-August 25,2021-
Ed Hill named CAO
Kings County Board of Supervisors have selected the county Public Health Director,Ed Hill, to be their new County Administrative Officer. The board vote was unanimous. Hill will replace interim CAO Larry Spikes as of September 6. Hill has been with the County since June 2017 coming to the area from Kern County.
More Covid patients in the hospital
Staff face vaccine deadline
Both Hanford’s Adventist hospital and Kaweah Health in Visalia report an increase in the number of Covid patients in the hospital. As of August 24, Kaweah Health was caring for 126 Covid patients with 13 in the ICU.Those numbers compare to just 10 Covid patients a month ago and 119 on August 23.Hanford has 63 Covid patients with 9 in the ICU.Of the 76 total hospitalized in the four Central Valley Adventist hospitals, just 10 of them have been vaccinated.
With the state mandating all hospital staff be vaccinated by Sept 30, Adventist’s four Central Valley hospitals are at 69%of staff currently, not including providers. Of the 3000 plus staff, some 300 have requested exemptions that the administration will consider, says spokesperson Amanda Jaurigui.
At Kaweah Health, facing the same deadline, about 65% of staff are now vaccinated, with about 92% of the medical staff.
Kaweah Health CAO Gary Herbst has said he fears the state mandate will drive away nurses.The hospital is down their usual complement of nurses.
“There are many health care workers that do not want to be vaccinated and my greatest fear now is that they will leave,” Herbst said. “They will either leave the profession altogether, or they will leave the state of California and go to a nearby state.”
The other side of the coin is that unvaccinated care givers can pass on the virus, in effect -causing harm.
Increasing mandates at schools, hospitals and worksites has the effect of increasing the low percentage of the public who are vaccinated, supporters say.
Visitors who want to come to the hospital to see a loved one will need to be vaccinated under the state mandate. Visitors will be required to show proof of vaccination or prove they’ve tested negative for COVID-19 within the 72 hours prior to their visit.
County vaccination rates are low compared to other California counties. In Kings County only 31% of residents are fully vaccinated with 38% receiving one dose. The county has tried to increase those percentages.
In Tulare County just 38% of residents are fully vaccinated and 46% have received one shot. Meanwhile, it is the unvaccinated that are filling the hospital beds with 87 percent of Kaweah’s COVID-19 patients being unvaccinated.
Jobless rate drops
The unemployment rate in Kings County was 9.7 percent in July 2021, down from a revised 10.3 percent in June 2021, and below the year-ago estimate of 12.4 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 7.9 percent for California and 5.7 percent for the nation during the same period.
High-Speed Line Between Bakersfield & Palmdale Ok’d
The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors last week approved the Final Environmental Impact Report for the 80-mile Bakersfield to Palmdale project alignment section. “Today’s approval represents another major milestone for this project as we move the project into Los Angeles County,” said CEO Brian Kelly. “We appreciate the collaboration with our local and regional partners as we work to build a clean, electrified high-speed rail system that will connect our state for generations to come.”
The section provides a north-south high-speed rail connection between the Central Valley and the Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County, closing the passenger rail gap that currently exists between the two regions. The section is designed to accommodate a connection with the Brightline West high-speed rail project to Las Vegas.
The project can now move forward on pre-construction work as it waits to receive funds to begin construction.
More funding?
President Joe Biden and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer spoke recently about more funding of the rail line in California with passage of the federal infrastructure bill.
“Fresno is ground zero for California’s high-speed rail efforts,” said Dyer in a Zoom call with the President. “Federal assistance is vital. And I’m hopeful this infrastructure bill will provide that support to us here in Fresno.” That may be between $20-40 billion for rail projects that California can compete for.