Hospital Receives $150K To Help Treat Children Affected By Dental Clinic Outbreak
The total number of children that have needed to be hospitalized has risen to 57.
Orange County Register:
CHOC Given $150,000 To Treat Children Sickened In Dental Clinic Infection Outbreak
Children’s Hospital of Orange County will receive $150,000 in county funds to help provide complex treatment to children who contracted serious infections at an Anaheim dental clinic, the Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday. So far, 57 children who underwent baby tooth root canals, or pulpotomies, at Children’s Dental Group have been hospitalized at CHOC with confirmed or probable mycobacterial infections, said Dr. Jasjit Singh, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Orange hospital. About 21 patients need to take a tightly regulated drug typically used to treat leprosy, she said. (Perkes, 10/25)
The board also is increasing funding for some mental health services --
Orange County Register:
Santa Ana's Homeless Getting More Access To Mental Health Treatment At New Courtyard Shelter
Homeless people living in the Santa Ana Civic Center will soon have more access to mental-health treatment after Orange County Supervisors voted Tuesday to fund mobile counseling at its new homeless shelter and provide resources for a local contractor to handle bigger mental-health caseloads. The action comes a week after Susan Price, the county’s Director of Care Coordination, reported that one in five of the county’s homeless people who sleep outdoors are “seriously mentally ill” and that a more comprehensive mental-health approach is needed to fix homelessness. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to amend its three-year contract with the Mental Health Association of Orange County, which operates the Multi-Service Center Services for Homeless Mentally Ill Adults in south Santa Ana, increasing the nonprofit’s funding from $2.4 million to $3.7 million for the next two years. (Graham, 10/25)