Hi Natalie, Like most rural areas areas around the country, Humboldt county is seriously struggling with our ability to access healthcare for many reasons. Can you detail what sort of actions have you already taken to improve our access to healthcare and what do we have to look forward to from you in the upcoming term?

— Anna Nusslock

Response

Natalie Arroyo

Hello Anna, 

Thank you for this question! There are two overarching ways that I’m involved in healthcare locally.

One of them, the one that as County Supervisors we have the most direct role in, is the direct provision of County services with state, federal, and local funds in our community. This includes:

• Operating a 24-hour psychiatric care facility that provides inpatient support for people with acute needs as well as a crisis stabilization unit, outpatient mental and behavioral health services for many MediCal recipients, and planned construction of additional facilities to provide behavioral health triage and sobering services, 
• Public Health services including a clinic, laboratory, home visiting nursing program, oral health program, maternal and children’s programs, communicable disease prevention efforts, and lots more, 
• In-Home Supportive Services management, which is a unique partnership between Counties, the state, care providers, and their clients to support elders, disabled adults, and disabled children, 
• Connecting people with healthcare and health resources, including MediCal coverage, food benefits, housing, and more - this is certainly an area of great importance in this coming term, as federal and state resources and requirements are changing rapidly and we expect much of the cost to be shifted to Counties, 
• In my County role, I serve on the Behavioral Health Board, First 5 Humboldt Commission, and in other roles that connect people to health services, but this is really the tip of the iceberg as far as what our County’s Department of Health and Human Services does - environmental health, our Continuum of Care, programs that ensure safety of kids and families, and so much more are part of the healthcare picture that the County has a key role in.

In addition to the direct work that the County of Humboldt and our partners do to provide life-sustaining services to residents, I also recognize that I have a role as a convener, a voice for our community to our state and federal representatives and decision-makers, and a role in meeting with healthcare providers in both the public and private sector to understand where local government can help. I have really sought to understand our healthcare system, the pressures we are facing as a rural community, how I can bring people together to work on these issues, and what opportunities to make change are within our control in local government. In my first term, I have spent quite literally hundreds of hours interviewing people to aid in my understanding of these issues, and I really can say that it’s a complex topic that I’ve only scratched the surface of.  However, I’m looking forward to continuing to participate in local convenings related to public health and community health, meetings with local doctors and care providers to hear updates, and supporting the local workforce training programs that are building up our capacity through offering medical residencies, technical and collegiate training, and more. 

I see the role of learning, engagement and advocacy for our community’s needs as very, very important, and aim to maintain positive working relationships and lines of communication with clinic providers and administrators throughout Humboldt and throughout the region. However, as I reflect on the immediate near future, my biggest focus is on maintaining the County’s programs that ensure that thousands upon thousands of people keep their MediCal coverage, essential benefits, and critical behavioral health care. Without this, our relatively fragile rural medical system is in very big trouble, and we could see many more people slip through the cracks. The County’s direct role in healthcare is front and center for me right now and will continue to be so for the next couple of years. 

 

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