ADMINISTRATION

The COVID pandemic was a historic event and posed unprecedented challenges for our county and communities. It impacted the lives and livelihoods and the social and emotional well-being of residents across the county. But in the face of those challenges, we also saw a great spirit of resilience rise up and our sense of community shine bright.

When the pandemic first hit in 2020, it was hard to imagine the road ahead. We navigated “sheltering in place” and periods of surge. We came to a new understanding of essential services and appreciation for the essential workers who keep our communities and county functioning. Indeed, it was during the hardest times that our community came together the most and excelled.

This document is just a small glimpse into the past two years of pandemic response in Marin County through the lens of staff and community partners. It helps to memorialize the strength, dedication, bravery, and vulnerability of our staff during this most challenging time. Most of all, it serves as a great reminder of who we are as a community and what makes Marin County great.

On behalf of the Board of Supervisors, I want to thank our staff, community partners, and residents for stepping up and shining so brightly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Through our individual actions, our collective effort, and our commitment to community, we modeled partnership and collaboration and what a successful, compassionate community looks like.

Sincerely,

I am writing to express my sincere thanks to the hundreds of HHS employees who have stepped up when our community needed us most. The value and dedication of our staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be underestimated. The circumstances were extraordinary, and our county pulled together in a profound way to save lives. Our employee’s commitment to service was exemplified in our daily interactions with our community as this emergency changed on a day-to-day basis.

This Yearbook presents an opportunity to display, through photographs and narrative stories, the courage, sacrifice, and hard work that our employees and partners showed during the pandemic. Let this serve as a reminder that, as public servants, we take our duty and responsibility to heart. I am proud of your resilience and of the shining example of dedication that our employees displayed every single day.

Once again, I want to sincerely thank staff for serving as an inspiration to myself and our community.

With Appreciation,

COVID-19 rocked the world in March 2020. On March 16th, Marin County joined with five other Bay Area counties and issued a “shelter in place” order to combat COVID-19. We gave this fourweek order with the goal of “flattening the curve” and returning to normal by Spring Break. This is not what COVID had in store for us. Instead, we had to double down on our efforts to protect our community’s most vulnerable residents and Marin’s critical infrastructure.

With limited information, scarce resources, and no vaccine, it would take a collective effort to fight the virus. It would also take humility, perseverance, and sacrifice to adapt to the everchanging COVID landscape – our “new normal.” Our Marin HHS team and a contingent of county colleagues, municipal employees, community partners, volunteers, essential workers, first responders, healthcare providers, and elected officials had to navigate unprecedented and unimaginable challenges and demands. Fortunately, in Marin County, we found helpers around every corner, ready to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Every county department supported Marin Public Health — the Marin County’s Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services coordinated the Emergency Operations Center; the Department of Public Works supported logistics; the Community Development Agency assisted with advance planning; Cultural Services opened their doors; Parks and Recreation staffed our testing sites; Marin Fire and paramedics vaccinated; Librarians helped contact tracing, and much, much more. In times filled with fear and uncertainty, disaster service workers (DSWs) countywide readily and willingly accepted “other duties as assigned.”

We have deep gratitude for all the individuals, businesses, and organizations that helped Marin Public Health’s response to COVID-19. Childcare workers came to work every day so essential workers could do their jobs. Our direct care workforce provided in-home supportive care, and long-term care facility staff kept residents safe and the facilities open. Our all-hands-on-deck approach kept our critical infrastructure intact and protected our most vulnerable residents.

When COVID-19 breached our long term care facilities, Marin Public Health partnered with our three hospitals — Kaiser, Marin Health, and Sutter — to deploy a mobile assessment and triage team. Doctors, nurses, and staff went onsite during active outbreaks to test residents and staff and provide infection prevention and control guidance. They tirelessly worked endless days and countless nights to ensure treatment aligned with residents’ and patients’ goals of care. They prevented hospitalizations and saved lives.

As we enter the recovery phase of the pandemic, we have significant challenges ahead of us. Substance use and mental health disorders significantly increased across all age groups. Remote learning detrimentally impacted children and adolescents, and many students struggle to “catch up,” improve their social-emotional skills, and build resilience. While we forged and fortified our commitment to racial equity during our response, our essential workforce, disproportionately people of color, women, and immigrants, continue to earn non-living, low wages without protections or benefits.

We offered “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” and led the nation in preventing and controlling the spread of COVID. There were silver linings at every turn (and pivot) in our pandemic response. Your compassion, generosity, dedication, creativity, and endurance have inspired and buoyed us. We must stay galvanized, apply lessons learned to new and ongoing threats, maintain positive momentum, and seize the opportunity to achieve our vision where All in Marin Flourish.

Thank you for all you do each and every day.