Petaluma Health Care District seen as model for state

Schools. Farmers markets. Law enforcement.

While these things may seem separate and distinct, they all have at least one thing in common: they’re all part of the health care continuum.

Several policy makers from the state Department of Health Care Services visited community health programs of the Petaluma Health Care District on Tuesday to witness first-hand how the district weaves seeming disparate issues together under the “health care” umbrella.

The state department views Petaluma’s program as a model for other districts and cities to learn about health promotion and successful programs, said Melinda Hepp, a district spokeswoman. State policy makers hoped to learn what works in Petaluma and determine if the ideas might work statewide.

Among several visits to district-supported programs was a stop at McDowell Elementary School to check out the Community Childcare Council of Sonoma County and North Bay Children’s Center preschool programs for low-income families.

“We’re advocating preschool as a public health issue,” said Ramona Faith, the district’s chief executive officer. “Because a healthy community is a well-educated community, which is an economically strong community.”

Kids who learn about healthy food and activities at school can build a foundation for healthy choices. Kids who learn CPR in school - as did a group of students Tuesday at Petaluma Junior High School - arm themselves with valuable health care skills.

“Education isn’t a stand-alone to health care,” said Tianna Morgan, a state health program specialist. “They need to be more closely linked together. We need to shuffle that way of thinking.”

Farmers markets can help connect people - even those of modest means - with healthy, fresh, local foods.

At a stop at the East-Side Farmers Market, state representatives learned how a district program operated by Petaluma People Services Center and Petaluma Bounty community gardens helps low-income people access fresh foods.

The Local Incentive for Food and Economy, or LIFE, coin system is a matching program that doubles a person’s CalFresh food stamp money at the farmers market.

“The farmers market isn’t a very comfortable place for people who don’t have a lot of resources because the perception is food here costs a lot,” said program director Suzi Grady.

When a person swipes their EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card and chooses an amount, the amount is doubled, up to $20, in LIFE coins to buy fresh produce, cheeses and other products from farmers’ stalls. The pilot program was started through a grant from the county and health care organizations, and organizers are in the midst of expanding it to all farmers markets in the county. The farmers then redeem the coins for cash from Petaluma Bounty organizers.

“It’s really a positive experience for everyone,” said program assistant director Jim Fenton.

“The farmers are happy to see the coins - and I think they give better deals with them. People, even though they feel like they’re being helped, they are helping others.”

In another visit, state health care policy makers learned about the district’s collaboration with Petaluma police and their Sober Circle project.

The project - which is in need of funding - aims to help chronically intoxicated homeless people break out of the morass that is destroying their lives and burdening social services.

Law enforcement often acts as an arm of health care, becoming first responders to those with medical and psychological health needs, said Officer Bill Baseman, who is coordinating the program.

Funding a drug-abuse counselor who can transport the homeless from Petaluma to Santa Rosa for court hearings and other services could save much more money on the back end of services. Without transportation, a person cited for being drunk in public would likely miss a court hearing, which would trigger a warrant being issued, which would then cause another arrest and more court proceedings, and on and on, Baseman said.

Sober Circle aims at getting “serial inebriates” into a sober house instead of jail, then into detox, then long-term treatment and ultimately into housing where they can stabilize, he said.

“We want to help the people who want the help,” Baseman said.

A probation or court-like oversight board in Petaluma is also being considered, he said, if coordination can be worked out with the county and District Attorney’s Office.