CDU’ s COVID-19 TESTING SITE OFFERS TIMELY COMMUNITY SERVICES
Retrieved from LA Sentinel June 4, 2020
TESTING SITE ENTRANCE | DR. SHEILA YOUNG | DR. JIMMY HARA | DATA COLLECTION
CDU’ s focus on COVID-19 began in earnest, according to College of Medicine Assistant Dean Dr. Roberto Vargas, when data mapping available through the University’ s GIS lab offered a real time perspective about the spread of COVID-19 cases locally. A Geographic Information System( GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. The GIS team led by Dr. Paul Robinson, discovered that as recently as March, COVID-19 cases were predominantly centered in the more affluent areas of Los Angeles County.
Given the broader awareness of how the disease was spreading in urban areas around the world, and the potential magnitude of threat countywide, the early data findings permitted the team to plan a comprehensive response in the University’ s service provider area, SPA 6. Early on, findings from such hotspots as New York City and Detroit revealed that people of color were being infected and dying at rates disproportionate with the national population.
With this initial step in what has now become a much broader response to the pandemic, the University partnered with LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the County Fire Department and the Martin Luther King Outpatient Clinic in the development of an on-campus COVAD-19 testing site. As a part of the agreement, Fire Department personnel supervise County Department of Lifeguards staff. The site addresses the needs of a community where 34 % of residents have a hard time securing routine medical care.
SPA 6 cuts a wide swath. It contains 1.3 million people, a population larger than the city of San Diego, ranging from
Windsor Hills on the west to Carson and Compton in the southeast. Parts of the area are a veritable resource desert bereft of critical services, and many local residents are at high risk.
Testing began on April 8th, with 25-30 volunteers on average working daily. Testing is available 9am – 4pm, seven days a week. According to Dr. Sheila Young, co- Site Manager with Dr. Jimmy Hara, about 1,000 clients on average are tested daily. Currently, 48,000 people had been tested.
Community outreach and targeted public service announcements have been critical to project success. Dr. Hara and Dr. Young lead a massive public awareness campaign at designated outreach zones in neighborhoods between the 91 and 105 freeways, the 710 and 110 freeways, and north of the 105 freeway.
Information is distributed through grocery stores, and local plazas such as Plaza Mexico and Kenneth Hahn Plaza near campus. The University also began a series of promotional ads on local radio stations. That strategy has markedly increased public awareness.
The organizers listened intently to feedback, intending to make the site as user-friendly as possible. Many residents were glad that the site was close by. Others were hesitant to patronize the site because they thought they would be charged a fee for testing. There was an initial problem with Spanish speakers who received information about the pandemic through television, as the main messaging was primarily in English. And, there was fear among residents regarding what the testing results might uncover.
CDU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE | PG. 05