The Pulse-September 2024

On September 10, 2024, Supervisor Janice Hahn introduced a motion proclaiming the Week of September 22-28 as the second annual Language Access Week in Los Angeles County. The motion notes that the LA Health Services’ Office of Language Access and Inclusion “provides access to over 250 languages, through certified bilingual staff, contracted language service vendors, and DHS Healthcare Interpreters to ensure quality language services at DHS are available in-person, via video, and telephonically. Language Services are also made available through innovative integration into our Virtual Healthcare platform including video visits, eVisits, and language services apps for smart devices as part of our Language Access in Virtual Healthcare Program (LAVHP).” The motion also acknowledges the creation of a career ladder to improve recruitment and retention efforts for qualified healthcare interpreters throughout the Department. 

Our on-site Healthcare Interpreters provide vital face-to-face interpretation for complex and urgent encounters, including informed consent and end-of life conversations, for example. They support critical conversation in high acuity settings such as the Surgical Care, Emergency/Urgent Care, and Intensive Care Units. We are proud to have these language professionals as part of our healthcare team in caring for our patients with non-English language preference. 

As part of the Language Access Week celebrations, each hospital, various Ambulatory Care Network (ACN) sites, and key programs hosted events to promote awareness of Language Access Services and recognize our incredible Language Access staff. Their work ensures that patients who prefer to receive their healthcare services in a language other than English can do so.

During the week, LA Health Services celebrated the availability of these Language Access Services and the program that support the provision of these services free of cost to our patients and their families. Language Services not only includes Spoken or Signed Interpreter Services, but the translation of written patient materials as well.

Also being celebrated this month is International Interpreters/Translators Day (September 30^th)! This day also recognizes interpreters and translators for the essential role they hold as part of our healthcare team. Did you know that translators work with written text and interpreters work with spoken or sign language? Qualified healthcare interpreters and translators are language professionals who have completed additional training including medical terminology, interpreting/translating ethics, and patient confidentiality in addition to being proficiently bilingual. 

Thank you to our highly talented language access staff!  

In late August, the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDIA) and the Leadership Development Program (LDP) collaborated to engage approximately 300 Health Services leaders in a full day program titled, ‘See, Engage, Act: Our Role to Advance Equity as Leaders.’ The event served as the annual Alumni Reunion for the LDP, which offers leadership development programming for all supervisors and managers across the organization.

The event was designed to provide leaders opportunities to:

• Explore what EDIA means at LA Health Services and why it is crucial for organizational transformation
• Gain a greater understanding of EDIA concepts and approaches to foster inclusive, cohesive, and resilient relationships and teams
• Strengthen community by finding meaning in shared experiences as well as appreciating unique differences
• Ask questions and explore ideas about advancing EDIA within their teams and across LA Health Services

Throughout the day, leaders participated in activities and discussions that let them move from exploring and sharing individual stories of personal identities and journeys, to reflecting on and thinking through how diverse histories of both oppression and liberatory struggle have helped to shape our current environment, in which much collective work remains to be done to advance inclusion, equity, and anti-racism. This calling to advance EDIA on behalf of our workforce, patients, and communities unites all of us.

To set the tone for the day, executive leaders from LA Health Services shared personal reflections on some of their own stories of how their identities and experiences have shaped their leadership. EDIA Director Danielle Gautt, who facilitated the panel, said, “It was so powerful for everyone to hear some of our top leaders speaking with candor and vulnerability about how dimensions of their own identities have impacted opportunities and decisions related to their own leadership. Often at work we haven’t been accustomed to sharing about how various parts of our identities, such as race and ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, are reflected in our leadership. These examples helped create a climate in which hundreds of participants were able to explore and discuss how facets of our identities show up in our experiences as leaders.”

The event was geared to provide common foundations for leaders in exploring EDIA, with an expectation that this event is part of a much longer journey to continue advancing EDIA together. Next year, EDIA themes and learnings will be integrated into our foundational leadership development program, Transforming the Organization through People (TOP), to provide similar experiences and opportunities for hundreds more leaders to delve deeper into EDIA and leadership.

Bridget Jackson, Supervising Respiratory Care Practitioner at Olive View -UCLA Medical Center, reflected on her experience at the reunion. "I was thinking about how important it is that we move from imposing our perceptions and judgments of people to appreciating and valuing each person's unique contributions. It made me recall a profound quote from author Matshona Dhliwayo: 'A garden's beauty never lies in one flower.'

If you are interested in getting involved with EDIA efforts at LA Health Services, please email helloedia@dhs.lacounty.gov or visit the EDIA site (Link is only accessible to staff).

Edith Gillespie, MA, OTR, was a retired 31-year Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Rancho Los Amigos) employee, clinical expert, leader in the field of occupational therapy, and professional exemplar and mentor to many occupational therapists. After her passing, the Rancho Los Amigos Foundation received a substantial gift of over a million dollars from the Edith Gillespie Living Trust. This gift reflects Edith's unwavering support for Occupational Therapy, Rancho Los Amigos, and the patients they serve.

Edith's journey in the field of occupational therapy began after obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. Her dedication to furthering her education led her to earn a master’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota and a certification in occupational therapy from Tufts University.

She found her calling as an occupational therapist at Rancho Los Amigos, where she made a lasting impact. During her time at Rancho Los Amigos, Ms. Gillespie taught and supervised various occupational therapy programs, including the Cardiac, Pulmonary, Muscular Dystrophy, Gerontology, and Driver Rehabilitation and Training Programs. Edith was particularly passionate about the Rancho Driver Rehabilitation and Training Program, recognizing the vital role driving plays in daily tasks and independence for individuals with disabilities.

Under Ms. Gillespie’s leadership, the Driver Rehabilitation and Training Program flourished. It was established by the Occupational Therapy Department in 1957 and was one of the first non-Veterans Administration driving programs on the West Coast. During her time at the Driver Rehabilitation and Training Program, Ms. Gillespie promoted research, outcome studies, innovative modifications for driving equipment, and teaching and training opportunities to help increase awareness of the program. The program gained recognition both nationally and internationally, welcoming students and visitors from around the world. Today, the program boasts a fleet of 3 modified vehicles with various adaptations, continuing its long-standing reputation for excellence. In honor of Ms. Gillespie’s dedication and passion, the program has officially been renamed the Edith Gillespie Driver Rehabilitation and Training Program.

Her legacy will undoubtedly live on through the countless individuals who will benefit from her generosity. Her belief in the power of engaging in occupations for those with disabilities to fully participate in life will continue to shape the lives of many. Rancho Los Amigos and the Edith Gillespie Driver Rehabilitation and Training Program stand as a testament to her exemplary contributions and dedication.

Thank you to Y. Lin Yasuda for contributing to this article.

On Friday, September 13, 2024, Ms. Abnika White, Senior Community Health Worker at LA Health Services was one of seven Community Health Workers (CHW) from across the United States invited to participate in a national Community Health Workforce Well-Being Roundtable. The roundtable was hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General (OSG). In the presence of Dr. Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General, Abnika elevated the impact of CHWs and offered recommendations on how to best support the CHW profession.

Abnika is a valued team member of the Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) outpatient team in the Lomita Family Medicine Clinic primary care medical home. She works very closely with the multidisciplinary care team, which includes medical case workers, clinical social workers, nurses, health educators, providers, and other team members to improve patient outcomes. One of the various programs that the team is implementing is CalAIM Enhanced Care Management (ECM). The ECM benefit provides the sickest, most marginalized Medi-Cal beneficiaries with a multidisciplinary team to coordinate their care and help them address their needs and navigate the health delivery system.

BHI CHWs, including Abnika play an integral role in establishing trust with patients, educating patients and their support networks about health and social resources (for example, healthcare, housing, transportation, food insecurity, treatment for substance use disorders), navigating resources, building the capacity of the patients and their support networks to advocate for their needs. They also meet the patient where they are at by conducting outreach, meeting them in their homes or in the field, and providing services in the patient’s preferred language.

Among the things Abnika shared with the roundtable was that the work can be mentally and physically exhausting but rewarding in other ways. She noted with pride the successes of helping to place individuals and families experiencing homelessness into recuperative care and other types of housing. The breadth of knowledge required for this type of work is broad. CHWs understand the myriad rules associated with different types of housing and can help their patients navigate complicated systems to obtain what they need.

Among her recommendations to the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General was to strategically augment vital resources like housing and to hire more CHWs to meet the need that is so apparent in our communities. She noted that the work is hard, heartbreaking and complex and the need can be overwhelming, but she is glad to be a part of the solution. She also noted that it is important to provide incentives to recruit and retain talent like career ladders and commensurate compensation. She recommended exploring the possibility of establishing a certification standard for all CHW to ensure quality and improve pay.

Thank you to Leticia Rodriguez Avila, Abnika Akubuo, Dr. Belinda Waltman for their invaluable contributions to this article.           

We are proud to share that Arelle Middleton, who plays on the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center’s Junior Varsity Halo’s Wheelchair Basketball team, won the Silver Medal in the Women’s Shot Put F64 at the Paralympics in Paris on September 5th. The F64 classification is for athletes with limb deficiencies and leg length differences. At just 16 years old, Arelle is the youngest athlete to medal in this event and the youngest member of Team USA to earn a medal at the Paralympics. She’s a versatile athlete who also competed in the discus event at the Paralympics. Visit the Paralympics website to learn more about the events.  

As the Presidential General Election approaches, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office has created informational materials to empower voters to make a plan and vote!

As part of the ongoing efforts to promote voter participation and civic engagement, the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder’s office launched their Vote For It! -- Community Digital Toolkit, which is a comprehensive resource created to support community partners and local stakeholders to effectively inform and engage voters ahead of the upcoming Presidential General Election. 

The toolkit provides easy-to-use guides, shareable digital assets, and key election information, making the voting process more accessible for everyone. With the election fast approaching, it is imperative that every eligible voter is equipped with the knowledge and confidence to cast their ballot. 

The toolkit is available in English and 18 additional languages (accessible via the language toggle at the top right of the toolkit), ensuring inclusivity for all communities. This toolkit will be updated throughout the election season to continuously provide relevant materials and information. Check back often and then make a plan to vote on November 5!