Future Impact
The re-introduction of social activities in the LA area has been
cautious and closely monitored. Initially hiking trails and beaches were
opened for recreational use mid-May. Near the end of May, restaurants
were permitted to reopen with the agreement that certain safety
protocols were met such as outside seating, maintantince of 6-feet
distance, offering electornic menu, and hand hygiene protocols for
employees. Health officials inspected over 2,000 LA restaurants two
weeks after opening and found that approximately 50% were not in
compliance with the safety protocols issued.
As of June 20, 890,793 have been tested out of a total population of
over 10 million residents. [5] There have been 79,609 confirmed
cases with 3,063 deaths. [5] Of these 7,632 have required
hospitalization. [5] The predicted surge has not happened to date,
and this may have to do with early state and county-wide shut-down,
however a progressive and gradual increase of COVID-19 postive cases has
been occurring recently. As the LA area continues to relax restrictions,
health officials closely monitor for changes indicating the need to
resume at-home restrictions.
The next crisis facing California hospitals will likely be the financial
impact of cancelling elective cases, costs related to surge preparation,
a ravaged economy, and a predicted increase in uninsured or underinsured
patients as job losses push people towards Medi-Cal, the California
Medicaid insurance coverage. The University of California health system
reported losses over $140 Million over 6 academic health centers from
the cancellation of elective procedures. Across California, hospitals
are reporting average losses of 20-30% with a predicted net loss of up
to $14.6 billion across about 400 hospitals by the end of 2020. [8]
In addition to direct losses from COVID impact, California passed a
state law requiring hospitals to update earthquake preparedness
infrastructure by 2030, which was estimated to cost up to $100 billion
over the next 9 years. [10]