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Description
Guests from Valley Medical Center talk about the Backpack Homeless Healthcare Program and how the County is helping to bring healthcare to people experiencing homelessness.
Recorded July 15, 2020.
The City of Cupertino would like to express its thanks to the County of Santa Clara for the use of their video materials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information regarding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Cupertino, please visit https://www.cupertino.org/coronavirus
C
C
C
During
this
time,
one
group
that
we're
especially
concerned
about
are
people
experiencing
homelessness,
santa
clara
valley,
medical
center's,
valley,
homeless,
health
care
program
has
been
bringing
medical
care,
behavioral
health
services
and
support
services
to
homeless
individuals
where
they
are
vhp,
also
as
it's
also
known,
has
been
really
at.
The
critical
has
been
playing
a
critical
role
in
ensuring
that
our
folks
are
safe
and
healthy.
C
During
this
pandemic,
joining
me
to
talk
more
about
the
valley,
homeless,
healthcare
program
and
to
give
us
an
overview,
is
dr
galotra,
our
medical
director
for
the
valley,
homeless,
health
care
program
and
derek
everett.
Our
community
outreach
specialist,
welcome
to
you
both
and
thank
you
for
taking
the
time
to
be
here
with
us
today.
Thank.
D
E
Some
of
the
services-
absolutely
thank
you,
so
the
valley
homeless,
healthcare
program
is
a
federally
qualified
health
center.
That's
part
of
santa
clara
county
health
and
hospital
system.
The
the
homeless
program
has
the
core
belief
that
every
person
deserves
dignity
and
the
highest
level
of
health
care
possible.
E
We
believe
that
that
every
person
should
have
the
highest
standard
of
healthcare,
the
same
standard
that
you
or
I
or
all
of
us
would
receive
at
an
academic
center
or
a
private
institution.
Further.
We
believe
that
healthcare
is
a
human
right
and
that
homelessness
is
a
problem
that
we
can
solve
and
we
are
working
to
solve
it
every
single
day
on
the
individual
level
and
on
the
community
level
on
the
ground.
The
valley,
homeless,
healthcare
program
is
a
collection
of
15
access
points.
E
We
have
our
standard,
brick
and
mortar
sites,
which
are
just
similar
to
the
doctor's
offices
that
you
and
I
would
go
to.
We
have
three
mobile
units,
which
are
large
rvs
with
exam
rooms,
pretty
much
like
a
doctor's
office,
equipped
like
a
doctor's
office
that
go
to
different
places
around
the
county
where
homeless
people
congregate.
E
C
Thank
you
so
much
dr
golovkin,
you
have
mentioned
the
street
medicine
program,
which
is
also
our
backpack
medicine
program,
and
this
program
is
so
it's
such
a
key
to
what
we
do,
because
we're
able
to
meet
our
folks
out
in
the
where
they
are.
Can
you
talk
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
that
program
and
the
team.
E
Sure
sure
so
our
street
medicine
program
has
been
around
for
many
years
and
its
goal
is
to
really
go
to
where
people
are
and
provide
the
medical
care
that
they
need
where
they
are.
So
it's
made
up
of
a
medical
doctor,
a
nurse,
an
outreach
worker
and
sometimes
a
mental
health
specialist,
and
we,
you
know,
we
call
it
our
street
medicine
program
or
a
backpack
program,
because
that's
really
what
it
is.
We
load
up,
medications
and
wound
supplies
and
anything
that
we
need
in
backpacks
and
we
hike
to
different
encampments
all
across
the
county.
E
E
They
are
feeling
sick
or
kind
of
whatever
those
acute
needs
are
and
then
over
time,
we've
learned
that
a
lot
of
people
who
are
in
encampment
have
a
lot
of
trouble
seeking
regular
medical
care.
So
we've
started
to
bring
primary
care
to
the
streets
as
well,
so
we'll
manage
their
diabetes,
we'll
manage
their
high
blood
pressure.
Their
heart
failure
take
care
of
their
cancer
screening.
E
All
of
those
things
that
you
would
go
to
our
doctor's
office
or
mobile
unit
for
we'll
take
that
into
the
field
the
and
then
more
recently
we
have
been
doing
a
lot
more
work
around
covet,
so
we've
been
going
out
to
these
encampments
and
all
these
places
to
teach
people
about
the
virus,
and
that
was
especially
important
in
the
early
parts
of
the
pandemic,
but
also
to
test
people
or
provide
treatment
or
therapy.
Whatever
is
needed.
C
D
Yes,
so
my
role
as
a
community
outreach
specialist,
especially
with
the
backpack
team,
I
provide
transportation
for
the
team.
I
scout
some
of
the
sites
before
we
we
go
to
the
sites
and
then
once
we
get
there.
I
help
provide
more
of
the
social
needs
for
some
of
the
patients
that
we
do
see
as
outreach
specialists
also
do
case
management.
D
So,
while
the
patient
might
be
visiting
with
the
doctor,
while
we're
out
in
the
encampment
I'm
talking
to
other
patients
that
are
getting
ready
to
speak
to
the
doctor
and
might
may
have
some
medical
needs,
but
as
they're
waiting,
I'm
also,
you
know
talking
to
them
explaining
our
program
and
explaining
what
I
do
as
a
community
outreach
specialist,
especially
on
a
social
park,
so
which
can
be
if
a
patient
basically
needs
to
get
to
the
dmv
and
lost
their
id.
We'll
make
plans
for
for
that
from
them.
D
C
E
Yeah,
so
we
basically
have
been
testing
in
two
strategies.
Early
on
in
the
pandemic,
we
had
our
backpack
teams
going
out
there
doing
education.
We
actually
ended
up
adding
another
backpack
team
to
have
two
full-time
teams,
teaching
people
about
the
virus
and
then
testing
people
if
they
were
symptomatic
and
as
testing
capabilities
have
increased
we've
deputized
three
teams
that
are
made
up
of
nurses
to
basically
hit
up
every
congregate,
shelter,
every
large
encampment
any
place
where
homeless
people
are
together
to
test
them,
whether
they're
symptomatic
or
not.
E
So
we
offer
this
testing
we've
been
doing
it
for
almost
two
months,
and
we
have.
The
program
has
also
far
operated
very
well.
Some
people
have
been
tested
multiple
times
and
we've
reached
pretty
much
all
the
places
in
the
county
where
homeless
people
are
congregating.
We
plan
to
continue
this
effort
as
long
as
it's
required
to
help
control
the
covet
pandemic.
C
D
D
My
team
is
team
b,
so
I'm
one
of
the
teams
that
are
going
out
into
the
encampments,
I'm
partnering
up
with
two
travel
nurses
and
a
community
worker
and
we're
going
out
to
the
encampments
where
we
announce
who
we
are
we're
very
well
known
for
doing
backpack
medicine
for
valley
homeless.
So
we
we
announce
who
we
are
we're
valley,
medical
and
we
let
them
know
we're
here
to
test
for
coronavirus.
A
lot
of
them
know
about
the
chronovirus,
but
there's
a
lot
of
patients
out
there
that
don't
know
so.
D
We
we
educate
them
about
it
and
then
once
we
do
that
we
ask
them
if
they
like
to
be
tested.
If
they
don't
like,
if
they
decide
not
to
be
tested,
we
go
ahead
and
let
them
know
we'll
be
coming
back
to
the
site
every
month
and
then
as
well.
We
just
go
ahead
and
give
them
the
education
of
some
of
the
symptoms
of
covet
and
let
them
know
that
also
we're
partnering
up
with
osh
office
of
porter
housing
that
will
help
them
out
too.
If
they
do
become
pop.
C
E
Yeah,
I
can
add
a
little
bit
so
basically,
when
a
positive
test
result
comes
back
or
even
if
someone
has
symptoms
and
we're
waiting
on
that
result,
we
definitely
want
to
make
sure
that
they
are
in
a
safe
place
and
we
want
to
decrease
the
risk
of
any
spread.
So
we
will
safely
transport
that
person
to
one
of
our
quarantine
sites
to
basically
keep
them
safe
and
keep
the
community
safe.
F
E
We
will
keep
them
there
until
their
symptoms
are
gone
or
if
they
test
positive
until
they
are
appropriately
cleared
by
public
health
and
we've
worked
very
closely
in
collaboration
with
the
office,
supportive
housing
and
the
city
of
san
jose
to
be
able
to
staff
these
sites
and
provide
pretty
much
all
of
that
person's
needs.
So
there's
no
reason
for
them
to
have
to
leave
that
quarantined
situation.
So
they'll
get
their
food
laundry
kind
of
the
services
they
need
really
to
protect.
The
community.
C
D
Yeah,
there's
there's
a
story
about
a
couple
of
weeks
ago,
my
team
team
b
were
out
in
one
of
the
encampments
and
you
know
doing
our
testing
and
there
was
a
gentleman
older
gentleman
standing
off
to
the
side.
Probably
mid
50s
he's
asking
a
few
questions.
You
know,
basically,
what
we're
doing
out
there.
We
explained
that
we're
testing
for
the
coronal
virus
at
that
point
in
time
he
decided
not
to
get
tested
so
why
the
nurses
were
testing
one
of
the
other
patients.
D
I
was
talking
to
the
gentleman
and
he
stated
that
he
was
newly
newly
homeless
due
to
the
coronavirus
he
mentioned
that
his
car
had
recently
broke
down
and
that
the
line
of
work
he
was
in
is
had
some
background
working
with
concerts
and
concert
venues
and
basically
with
corona,
going
on
there's
no
concerts
going
on,
so
he
hasn't
had
no
work,
which
ended
up
being
one
of
the
main
reasons
why
he
temporarily
homeless.
At
this
point,
so
I
went
ahead
and
explained
our
program.
D
C
Yeah,
that's
great.
Our
program
has
been
around
for
quite
some
time
and
and
there's
still
a
lot
of
folks
out
there
that
don't
know
about
us
and
so
it's
great
that
we're
able
to
engage
them
and
bring
them
in.
We
certainly
have
still
a
lot
to
do
to
serve
our
homeless
population
here
in
santa
clara
county.
But
it's
also
gratifying
to
know
that
we're
able
to
make
a
positive
impact
on
some
on
some
of
the
folks
that
we're
serving
so.