Counties Take Steps To Shore Up Local Health Care
San Luis Obispo and Solano counties this week moved on health care-related efforts. Summaries appear below.
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to hire a health educator to focus on reducing obesity among county children, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
Almost one-third of the county's children are obese, and two-thirds of local seventh-grade children did not pass recent school fitness tests.
Jim Patterson, a county supervisor, said the county will save money on health care by adopting policies aimed at preventing obesity, a contributing factor to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.
The county health educator will write grants to seek private funds and also will coordinate efforts among local agencies (Connell, San Luis Obispo Tribune, 5/9).
The Solano County African American Disparities Elimination Project on Tuesday was expected to present the county board of supervisors with a plan to reduce health disparities affecting the black community, the Vacaville Reporter reports.
The project assembled community members and care providers, who produced the plan over an 18-month period. Solano County Health and Social Services, NorthBay Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Solano Medical Center all contributed to the plan.
The plan is said to call for promoting personal behavior to improve wellness, increasing family and community involvement, improving care quality and creating policies that encourage better health (Bernardini, Vacaville Reporter, 5/7).