Non-Urgent Medical Procedures On Hold At Scripps

Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Tuesday August 24th. >>>> non-emergency Procedure delays at scripps health More on that next, but first... let’s do the headlines…. ###### The Food and Drug Administration has formally approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 and older. Prior to this, the vaccine only had experimental use authorization. Meanwhile, San Diego county leaders hope that the approval will help people who have been hesitant to get the shot to go get it now. Dr. Robert Gillespie is a Sharp Healthcare physician and a founding member of The San Diego County COVID-19 Equity Task Force. He told KPBS Midday Edition this will help authorities make vaccinations mandatory. “ I think the data is so clear from the information acquired up until now, that the impact, really, now is really going to be mandate’s.” He says he anticipates the Moderna vaccine will receive full approval soon as well. ######## The Caldor Fire burning in El Dorado County is getting some added resources this week as fire crews work to prevent the flames from reaching the Lake Tahoe Basin. Cal Fire Chief Thom Porter called the fire, quote “the number one priority in the nation.” “A lot of acreage is burning; fires are burning in ways that nobody has seen before. Yes, I keep saying that, you keep hearing that, but it is absolutely true. Mother nature is in control, and we are doing everything we can to save your lives and property.” The Caldor Fire leveled the town of Grizzly Flats and has burned through 106-thousand acres in El Dorado County. It is five percent contained. ######### The national weather service has issued an excessive heat watch for the Coachella valley and San Diego Deserts starting tomorrow through Friday evening. Temperatures are expected upwards of 112 degrees. ####### From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. Early on in the pandemic, local hospitals delayed non-urgent medical procedures to make room for COVID-positive patients. Now, that’s happening again at one local healthcare system. KPBS Reporter Melissa Mae has more. Two short months ago, Scripps Health had 13 COVID patients spread among their five hospital campuses… today they have 175. Plus another 850 patients are being treated for other medical issues. ‘Our healthcare workers in the United States are burning out.” Chris Van Gorder is the president and CEO of Scripps Health and has announced that some medical procedures may be postponed. But only those where it’s safe for the patient to wait...decisions will be made on a case by case basis. “to make sure that we deliver the highest quality care for our patient, that they have an appropriate bed, be that in the intensive care unit or in a COVID unit when they do get sick and that we take a little bit of pressure off of our staff who deeply deserve that at this point and time.” As healthcare workers face another surge of COVID-19 cases, Van Gorder (GORE-der) says the public is treating them differently than early in the pandemic. “People were coming and treating the healthcare workers as if they were heroes, businesses were bringing food and supplies. That has evaporated. As a matter of fact, the patients we are seeing now in many cases are angry. They’re yelling at the nurses and sometimes when we diagnose them with COVID, they say we’re lying to them.” “I have periods of time when I’m distressed and disheartened because I feel like we’re never going to get out of this.” Kimberly Brown is a licensed vocational nurse and instructor. “We have gotten a lot of backlash from people and I think it’s out of their frustration and not knowing what to do and knowing how long this is going to be.” Van Gorder says Scripps Health is adequately staffed to deliver safe care and if you are admitted to the hospital you will receive the care you need. Melissa Mae KPBS News. ######### San Diego State University started the fall semester on monday morning, with many students back on campus for the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown. There is a mask mandate, proof of vaccination requirement, and plenty of caution… as the Delta variant rages on. KPBS Education Reporter M.G. Perez was there for the first day of classes. Everyone's a winner when it comes to COVID-19 education and prevention. It’s the first day of classes here at SDSU and the first opportunity for the university’s Economic Crisis Response Team to reach students. This semester everything students need help with has some connection to COVID’s ongoing health threat...including food, housing, finances “biggest hope is that every student is able to succeed...any type of crisis.” SDSU requires every student to provide proof of full COVID vaccination before they can be on campus. Masks are required, too. So far 94-percent of the student body….that’s 33-thousand students have submitted documentation. “Everyone is supposed to be vaccinated..feel pretty comfortable “It’s super interesting...super excited to be here.” “this fall there are 6,000 students living here on campus. That’s 15-hundred less than before the covid pandemic started. The University hopes less students will help prevent another outbreak” San Diego City College started classes this morning, too. Most students are choosing to stay home and learn online. Only 20-percent of the total programs are being offered in-person. CG: Chula Vista In Chula Vista, Southwestern College has increased cleaning and sanitizing protocols along with partnering with the San Ysidro Health Center for ongoing vaccination clinics here on campus. Over the weekend, San Diego State officials investigated reports of violence and large party gatherings near the campus. It’s another health risk students face.. For now, prevention and an education go hand-in-hand. M.G. Perez ...KPBS News. ######## A new mural honoring deported veterans was unveiled on Saturday in Barrio Logan. KPBS reporter Alexandra Rangel has more. Nathan Fletcher, San Diego County Board of Supervisors “They loved this country enough that they were willing to take an oath and say I will die for it.” Veterans who commit crimes but do not have U.S. citizenship are often deported back to their native country. Such is the case for Laura Meza, who was deported in 2003 after serving in the U.S. Army. She is one of the many faces portrayed on the Leave No One Behind Mural Project. The mural can be seen outside of the Don Diego Veterans of Foregin Wars Post in Barrio Logan. Jennica Tamayo, Air Force Veteran “Who is being left behind. Laura Meza and dozens of deported veterans just like her who continue to be deported right now as we speak.” Jennica Tamayo is an Air Force Veteran. She shared about her battle with PTSD, a story that parallels Meza’s . Jennica Tamayo, Air Force Veteran “Haunting intrusive thoughts ,vivid nightmares.” Tamayo, a U-S citizen, was able to get the help she needed to overcome PTSD, but those suffering in silence sometimes never get the help they need. Dulce Garcia, Border Angels Executive Director “Veterans are often suffering from PTSD. Sometimes that results in them committing some sort of crime that gets them deported.” Dulce Garcia is the executive director for Border Angels. She’s worked with deported vets who aren't able to come back to the U.S. due to immigration policy for service members. But things may be changing as the Biden Administration has promised to provide a pathway to citizenship for vets. The Department of Homeland Security will evaluate if crimes committed by veterans had a correlation to PTSD due to military service. Dulce Garcia, Border Angels Executive Director “Sounds like a long process. It’s going to be case by case and that’s why they needed to get started yesterday. It’s a long process to bring everybody back.” A QR code can be found on the Leave No One Behind mural. The public can scan the code with their smartphone and learn about each person depicted on the mural. Alexandra Rangel KPBS News. ########## As the airlift continues in Kabul, Afghan families are arriving in San Diego. KPBS Military Reporter Steve Walsh says it is putting strain on local aid agencies Earlier in the year, the number of Afghans coming to San Diego under the special immigration visas program slowed to a trickle. All of that has turned around the last two weeks, as the evacuation continues in Kabul says Etleva Bejko, with Jewish Family Services of San Diego. “The biggest challenge remains the housing. San Diego has a housing shortage as it is. So dealing with that in such an emergency situation makes it even more difficult. We’ve seen quite a lot of support from the community.” Afghans are being sent to bases around the US to finish their applications, then quickly sent to their final destination. At the moment, Jewish Family Services is seeing one new family arriving every day. Steve Walsh KPBS News. ########## Coming up.... We have a full profile of some of the candidates in next months’ recall election. That’s next, just after the break. Early voting is underway in the Sept. 14 election that will decide whether Gov. Gavin Newsom is kicked out of office. The first question on the ballot is a yes or no: Should Newsom be recalled? But the second question — who should replace him if the recall passes — has many voters scratching their heads. KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen takes a closer look at four of the 46 replacement candidates. AB: We picked these candidates because they've most consistently polled among the top. And we'll start with the favorite: Conservative radio host Larry Elder. Elder has been on the air for decades, and his national profile has helped him rise fast in the polls. Still, his politics would be a sharp right turn for blue California. Elder, who is Black, denies the existence of systemic racism. He opposes gun control. And he believes the minimum wage should be abolished. Here he is speaking with the Sacramento Bee editorial board. LARRY ELDER REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR LE: I never have quite understood why a third party like government, why that government feels like it's anybody's business what my relationship is with an individual who willingly sold his labor, and my relationship with that person who willingly bought that labor. Why two people who are adults can't determine what the price of labor ought to be is beyond me. AB: Next, let's look at San Diego businessman John Cox. You might recognize him as the 2018 Republican candidate for governor. Or his use of a live bear as a campaign prop. Cox wants to use the criminal justice system to force people experiencing homelessness into mental health treatment. He rejects the national best practice of giving them housing first. And he told CalMatters the government's response to COVID-19 borders on hysteria. JOHN COX REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR JC: It's not ebola. It's not the smallpox. I think maybe what we ought to do is take a step back and take a deep breath and say, you know, 'We'll do what we can, we'll keep people as protected as we can.' But we're never going to get rid of this disease, and I think it's disingenuous on the part of the politicians to think, 'Gee, we're going to end this disease completely.' AB: Another familiar face for San Diegans is former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. He's tried to claim the title of the most moderate Republican in the race, and the one with the most experience in elected office. On housing, Faulconer touts San Diego's "Complete Communities" program that allows denser and taller apartment buildings near public transit. And during a CapRadio debate, he said California's laws need to change so similar programs can get done faster. KEVIN FAULCONER REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR KF: We shouldn't have had to do over a year that it took to do that. It needs to be streamlined. We need to make it easier so we can actually construct the housing where we want it, which is along our transit corridors. That's where you want the density, not in single-family neighborhoods. AB: Elder, Cox and Faulconer are all Republicans who supported Donald Trump in 2020. But one Democrat has emerged as a top contender among the replacement candidates: YouTuber and real estate broker Kevin Paffrath. He's young — 29 — and his platform includes converting vacant commercial buildings into homeless shelters. But he doesn't say where the shelters would be, or how he'd pay for them. His pitch to voters: A Republican governor won't get anything done with Democrats controlling the legislature. KEVIN PAFFRATH DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR KP: I'm not a far leftist and I'm not a far rightist. In fact, most people who learn about me don't even know if I'm a Democrat or a Republican. That's because my policies and my solutions are California solutions. They're neutral, middle-of-the-road solutions. And I seek to provide those solutions with both Democrats and Republicans. AB: These are only four of 46 candidates trying to replace Newsom. But remember, if a majority of voters say “no” to the recall, Newsom stays in office and the vote on who should replace him doesn't matter. Recent polls have shown likely voters are almost evenly split on whether Newsom should be recalled. That's because Democrats are more apathetic and less likely to vote, while Republicans are energized at the prospect of taking over the Golden State. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news. That’s it for the podcast today. Be sure to catch KPBS Midday Edition At Noon on KPBS radio, or check out the Midday podcast. You can also watch KPBS Evening Edition at 5 O’clock on KPBS Television, and as always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.