Senate readies for battle against H1N1 pandemic
Agencies report preparedness efforts as officials brace for back-to-school flu surge

SACRAMENTO – Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter), Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose), Senator Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles) and Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) will hold a joint hearing of their respective committees Thursday in Sacramento to weigh the state’s readiness for an expected upswing of the H1N1 virus as students return to crowded classrooms. 

The Legislature held a similar hearing in April, as the virus – then widely known as “swine flu” – was first beginning to spread outside Mexico, uncovering several areas of concern they will revisit to see that appropriate measures have since been taken to address them.

The Senate Select Committee on Disaster and Emergency Response will join with the Senate Committees on Health and Education, as well as the Joint Committee on Emergency Management, to prepare for a flu season in which the White House reports as many as two million Americans may require hospitalization from the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

The panel will look into concerns raised in April, including reports of insufficient surge capacity in California’s emergency rooms, threatened lay-offs of critical personnel, inconsistent communication between public health officers and health care providers and confusion over prioritization of scarce resources.  Concerns over the state’s ability to fund an aggressive response to a flu emergency have only heightened as the economy has declined.

Participants in Thursday’s hearing will include the California Department of Public Health, Health Officers Association of California, California Department of Education, local school district representatives, school nurses, California Hospital Association and California Nurses Association.

The hearing will be held upon adjournment of Senate Session in Room 112 of the State Capitol.

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WHO:                    Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, D-Shafter
                                Chair, Senate Select Committee on Disaster and Emergency Response
                                Senator Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose
                                Chair, Senate Committee on Health
                                Senator Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles
                                Chair, Senate Committee on Education
                                Senator Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego
                                Chair, Joint Committee on Emergency Management

WHAT:                  Hearing: “Evaluating the Impact of the H1N1 Pandemic on California’s Public Health & Education Systems: Are We Ready for Flu Season?”

WHEN:                  Thursday, August 27, 2009;
                                9:00 a.m. or upon adjournment of Senate Floor Session

WHERE:                State Capitol, Room 112; Sacramento, CA