Other Key Partners Representing Systems that Intersect with Homelessness Association of California Cities, Orange County The Association of California Cities- Orange County (ACC-OC) represents the interests of many Orange County cities through its advocacy and education efforts. ACC-OC welcomes a variety of members from the non-profit, intra-government and business communities, and understands that good public policy is the product of collaboration with all stakeholders. ACC-OC’s primary focus can be broken down into five pillars: 1) state legislation, 2) housing, 3) regional planning, 4) research and data collection, and 5) marketing to constituencies, all which have regional impacts within Orange County. ACC-OC utilizes a policy committee structure to facilitate tangible solutions, collaborate and educate on regional policy issues. In addition to forming committees around regional policy issues, ACC-OC also utilizes task forces to deal with specific issues and objectives, such as homelessness. ACC-OC has a Homeless Task Force that discusses ideas and creates regional work plans to address the ongoing homeless crisis impacting Orange County’s municipalities. The Homeless OC Task Force is participating in a cost-of-homelessness study, led by University of California, Irvine (UCI), with support from Orange County United Way, Jamboree Housing, 211OC and the Hospital Association of Southern California.
Hospital Association of Southern California The Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) is a non-profit regional trade association dedicated to effectively advancing the interest of hospitals in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. HASC is comprised of more than 170 member hospitals and health systems, plus numerous related professional associations and associate members, all with a common goal: to improve the operating environment for hospitals and the health status of the communities they serve. Within Orange County, the Hospital Association membership reflects the following resource inventory:
32 Hospitals – including general acute care, long-term acute care and acute psychiatric care. There are: o 670 total licensed inpatient beds o 474 acute psychiatric beds 24 Hospitals with emergency departments, including: o 581 total emergency room beds o 13,379,759 total emergency room encounters in 2014.
The intersection between health care and homeless services is clear, with significant financial and humanistic implications driving the need to build a more intentionally designed and robust network of resources. Hospital discharge planning, Affordable Care Act compliance, managing high utilizers of EMS, chronic disease management, detoxification and mental health interventions must be proactively addressed through very intentional resource development to meet the needs of those most vulnerable, while improving the overall quality of our health care system within Orange County.
Hospital discharge planning o Shorter hospital stays means that more recovery is taking place at nursing facilities or at home, creating a need to fill the gap with recuperative care – transitional care or respite care. Affordable Care Act compliance – The Affordable Care Act has pushed for: 32