management Division Manager. “In a health emergency, HCA could activate more
than 60 sites throughout the County to dispense medication, vaccines or other
supplies to the population. Planning for such an operation takes coordination
with multiple private and public partners.”
To effectively plan a POD, Keith collaborates with local law
enforcement, fire personnel, Emergency Management, local businesses, schools,
volunteer groups and many other organizations within the County.
Most recently, Keith was instrumental in planning a POD exercise on Nov. 2 which
involved HCA collaboration with Cypress College, the cities of Aliso Viejo,
Cypress, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods and Soka University. During
the exercise, free influenza vaccines were offered to the public, which allowed
community partners to exercise their POD sites.
In planning a POD exercise, Keith is responsible for exercise development,
trainings and materials, such as the Field Operations Guide. He has additionally
conducted POD seminars and workshops for the cities of Tustin, Anaheim, Cypress
and Aliso Viejo, as well as trainings for HCA staff to act as supervisors and
liaisons for city POD sites.
He began his career with HCA during June 2006 as a Staff Specialist in the
Bioterrorism Preparedness Program, which is now known as the Health Disaster
Management Division. He was then promoted to his current title as Cities
Readiness Coordinator.
“I clearly enjoy working with the community and our partners with the main goal
of enhancing the community’s ability to effectively plan and prepare for a
public health emergency,” said Keith. “My goal is to have the POD exercise
become an annual event that is recognized not only as an HCA exercise
internally, but also as a countywide exercise.”
Souleles serves as CHEAC President
David Souleles, MPH, Deputy Agency Director for Public Health Services, is
currently serving as President of the County Health Executives Association of
California (CHEAC), a statewide professional organization of county and city
health executives.
David’s one year term as president of the organization started in October at the
CHEAC annual meeting held in Riverside. CHEAC’s membership includes
representatives from the 61 local health jurisdictions in California, with
members coming from a variety of administrative and health professional
disciplines. Mr. Souleles assumed leadership of the organization from Gayle Erbe-Hamlin
of El Dorado County, who now serves as the Immediate Past President.
CHEAC’s staff and leadership work closely with the California Department of
Public Health and California Department of Health Care Services to ensure
support for vital public health programs statewide. This includes promoting
effective public policy through legislative, state budget, and administrative
advocacy; educating policy makers on strategies to successfully deliver local
health services; and collaborating with key health and professional
organizations to further common health improvement goals.
A message from Agency
Director Julie Poulson …
HCA to implement training partner, the County's Learning
Management System
As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance our work environment and provide our employees with more effective tools, I am pleased to announce that effective January 2008, HCA will implement and utilize Training Partner, the County’s learning management system. This system streamlines training registration, scheduling, and reporting with user-friendly point-and-click menus. Some of the features which our employees and supervisors should find beneficial and an improvement over the current Online Registration System are:
Online transcripts (a list of all classes you have attended);
Supervisor ability to review all training records for their employees;
Supervisor ability to enroll their employees in classes;
Previously taken work-related training may be added to the employee’s transcript information, (including work related courses taken at colleges, universities, seminars, conferences, e-learning, etc.);
Access to the most current employee information through weekly updates of the County’s Human Resources Countywide Accounting and Personnel System (CAPS);
Vehicle for publishing Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant online training files;
Automated enrollment confirmation and cancellation e-mails, sent to both the student and supervisor;
Reporting abilities for Federal, State, and local requirements;
Online report availability for Supervisors and Instructors;
Access to Training Partner online from anywhere anytime; and
Instructor online attendance processing.
Over the last several months, HCA’s Training and Development
Staff have been entering course completion lists from the current Online
Registration System in preparation for the January 2008 rollout of the Training
Partner automated system, so that a more complete transcript of your records
will be available to you and your supervisor. We anticipate online supervisory
and employee training to take place in January, with the ability to enroll in
Leadership Development Program courses in the new system in February. By the end
of 2008, all HCA programs that provide in-house, online and vendor-provided
training to employees will have the opportunity to be connected or linked into
this system for complete employee transcript records.
Thank you in advance for making this a successful and smooth transition to a
more comprehensive learning management system.
Compliance is not a game, but it shouldn’t be a chore either. We are taking a break from the usual Compliance article to have some fun. This month we have a word search in place of our usual article. The terms to find should be familiar from the Code of Conduct, Compliance Policies and Procedures, and training. If you are not familiar with some of these terms, contact the Office of Compliance at (714) 568-5614.
| B T I E E I I L A C I L E N T F O P C O E I V O E L N D P M C F I L I N P S A U P P L A T I O D O C U M E N T O I M C N S I C L T O I P U T N E E O L O A I P E N S G N I N E E R C S N O I T C N A S C O T N E M N R E V O G U C T S V R L O U I D N G M I G M M M C I T A T T T C S F T C A N O I T C U D E R T I C I F E D M A C A S C A I I C S M O D L D D R S U C L N U T E D L O O A O I I A C U A L E U U I I D C N G R A A N F R T D I A A N F G N G A N O I T A G I T S E V N I F U D E L N N A O I L O C T U C R O C U N T N R G B U I P C U E T O O L N S T D T I I T T E A L N I F A D R P R O V I D E R L E I E G P H I H O P I R F N N S O C N I S T T E M E T A G E N U O G N A G R L I L A D O O E N S R I D G G D I O N S I L I I N T C S I S E T I O N G T I T N N R C E E T T H I A M M D E C S N N P T I I |
Hidden
Words: AUDIT FALSE CLAIMS SANCTION SCREENING HIPAA DOCUMENT MONITOR NON RETALIATION PROVIDER BILLING PHI TRAINING INVESTIGATION CODE OF CONDUCT POLICIES PROCEDURES REGULATIONS GUIDELINES GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE |
Goodrich named HDM Employee of Quarter
Congratulations to Marianne Goodrich on being named the Health Disaster
Management (HDM) Division’s first Employee of the Quarter. Her name now appears
on two perpetual honor plaques, one on display at the HDM office located at the
405 W. 5th Street building and the other at the Division’s Strategic Operations
Center (SOC).
Marianne’s selection resulted from a newly established selection process.
Candidates are nominated by their peers and nominations are evaluated by HDM
Program Managers, resulting in a final recommendation of the recipient to the
Division Manager. Marianne was the unanimous choice for the inaugural HDM
Employee of the Quarter recognition award.
In her role, Marianne provides web development and graphic arts support to all
HDM programs. Her visually appealing posters have represented HCA both locally
and nationally. With many years private sector experience in graphic design and
software applications, Marianne brings a unique artistic flair to her projects.
Whether a poster on influenza preparedness, advertisements for United Way
events, promotions of HCA’s Special Populations Forum, or presentations for
various conferences and professional gatherings, the HDM Division notes that
Marianne’s efforts always reflect her enthusiasm and commitment to excellence.
Pictured (left to right) are Health Disaster Management Division Manager Terre Duensing and Marianne Goodrich.
Quote
If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.
—Maria Edgeworth
The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), approved by voters in 2004 as Proposition
63, requires that each county in California prepare a Prevention and Early
Intervention (PEI) program plan. Share your thoughts and suggestions about
services to be offered and groups of people to be helped by mental illness
prevention and early interventions programs in Orange County by taking an online
survey at
http://ochealthinfo.com/prop63/pei/survey/.
The prevention element of the PEI component focuses on reducing risk factors or
stressors to prevent the initial onset of a mental health problem, as well as
promoting and supporting the well-being of “at risk” individuals under
challenging life circumstances in order to reduce the suffering associated with
mental health problems.
The early intervention of the PEI component focuses on preventing mental health
problems from getting worse. This component is directed toward people for whom a
short duration (<1 year), relatively low-intensity intervention is appropriate
to measurably improve mental health problems, or to avoid the need for more
extensive mental health treatment or services.
Please take a few minutes to complete the online survey, which is available in
English, Spanish and Vietnamese, and share your opinions and suggestions about
how we can better plan for the needs of the community.
For more information regarding the survey, please contact Kimari Phillips at
(714) 834-7402 or by e-mail at
kphillips@ochca.com.
HCA and OC MRC respond during Santiago fire
The recent Santiago Fire during the month of October prompted a response by
several Health Care Agency programs, as well as many other County agencies and
the Orange County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).
At the Agency level, the Health Disaster Management (HDM) Emergency Medical
Services (EMS) Department Operations Center (DOC) was activated 24/7 from
Sunday, October 21 to Friday, October 26. The EMS DOC monitored ambulance
availability and hospital/skilled nursing facility bed capacities, as well as
served as a collection point for all HCA response activities.
The Orange County Operational Area Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located at
Loma Ridge was also activated 24/7 during the same time frame as the EMS DOC,
and was noted to be the largest and longest activation duration for a real life
event.
At the EOC, members from HDM and Public Health Services staffed the policy group
and medical branch, as well as assisted callers who phoned the Public
Information Hotline with questions. Staff from HCA Public Information and
Communications also provided support to the EOC Public Information Officer (PIO)
and assisted in developing several press releases to keep the public informed
about evacuations, shelters, road closures and air quality, to name a few. Daily
conferences were also conducted to ensure HCA response needs were being met.
Representatives from Animal Care Services, Environmental Health, Public Health
Nursing and Behavioral Health Services provided 24/7 services in the field, at
the Incident Command Post, American Red Cross Shelters, Family Assistance
Centers, and as residents from evacuated areas were permitted to reenter their
neighborhoods.
The Orange County MRC was also activated for the first time for mutual aid
assistance since its official registration date in 2004. During the fires, this
activation notified 56 MRC Volunteer Nurses to staff the El Toro High School
shelter which housed 135 evacuees.
A total of eight California Registered Nurses were scheduled by the American Red
Cross and the MRC Coordinator to staff 12-hour shifts and back-up support shifts
to provide basic first aid and triage to sheltered evacuees. The MRC office was
also utilized by the OC Operational area to contact local Orange County
veterinarians who would provide assistance to animals affected by the fire.
Agency Director Julie Poulson also attended briefings at the EOC at Loma Ridge
and the EMS DOC. County Health Officer Dr. Eric Handler visited the American Red
Cross shelter at El Toro High School and the Incident Command Post and Base Camp
at Irvine Park.
HCA’s prompt response and continued efforts assisted in the initial response
into the recovery phase of the fire. Thanks to all HCA staff and MRC volunteers
who dedicated themselves to the effort by working extended hours, midnight
shifts, in the field and filling in to complete additional assignments for those
who were deployed.
A photo collage compiled from photos taken by the Orange County Fire Authority
and Animal Care Services.
Quote
The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation.
— Peter Marshall
Open House set for new MH Clinic
The Older Adult Mental Health Recovery Program (OAMHRP),
funded by the Mental Health Services Act has opened the “first ever” older adult
mental health clinic. An open house is planned for January 15, 2008 from 1 p.m.
to 4 p.m. at the facility located at 1540 E. First St. in Santa Ana.
The clinic is intended to serve older adults age 60 and over who have a serious
and persistent mental illness. All clients must be enrolled in the OAMHRP. The
program is staffed by mental health staff who have a specialty in older adult
issues.
The clinic will offer the services of a geropsychiatrist, clinical social
workers, mental health specialists and Life Skills Coaches. In addition to
medication management and counseling services, clients will be encouraged to
attend groups which will target a variety of issues, such as dual diagnosis,
employment reentry and family and social relationships.
The clinic is easily accessible from I-5 and the 55 freeways, and bus routes on
First St. Hours of operation for the clinic are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, as needed.
All are invited to attend the open house. Come by and tour the facility, meet
staff and learn about the new Older Adult Mental Health Recovery Program and
clinic.
National Nurse Practitioner Week celebrated
In celebration of National Nurse Practitioner Week, November 11-17, Agency Director Julie Poulson presented a group of Agency Nurse Practitioners with a Proclamation recognizing the national event and the contributions made by the Agency’s Nurse Practitioners to HCA programs and services. Those present to receive the proclamation included: Ray Camarena, NP, Betty Bogar, NP, Peggy Miguad, NP, Barbara Bauman, NP, and Jerry De Jesús, NP, of Correctional Medical Services; April Barrio, NP, of Correctional Mental Health; Kathy Doan, NP, of Juvenile Health Services; and Ana Pope, NP, of Public Health Services.
Building Roads to Our
Future
Sharing lessons learned in prevention
Sponsored by the California Prevention Collaborative,
California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and the Orange County Health
Care Agency – Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Team (ADEPT), “Building
Roads to Our Future: Sharing Lessons Learned in Prevention” was this year’s
theme at the 2007 California Prevention Summit. Held October 28-30, 2007 at the
Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim, this three-day conference provided prevention
professionals from all over the state an opportunity to hear about lessons
learned from evidence-based alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) prevention
strategies, as well as an opportunity to contribute recommendations to the State
for strengthening the ATOD field.
More than 300 conference participants attended the Summit, which included
plenary sessions, workshops, and discussion groups. Conference presentations and
discussions centered on involving youth in ATOD prevention, maintaining safe and
drug free schools and communities, and sustaining effective ATOD prevention
programs.
Keynote speakers included Beverly Watts-Davis, Senior Advisor on Substance
Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and
Michael Cunningham, Deputy Director, California Department of Alcohol and Drug
Programs. State Controller John Chiang made a special appearance to accept
recognition for his part in statewide prevention efforts from youth attending
the conference on Sunday.
For additional information about the conference or to learn more about the ADEPT
Program, visit the ADEPT website at
www.ochealthinfo.com/adept.
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 |
| The ADEPT team is pictured with a display created by the program which was showcased during the Prevention Summit. Pictured (back row, left to right) are Stacey Zapanta, Penny Black, Richard Kite, Chris Prevatt, Rebeka Sanchez, Elizabeth Daoust, Carolyn Secrist and Kathy Kendrick. Pictured (front row, left to right) are Health Promotion Division Manager Amy Buch and Juan Montes. | Staff from ADEPT gather for a group photo during the California Prevention Summit held from Oct. 28-30 in Anaheim. Pictured (back row, left to right) are Health Promotion Division Manager Amy Buch, Chris Prevatt, Rebeka Sanchez, Richard Kite, Juan Montes, Mary Fabela, Kathy Kendrick, Elizabeth Daoust and Carolyn Secrist. Pictured (front row, left to right) are ADEPT Program Manager Marilyn Pritchard, Penny Black and Stacey Zapanta. |
HDM participates in several local events
During the month of October, HCA’s Health Disaster Management Division (HDM)
participated in several local disaster preparedness events, as well as hosted a
Special Populations Forum and took part in the annual American Health Care
Congress.
To connect with the local business community, HDM participated in an ORC
Worldwide Business Preparedness Leadership meeting on October 11 at the Edwards
Life sciences facility in Irvine. The meeting included CEOs from large
corporations and security representatives. Dr. Eric Handler provided an overview
of his responsibilities as Public Health Officer and HDM Division Manager Terre
Duensing explained the role of HDM, the Standardized Emergency Management System
(SEMS), National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the Incident Command
System (ICS). Meeting attendees also had the opportunity to participate in a
Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise led by HDM staff.
On October 15, approximately 100 community members attended a “Special
Populations Forum: Disaster Readiness for Special Populations” at the City of
Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center. Hosted by HDM, the goal of the forum
was to help community partners plan for specific needs that the community may
have in the event of a disaster. Attendees had the opportunity to hear
presentations on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Public Health Workbook,
risk communications and Specific Needs Awareness Planning (SNAP), as well as
take part in a tabletop exercise. After the day’s events, participants received
planning tools including the CDC Public Health Workbook and a DVD copy of
“Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Workshop for Special Populations.”
A “Special Populations Forum: Disaster Readiness for Special Populations” was
held on October 15 at the City of Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center to
help community partners plan for specific needs that the community may have in
the event of a disaster.
HDM also took part in the 4th Annual American Health Care Congress held on
October 16 in the City of Ontario. The conference is designed to strengthen the
public will for health system change by educating the public on healthcare
issues, engaging the public in constructive dialogue and presenting
comprehensive solutions to address the systematic problems that underlie the
lack of affordable healthcare. HDM staff represented the Health Care Agency and
presented information on several topics relating to the pandemic planning
process, disaster planning for special populations, cardiovascular receiving
centers, hospital surge preparedness and point of dispensing (POD) sites. Dr.
Eric Handler also served as a presenter and discussed his role as the County
Health Officer.
Staff from several HCA programs also participated in the 23rd Annual American
Red Cross Disaster Preparedness Academy on October 17 with a presentation on
“Guess who’s Coming to Dinner,” which discussed the process of investigating a
restaurant-based foodborne illness outbreak. More than 600 representatives from
local government, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, cites, school
districts, the private sector and volunteers had the opportunity to participate
in a panel discussion with Dr. Hildy Meyers, Dr. Eric Handler, David Souleles,
Paul Hannah, Howard Sutter, Mike Haller and Terre Duensing.
Quote
When the days are too short chances are you are living at your best.
—Earl Nightingale
Cervical Health Awareness Month
National Birth Defects Prevention Month
National Glaucoma Awareness Month
National Radon Action Month
Thyroid Awareness Month
Healthy Weight Week, 20-26
Health Promotion Division staff presenters at annual APHA meeting
Kudos to Health Promotion Division staff, Joe Vargas and Frank Hernandez! Joe
and Frank both presented at this year’s American Public Health Association (APHA)
Annual Meeting and Expo held in Washington, DC November 3-7. Joe’s presentation,
“Using a community-based assessment: Effective strategies and lessons learned to
engage Latinos in the development, implementation and participation in emergency
preparedness,” highlighted the Health Care Agency’s efforts to address disaster
preparedness within special populations, particularly the Latino community. His
presentation outlined steps and practices for developing an effective emergency
preparedness training plan for Latinos.
Frank Hernandez also presented at this year’s APHA meeting as a part of his
graduate studies at California State University, Long Beach. Frank’s
presentation, “Snack Right Health Vending Machines: An Environmental Approach to
Improve the Health of California State University, Long Beach (CSULB),”
discussed findings of an environmental assessment of vending machine food and
beverage items offered on CSULB property, and shared recommendations to
improving healthy options in campus vending machines.
If you have questions or would like to receive copies of these presentations,
contact Joe Vargas at jvargas@ochca.com
or Frank Hernandez at fhernandez@ochca.com.
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| Joe Vargas (pictured in back) prepares to give his presentation on “Using a community-based assessment: Effective strategies and lessons learned to engage Latinos in the development, implementation and participation in emergency preparedness,” during the APHA Annual Meeting and Expo held in Washington, D.C. from Nov. 3-7. | Frank Hernandez is pictured alongside a diagram of his presentation on “Snack Right Health Vending Machines”: An Environmental Approach to Improve the Health of CSULB. |
Quote
All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.
—Edwin Markham
Cultural Competency Spotlight on Excellence
Behavioral Health’s Cultural Competency Program named Cynthia Detweiler of the
Substance Abuse Resource Team (START), as the recipient of the December 2007
Spotlight on Excellence Award.
Cynthia is experienced in working with older adults, mental illness and
co-occurring disorders. She has given educational presentations on topics
including substance use disorders in older adults, harm reduction, brief
interventions and co-occurring disorders in older adults.
She is noted for her passion and empathy to express compassion while motivating
her clients to improve their quality of life and to bring peace and joy to their
spirits. She embraces each individual’s uniqueness by acknowledging his or her
personal histories, cultural beliefs and practices.
Cynthia has been with HCA’s START program for the past 7½ years and worked at
the Royale Therapeutic Residential Center prior to her current position. She is
a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and California Certified Addiction Treatment
Counselor. Cynthia is a graduate of USC with a Masters Degree in Social Work and
a Certificate in Severe and Persistent Mental Illness.
Pictured (left to right) are Ronnie Kelley, Cynthia Detweiler, Mary Ellen Keesey
and Rafael Canul.
Supervisors can request Payroll to return an employee’s timecard by sending an
e-mail to HCAPayroll@ochca.com. The
e-mail should include the employee’s name and ID number. Corrections can be made
as late as non-payday Friday morning.
Your supervisor needs to complete the Time Sheet Adjustment Form and e-mail it
to HCAPayroll@ochca.com. To find the
form, supervisors can log into the HCA Employee Intranet. Under the Links Menu
click on “Forms/Payroll,” then click on the “W” icon to access the Time Sheet
Adjustment Form. For future use, supervisors can save the file to his/her
desktop.
Contact Payroll either by e-mail at
HCAPayroll@ochca.com or by phone at (714) 834-5744 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. Monday-Friday.
What’s UP is a newsletter for employees of the County of
Orange, CA, Health Care Agency.
Editors
Tricia Landquist
Howard Sutter
Anne Fialcowitz
Phone (714) 834-6644
E-mail tlandquist@ochca.com
FAX (714) 834-7644
Pony Bldg. 38-S, 4th Floor
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