Press-Telegram - Long Beach, state, national leaders discuss health department needs, prep for future pandemics

Officials with Long Beach’s Health and Human Services Department shared what they learned during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, how they are prepared for any future pandemics, and what is missing for the health department to complete this vital work in the community.

Other state and national experts in public health and pandemic response joined the conversation during a panel discussion hosted by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, on Monday, Aug. 26.

Topics from the discussion will be brought to the Congressional Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Garcia said, a panel on which he sits.

“My mom was a health care worker, and I know firsthand how vital our health care workers and systems are to the safety of our nation,” Garcia said. “I am committed to implementing real pandemic prevention work at the local, state and federal levels. We must be prepared for the next pandemic. It’s not a matter of if, it’s when will the next health crisis hit.”

Those in the panel discussion, at the Main Health Facility, were Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sean McCluskie; Director of California Department of Public Health Tomás Aragón; and Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County’s health officer.

“The way that we think about it at the state is that we’ve taken the lessons learned today and we’re applying them immediately,” Aragón said. “We’re not waiting for the next pandemic, and so we feel that the best way to prepare for large-scale disasters is to prepare, practice and improve on current events.”

Alison King, director of the Long Beach health department; City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis; and Sandy Wedgeworth, the city’s director of public health emergency management, were also present.

Long Beach’s response to the pandemic included establishing a rapid assessment clinic and drive-thru testing site at Long Beach City College, where people could get basic care while doctor offices transitioned to telehealth, Wedgeworth said.

The city also set up testing and vaccination distributions at mass sites, such as the Convention & Entertainment Center, which at its peak were seeing 6,000 people per day for vaccinations and saw nearly 10,000 people per day at testing sites, Wedgeworth added.

Long Beach also has more supplies on hand than it did before in preparation for a future emergency – such as masks and gloves – that are in rotation with providers, Wedgeworth said. As some of these its get close to expiring, the city returns them to the company for refurbishment at no cost, she said.

“We have locally tried to find our own solution,” Wedgeworth said. “Granted, that’s still just going to get us through the first few weeks, maybe a month or so, (and then) we’d still need additional resources.”

Long Beach is also ready to apply what was learned during the pandemic to other health emergencies, such as mpox, measles, dengue fever and other communicable diseases, Davis said.

Having sustainable funding in public health and health departments is important to do this vital work in communities such as Long Beach, as well as on a state and national level, King said.

“We’re seeing the money dissipate,” Davis said. “We’re trying to find other sources, but it’s really difficult.”

King also mentioned that the workforce in the health industry is diminished based on age and lack of ability to prepare people for the roles that need to be filled.

“The uncertainty of being in an industry that is grant funded and makes it very difficult for particularly young people to be able to take a chance on a career in a place where they don’t know beyond this year if they will have a job,” King said. “So we really struggle with that, and having to stand something up in an emergency is really, really hard to do. We do need structural funding.”

Long Beach has allocated more money to the health department than ever before, but more funding is still needed as federal money comes to an end, officials said.

A little more than 70 jobs within health department are at risk of being reduced – or completely cut – as the city grapples with its ongoing budgetary crisis and the loss of pandemic-era funding.

“Being able to have things like loan forgiveness and other kinds of incentives to get people into our industry is going to be necessary,” King said, “if we’re going to be able to stand up a workforce to address these things, and absolutely, having the structural funding to protect ourselves is necessary.”

Experts and leaders also discussed vaccine hesitation, the importance of building community trust and engagement, more accessibility to vaccines and information, and the importance of research.