Miguel Hernandez told us that he recently was elected to the Cambria Community Health District (CCHD) and is still learning the ropes. He introduced Mike McDonough who was hired in August 2019 as the new Administrator. Mike has 37 years in Emergency Medical Services as a field Paramedic and as an educator. Mike has a B.A. in Emergency and Disaster Management, a Masters in Health Sciences/EMS Leadership, and is working on a Ph.D in education and Transformative Leadership.
Mike told us that CCHD was created in 1947 with the objective of attracting physicians and dentists to locate their practice to the community. Community healthcare districts were originally created to bring healthcare to rural areas of California and provide jobs for war veterans. CCHD provides ambulance service to an 810
square mile area and responds to about 1500 incidents a year with an average of 600 requiring transport to the hospital. Since Cambria is so far from area hospitals, the paramedics are trained to provide more medical care than paramedics in larger cities.
In addition to providing ambulance and paramedic services, the District provides cpr training, health and wellness education and emergency preparedness education.
Mike cautioned us that people tend to think 911 will be around forever but this is not happening everywhere. As a public entity, CCHD is supported by taxes but that does not cover all
the expenses. So, the board has created a trust to help ensure that the district will be able to continue to provide the badly needed emergency services. The board is also working on identifying a helicopter landing site so patients can be transported quickly. Miguel also told us that they are working to see if an Urgent Care facility could be brought to town.
Thank you Mike for taking the time to educate our Club on the Community Healthcare District.