Our local Pediatric Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange and its branch hospital, CHOC at Mission Hospital, have been operating above capacity due to the influx of pediatric respiratory illnesses in the community, primarily from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). In response, our County Health Officer, Dr. Chinsio-Kwong, signed a Declaration of Health Emergency. Additionally, a Proclamation of Local Emergency was signed by Chairman Chaffee. Both went into effect on October 31.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the local emergency order to protect the health and safety of our community.
This local Declaration of Emergency has no mandates or closures; Supervisor Wagner would not support restrictions on the public, as we saw the negative impacts with the State's failed Covid response.
A Declaration of Emergency allows Orange County hospitals and medical providers to do the following:
- Increase patient limits. Each hospital has a license with the State to care for a specific number of types of patients (pediatric, cardiac, ICU etc.). The Emergency declaration authorizes a hospital to increase its capacity limitations (beds) by extending care into spaces that are not typically used for patient care to meet increased volume needs.
- Add more hospitals as options for care. Hospitals that are not currently licensed for pediatric care, can be authorized. This allows hospitals to request relief/resources to meet the need (staff, PPE and medical equipment).
- Force County-wide collaboration with Hospitals and Providers. The collaborative framework of surge planning is escalated from being voluntary so that the County Health Officer can load balance demand and direct all hospitals and providers to coordinate resources to maximize what’s available to serve patients.
- Allow time for all hospitals to prepare to care for pediatric patients. As a provider not typically caring for pediatric patients, it also provides the opportunity to request relief in the form of medical equipment and staff to care for any surge patient that may be diverted to their facility.
In this case, we must protect the safety of our residents by giving our hospitals help when they need it. RSV is a real threat, especially to children and senior residents. For more information on RSV Prevention, please visit here.
