County officials want to use Veterans Memorial Building in
Hollister as a location to administer vaccinations should a
large-scale health emergency occur.
Hollister – County officials want to use Veterans Memorial Building in Hollister as a location to administer vaccinations should a large-scale health emergency occur.
Last month, supervisors approved a memorandum of understanding setting Veterans Memorial Building as the site where medication and vaccinations will be administered in the event of a public health emergency, such as a bioterrorism attack.
The Hollister City Council approved the MOU last night.
“You need a local place that’s easily identified and large enough to facilitate things,” said Councilman Brad Pike, who is a captain with the Saratoga Fire Department.
Having a location where people know to gather is paramount during a large-scale emergency, he added.
Locating a site at which to administer mass vaccinations is a requirement for counties that receive federal Local Public Health Preparedness grants. Last year the county received $180,000 in LPHP funding. This year the San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency is anticipating an additional $150,000, according to director Kathy Flores.
The county has been working to increase its preparedness for a massive health emergency for some time. Three years ago it started an information technology upgrade that will connect the department and its field locations with health agencies throughout the nation.
That project entered its final stage in June when supervisors gave the health department the go-ahead to hire Miller Networks of Morgan Hill. The company installed the software that connected the county’s public health field locations. The $24,000 project was paid for by a federal bioterrorism grant.
“All employees can access the information,” said Muree Reafs, director of nursing for the county Public Health Department. “If something is traveling, we can watch it.”
The IT upgrade has been a big boost to the county’s public health department.
“When I got here eight years ago our stats were three to five years old,” Reafs said. “Now we get them in real time.”
