By Thomas Hughes
Bay City News
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a request Tuesday for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for nine California counties, including Monterey County.
If approved, the move will pave the way for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be provided to local governments and individuals impacted by storms in February and March.
In addition to Monterey County, the request included Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, along with Calaveras, Kern, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.
Four other counties were added to a previous emergency declaration from the governor, including Alameda, Marin, Modoc and Shasta counties.
“Over these past months, state, local and federal partners have worked around the clock to protect our communities from devastating storms that have ravaged every part of our state. We will continue to deploy every tool we have to help Californians rebuild and recover from these storms,” Newsom said.
If approved, aid from FEMA can be used for individual housing assistance, food aid, counseling, medical and legal services. It will also cover some storm-related costs like debris removal.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has requested additional state aid to help undocumented residents receive direct assistance that they aren’t eligible for from FEMA.
The governor said in a press release that funding from the state’s Rapid Response Fund would be made available to those residents and will ensure that families with mixed immigration status can access federal aid.
A local resources center opened Wednesday at the Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building at 215 E. Beach St. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through April 7. The center is staffed with personnel from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Monterey County emergency staff who will help guide Monterey County residents through the recovery process.
An eviction moratorium was passed by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will provide limited eviction protection for residents who lost income because of the storms. If the Presidential Disaster Declaration is approved, FEMA assistance could help some eligible residents receive money to help pay rent, which will not be forgiven during the moratorium.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

By Bay City News

In response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s declaration of a state of emergency, California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned consumers that price gouging during the state’s series of storms is illegal.

On Wednesday, Bonta issued a consumer alert reminding residents that it is against the law for sellers to increase prices by over 10%. The law applies to sellers with food, emergency or medical supplies, building materials and gasoline for sale.

Also prohibited are extreme price spikes for reconstruction services, cleanup services, transportation services and rental housing and hotel accommodations.

Sellers are exempt from the prohibition if the price of labor, goods or materials have increased.

Violators are subject to fines up to $10,000 or a one-year county jail sentence, and civil penalities.

Californians who believe they were a victim of price gouging are urged to report the incident to local authorities or to Bonta’s office at oag.ca.gov/report.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

By Olivia Wynkoop
Bay City News

In an effort to address a growing need for mental health and addiction care, a bill was introduced on Monday in the state assembly to develop a minimum staffing requirement for behavioral health emergencies in California hospitals.

Introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, Assembly Bill 1001 would reportedly ensure there is enough qualified staff available in all units of a hospital to promptly assist those experiencing mental health and addiction crises.

The bill would require hospitals to have the following immediately available for hospital patients outside of psychiatric units: at least two psychiatric registered nurses and one trained staff member, as well as a staff member capable of caring for a patient’s psychosocial needs.

The California Department of Health Care Access and Information cited that in 2020, people with behavioral health diagnoses made up one-third of all inpatient hospital admissions.

But despite the need, there is currently no mandate on the amount of behavioral health staff members available to care for these patients, which has often resulted in long wait times.

Members of the California Nurses Association, a union comprised of over 100,000 nurses in the state, said that California hospitals are increasingly unprepared and lack specialized nurses to respond to the growing number of patients with behavioral health care needs.

“For patients who are suffering from an emergency, it could be a matter of life or death,” said Yvette Bassett, a registered nurse in the emergency room at Saint Francis Hospital. “Having an appropriately skilled behavioral health team would not only save the life of our patients, but also provide the necessary support for staff and nurses to appropriately care for the patient.”

On Monday, union members and Haney gathered outside San Francisco’s St. Mary’s Medical Center to stress the need for appropriate staffing in hospitals.

“It is very difficult to see a patient suffering from a behavioral health emergency and not have trained professionals available to treat them,” said Amy Preble, an ICU nurse at St. Mary’s Medical Center. “The lack of expertise and resources not only hurts our patients, but puts nurses and other staff at risk for violence. We know when nurses aren’t safe, none of our patients are safe. Passage of this bill would indicate our respect for those who are suffering from behavioral health crises, all of our patients, and signal that nurses deserve protection at work.”

Haney said that not only does understaffing prevent patients from receiving the care they deserve, but also exacerbates already overworked hospital workers. The inability to care for patients is partially the reason why the state’s licensed nurse population are leaving the profession, he said.

“Instead of treating people with mental health and addiction issues, we’re pushing them back onto the street,” said Haney, who also serves as chair of the Fentanyl and Opioid Overdose Prevention Select Committee.

His office reports that out of the 500,000 licensed nurses in California, 348,000 are currently working in hospitals.

Haney added that the bill would fund a mental health and addiction staff training program with pre-existing behavior health care funds, so workers can learn how to de-escalate crises and better care for patients.

“If we don’t invest in this workforce, we’ll continue to see more nurses leaving the field and fewer patients getting the help they desperately need.”