Counting our blessings

MCDH Chief of Staff, Dr. William Miller

I was on a call with health officials this morning who described what they are seeing in this current COVID-19 outbreak as like a tsunami moving north from the southern part of the state. Many of the hospitals in the Los Angeles area are above capacity and have no ICU beds left. Our Adventist sister hospital in Bakersfield has reported that 110 of its 256 beds are filled with COVID patients. It also reported 28 patients being boarded in the ER, waiting for a hospital bed to open up so they could be admitted.

San Jose Regional Medical Center, the main trauma center serving the southern end of the Bay Area recently reported that its 48 ICU beds were completely full, and that it was temporarily not accepting any further transfers from other, smaller hospitals.

Yet, at the same time, there are many areas that are still — relatively — lightly affected.

For example, in speaking with a physician colleague down in San Diego, she told me that most of the cases they are seeing are clustered in the eastern part of their county, with much less in the western part being easily manageable. Something interesting that she also told me was that U.S. hospitals along the Mexican border are seeing a dramatic surge of cases, not from Mexican nationals, but from American expatriates who have been living down in Mexico and are now returning to the US because they are ill with COVID.

Closer to home, Mendocino County belongs in the “northern region” of 11 counties — with the majority of hospital beds being located in four of those counties; Del Norte, Humboldt, Lakeside and Mendocino. As of this writing, Dec. 15, in our three hospitals in Mendocino, we have 14 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 out of a total of 100 beds, three are in the ICU (out of 16 ICU beds total.) On the coast, we have been running a steady one to two COVID-19 patients at a time for several weeks now. Compared with other parts of the state, I would say that we continue to have relatively few cases here. This will likely change in the next few weeks because of our own local cases or because of transfers into us. The reality is that — at some point — we may be obliged to accept patients from afar; even intubated, ICU-level patients.

While this reality may worry some; that is what our surge plan has been preparing for. That decision will come from the California Department of Public Health which must look at all resources available in the state to deal with this mounting disaster. In that context, we will not be able to refuse if called upon and I am not sure we would ethically want to refuse.

The only way we are going to get through this is if we all stick together. If we on the Mendocino Coast are ever hit by a real tsunami, I am sure we would appreciate help from our neighboring counties. It is simply what we must do because it is the right thing to do.

Fort Bragg City Manager, Tabatha Miller

Every day, I check covid19.ca.gov to see what the ICU bed availability is for the Northern California region. Today, Tuesday, it is at 29.8 percent available capacity, the best number I have seen since the regional order was announced on Dec. 3 and above the 15 percent trigger for the stricter regional stay-at-home order. It seems like a little thing, but we take our blessings where we can these days.

First, as the potential shutdown looms, we keep moving forward at the city. At the Nov. 23, City Council meeting, the council decided to appoint a replacement for the seat that will be vacated by Will Lee as of Dec. 31.

We said thank you and our sad goodbyes to Mayor Lee at the last regular council meeting, Dec. 14. The new appointee will serve until the regular city council election, Nov. 1, 2022 — when a replacement can be elected to fill the remaining two years of Councilmember Lee’s term. A committee comprised of councilors Tess AlbinSmith and Lindy Peters drafted a simple one-page application and an outreach campaign to encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds. Although not all the details have been locked in, applications will likely be accepted starting in January.

City councilors receive a $300 per month stipend and family health benefits. A typical week requires 5-10 hours to prepare for and attend meetings. To qualify, an applicant must be 18 years of age, registered to vote in Fort Bragg, age 18 or older and not have been convicted of any specified crimes designated in the Constitution or laws of the state. Watch the city’s website and Facebook page for application information — or send me an email at tmiller@fortbragg.com, and I will ensure that you receive the application when it is released.

Second, at a Special City Council meeting on Dec. 7, the council approved $15,000 to add hazard pay to the wages of Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center’s Winter Shelter employees in an effort to attract applicants. The additional $4 per hour would increase the pay from $14-$16/hour to $18-$20/hour.

The Winter Shelter was unable to open as planned on Dec. 1, due to lack of staffing. Once the shelter opens it operates every night through the winter season. The council also discussed providing a city-owned facility to host the shelter for the second half of February and the month of March. The pandemic has added an additional challenge to operating a congregate housing facility. Traditionally, the faith-based community has hosted the shelter for two weeks at a time. The shelter rotates so that each participating faith-based facility takes a turn and no church or neighborhood is overly burdened. The need to not share the facility with other users, provide ample room between guests, sanitize regularly and keep everyone safe, has severely limited the venues willing to house the shelter this year.

Unable to find alternative venues after an exhaustive search, MCHC reached out to the city asking if the city hall gymnasium would be available for the second half of February and the month of March. The city council considered allowing the shelter to lease either the gymnasium or portions of the C.V. Starr Community Center. Both locations are controversial and neither is ideal. The biggest concern is the impact to the surrounding residences and/or businesses. There was also discussion regarding use of the Hospitality Center located at 101 N. Franklin St.

The council delayed the decision until January so that more information could be gathered and the community would have time to weigh in on the issue of location. MCHC anticipates having staff hired and trained to open the shelter by the first part of January at a local faithbased facility. If you would like to share support for, objections to or other suggestions, please feel free to email me at tmiller@fortbragg.com.

Lastly, this week, our local businesses should receive their renewal forms for the 2021 Business License in the mail. This year we have included a survey, which can be filled out online or in paper format. Please take the time to complete it — the city would really like to know what we can do to better support the businesses during this pandemic and afterward.