FOR YOUR
HEALTH NEWS FROM SEQUOIA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT
OCTOBER 2020
Our Commitment to Equality in Health A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO PAMELA KURTZMAN
Keeping the 230,000 residents of the Sequoia Healthcare District informed and engaged in the pursuit of good health is critical for our community. Access to equitable health is fundamental to ensure we are successful. It’s what has driven our decision-making for years, particularly, in how we fund hundreds of great organizations that deliver preventative and proactive care for all members of our diverse community. This year, the District is renewing its long-held commitment to health equality by engaging in a fact-based discussion to find and implement ideas that make us all better. It’s intended to be a healthy discussion, as we always do, to examine our current thinking and processes so we may strengthen our path forward. To start, the Sequoia Healthcare District Board of Directors on Oct. 21 plans a facilitated deep dive into understanding healthcare inequities,
WHAT IS HEALTH EQUITY?
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances. Health inequities are reflected in differences in length of life; quality of life; rates of disease, disability, and death; severity of disease; and access to treatment. One of our primary goals is to achieve health equity by eliminating health disparities and achieving optimal health for all SHD residents.
what they are, how they manifest themselves and how we can be
trained to identify institutional subtleties even in our own decisionmaking. We anticipate multiple training sessions, data gathering and interviews to ensure we speak with shared definitions, use vetted and reliable facts and are listening intently so we accurately support the values of our San Mateo County community. Our expectation is we develop a unified vision to reduce if not eliminate healthcare inequities – a plan that would be adapted in early 2021. CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE
NEWS FROM SEQUOIA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
The plan would inform the setting of policies that address what may be structural impediments, what and how we fund healthcare initiatives and how we define public healthcare. This is a significant undertaking that, we hope, will result in significant and good changes for our community. We need your help to inform the choices and decisions we’ll be making. Please engage with our board members, with me and through various public meetings the Sequoia Healthcare District will be hosting and facilitating. As one of our initial steps, we encourage you to participate in Stanford’s John W. Gardner Center study, an online survey about households’ unmet needs. The survey is anonymous, should take five to 10 minutes to complete and is available here: tinyurl.com/ SurveyRWC20
WE ALREADY KNOW THAT IN THE SEQUOIA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT: • More than 60 percent of residents are people of color. In some Census tracts, it may be up to 98 percent. • Up to 37 percent of some Census tracts experience overcrowded housing conditions, making it difficult to socially distance in our pandemic, learn or work from home and have personal space to de-stress • Up to 39 percent of some Census tracts are limited in the English language, which makes it challenging to get and receive accurate information and access resources. • Our LGBTQI+ community makes up a high percentage of homeless youth and experiences discrimination obtaining jobs and creating financial security.
Sequoia Healthcare District San Mateo Zones
Race
COVID-19 cases*
American Indian
5
Asian
1,035
Latino
5,496
Black 124 Pacific Islander White Other
Unknown
242
1,273 194
2,232
*Through Oct. 12, 2020. Source: San Mateo County Health
San Francisco Bay
y
Redwood Shores Belmont San Carlos
£ ⁄
101
280
Redwood City 84
North Fair Oaks 82
Atherton Menlo Park
We’ll continue to solicit your input and keep you aware of our efforts. Thank you so much for being a great community that we’re working to make even better.
San Mateo County COVID-19 Cases By Race
OCTOBER 2020
Woodside
West Menlo Park 280
35
Election Zones Within Sequoia Healthcare District Zone A: Zone B: Zone C: Zone D: Zone E:
84
A
C
B
D
E
Portola Valley
94404, 94065, 94002, 94070, 94063, 94025, 94403 94062, 94061, 94027, 94025, 94063 94062, 94061, 94070, 94002 94063, 94062, 94025, 94061 94403, 94002, 94402, 94028, 94062, 94020, 94070, 94025
WHO WE ARE
Sequoia Healthcare District was formed in 1946 and was the first healthcare district in California. We are one of the 78 California Districts Esri,Healthcare Garmin, GEBCO, NOAA NGDC, and other contributors created to respond to the specialized health needs of our communities. The district covers central and southern San Mateo County. Specifically, this includes the cities of Atherton, Belmont, Redwood City, Portola Valley, San Carlos, Woodside and portions of Menlo Park, Foster City and San Mateo. There are approximately 220,000 residents in this area from the last census count.