Focus on Health
For a variety of reasons, I attended a number of meetings related to the health care industry in the last couple of weeks.
Two of my meetings were at the Palo Alto Medical Center. On a quarterly basis, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation hosts a health advisory council, where they bring together stakeholders to discuss the issues surrounding the provision of quality community-based health care in the Tri-Valley. The focus of our meeting centered around the establishment of a “Healthy Communities Network”, where a regional collaborative could be established to pool health data and resources. The network would be a web-based program where cities, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and other health stakeholders can get information on “best practices” throughout the nation on a variety of areas. Programs can then be tailored locally to meet those challenges (i.e. autism, obesity, diabetes, etc.). Residents can also use the site as a resource to learn of local resources they can utilize for any health care needs. The network would also be a way to promote healthy lifestyles as a region, including health fairs, events, tips, etc.
Afterwards, I met up with Council Member Don Biddle and Economic Development Director Linda Maurer for a tour of the entire Gateway Medical Center as a function of our Economic Development committee. We discussed ways that the City can help existing medical users expand within the center as well as attract new medical users to the existing center and other parts of our City. Linda and I also attended another meeting later in the week at the Dublin satellite campus for Las Positas College, where they are discussing the possibility of building a health academy to train students on a variety of professions in the health care industry.