LVMC Community Update, June 24, 2022

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

What happened on this date in history?

• 1901 – The first exhibition by Pablo Picasso, aged 19, opened in Paris.
• 1947 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Jackie Robinson stole home for the first of 19 times in his career as the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2.
• 2022 – The United States Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, returning decisions and legislation regarding abortion back to each state.

Quote of the week

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quite voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” —Mary Anne Radmacher

COVID Comments

• Covid positivity rate in Santa Barbara County has increased significantly from a low of 1.5% on March 13, to 12% on June 17 (the last date reported).
• Covid case rate per 100,000 population in the county has increased significantly but has recently been decreasing. The recent low rate was 3.6 on March 19, increasing to 38.9 on June 6, and standing at 23.8 on June 17 (the last date reported).
• There have been no Covid deaths in the county during the week of June 12 (the last week reported). There have been 4 deaths during the seven-week period ending June 19.
• Covid hospitalizations in the county have increased significantly during the past month, with the greatest increase seen in South County. As of yesterday, there were 38 Covid hospitalized patients in the County, with 6 of those receiving ICU care. Of the 38 hospitalized patients, 4 were at LVMC (today we now have 5). 5 patients equals a recent high for LVMC, but still well below the LVMC pandemic high of 26 patients.

Vaccinations

• Our vaccination clinics continue each Friday from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm., at the hospital, for ages five and above. Appointments are available at myturn.ca.gov, and walk-ins are welcome.
• Earlier this week we received from the CDC 400 doses of the Covid vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years. Beginning late next week, vaccinations for this age group will be available to existing and newly establishing patients of our Lompoc Health Pediatricians. Depending on the individual circumstance, the vaccination will be given at an appointment with the Pediatrician, or in a “vaccination clinic” setting. For more information, please call Lompoc Health North H Center at (805) 737-8760, or North Third Center at (805) 736-1253. Other pediatric providers in the community will also be providing vaccinations for this age group, so please check with your pediatric provider.

(By way of comparison for the Pfizer vaccine, children under age 5 have a three 3-microgram dose regimen; children 5-11 have a two 10-microgram regimen; and those 12 and up have a two 30-microgram dose regimen.)

Hospital Quality Institute

Hospital Quality Institute (HQI), among other things, monitors and reports quality measures for California hospitals. I am pleased that in the recently released HQI report, LVMC outperformed the California and National averages in four of the five quality metrics. Those metrics are: Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections; Colon Surgical Site Infections; Sepsis Mortality; and 30-Day Readmissions.

Thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated. As always, please feel free to contact me at popkins@lompocvmc.com or (805) 737-3301. Until next time, be well and stay safe!

Steve Popkin

Chief Executive Officer