Santa Cruz Local

Santa Cruz Local hosted its first town hall meeting Friday, April 17 on Zoom. Our guests: Dr. Larry DeGhetaldi, Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation Santa Cruz division president, and Dr. David Ghilarducci, Santa Cruz County’s deputy health officer. Some takeaways: Santa Cruz County can maybe expand to 60 intensive care beds, but models predict 100 will be needed at a peak in May or June. The plan is to transport patients to hospitals out of county. Dr. Ghilarducci said the shelter-in-place orders are a blunt but effective tool. He expects the economic shutdown to last until the county has broad, widespread testing. Meanwhile, the local hospital system has lost most of its revenue since hospitals have cut elective surgeries. Some front-line workers have seen cuts in pay. Listen to the full town hall call, where Santa Cruz Local co-hosts Kara Meyberg Guzman and Stephen Baxter ask your contributed questions. Transcript: https://santacruzlocal.org/2020/04/19/santa-cruz-local-town-hall-medical-leaders-ta