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DPH details North Bay wildfire response and hepatitis A prevention efforts
Summary
DPH briefed the commission on mutual-aid deployments to Sonoma and Napa, hospital and nursing-home evacuations that brought over 100 nursing-home patients to San Francisco, and an ongoing hepatitis A vaccination campaign that has administered more than 4,000 doses so far.
Director Garcia and the department’s public health emergency team updated the commission on the North Bay wildfires and the department’s parallel hepatitis A prevention activation.
Dr. Naveena Bridal (public health emergency preparedness and response) said the fires prompted evacuations at multiple hospitals, including Sutter, Santa Rosa and Kaiser facilities, and that both hospital and nursing-home evacuations were a major regional effort. “We had over a 100 patients from nursing homes come to San Francisco as part of the evacuation efforts,” she said, describing deployments of Department of Public Health personnel, environmental health specialists and behavioral health teams to Sonoma and Napa.
Bridal also described a focused hepatitis A prevention campaign aimed at populations at elevated risk, including people experiencing homelessness and people who use illicit drugs. Strategies include vaccination at clinics for homeless patients, pop-up vaccination clinics at meal sites and outreach by street-medicine and shelter teams. “To date, we have about, over 4,000 vaccine doses that we've given,” Bridal said. The department said roughly 50 staff are working on the hepatitis A effort and that the governor’s emergency declaration has improved vaccine supply statewide.
Commissioners and staff discussed sheltering and repatriation of evacuated nursing-home residents and whether temporary stays would become permanent placements if facilities remain unusable. Director Garcia said repatriation depends on evacuation-zone reopening and facility status, and that the department is coordinating with the state about replacement sites for patients from a Federally Qualified Health Center that burned and reportedly served 26,000 patients.
Commissioners asked how members of the public can help; Bridal advised donations through established organizations such as the American Red Cross and noted the California Association of Hospitals set up a donation site for affected health care workers. Commissioners discouraged unsolicited material donations that can overwhelm local logistics.
Next steps: the department will continue mutual-aid deployments as requested, coordinate repatriation planning with facility operators and the state, and continue the hepatitis A vaccination campaign with additional outreach and follow-up for second doses when feasible.
