SCAOHN is planning another conference in November. The decision as to whether it will be in the central coast or back in Temecula is still being decided (cost and participation are the driving factors).
But more exciting, we have a new look to the Website (https://www.scaohn.org/). Thanks to Greg Dyro our webmaster for making it easier to use and find information. If anyone has news or ideas please reach out, we want this website to have valuable content.
There are some tangible and intangible benefits from volunteering for a board position. Doing this type of work helps with leadership skills, time management, networking and expand your occupational health outlook. Holding a board position will also help foster comprehensive knowledge of prevention strategies in occupational health and create relationships that can be subject matter resources. In our last meeting we passed a measure that gives board members paid AAOHN membership and eligible for some reimbursement for travel and accommodations for SCAOHN events. Please consider volunteering.
Also we want to implement a way for members of SCAOHN to be eligible for educational scholarships.
We are still in COVID mode with the new Omicron BA.5 being more contagious than Delta. Here is the tracking site that you may want to visit once a week. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html. LA county I’m sure will be back to Masking Mandates soon, and it does not appear that anyone is capturing date from home tests, so underreporting has to be an issue.
I don’t think much is happening in the Workers’ comp world or OSHA surveillance. It seems that some in-person surveillance exams can still be postponed.
Some Legislation that you may want to watch:
AB 890 was put into law January 1, 2021 but there are some bills that help further define practice:
SB1375 increases access to Health care for women and would allow NP’s that meet specific criteria to practice without MD supervision that includes 1st trimester AB.
AB4 (Arambula) is still alive, but appears to be suspended in appropriations committee. It would provide Medi-Cal to all who meet criteria and include those regardless of age or immigration.
AB 410 – is dead. It was the RN/LVN Nurse Licensure compact
AB 585 (Rivas) is still alive. Climate change Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program. Is worth us looking at with the Ca Nurses for Environmental Health and Justice. It’s a 2-year bill.
I hope you all have a wonderful summer. It continues to be a challenging time. I think that if we can help each other, by sharing information and knowledge we can make a difference. Please consider volunteering on the board.
