Pacific Northwest Heat Wave Swamped Local Health Care Services

The Wall Street Journal: Deadly Heat Wave In Pacific Northwest Overwhelmed Healthcare System
As the temperature in Portland, Ore., soared past 100 degrees last week, Penny Clark’s body temperature rose as well. After sitting inside all day without air conditioning, the 79-year-old was running a fever of 102, and the friend she was staying with called 911. Mrs. Clark, whose daughter said she had a weak heart, died of hyperthermia in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. “It just didn’t have to happen,” said Shelley Robertson, her daughter. (McCaffrey, Lovett and Vieira, 7/5)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Excessive Heat Watch For Las Vegas Region Begins Wednesday
A nearly week-long excessive heat watch for the entire Las Vegas region has been issued by the National Weather Service. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 128 degrees in Death Valley and between 108 and 115 across the western Mojave Desert. Some decades-old high temperature records could be matched. The heat watch runs from Wednesday morning through next Monday evening. “We’ve been watching the potential heat for a few days now,” said weather service meteorologist Chelsea Peters, noting that the coming weekend could be among the hottest days of the six-day stretch. Wednesday’s forecast high is 113, with the existing record for July 7 being 116, set in 2013. (Clemons, 7/5)

In other news from Wisconsin, Colorado and California —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Milwaukee County Sheriff Has Established A Team To De-Escalate Mental Health Situations
The Milwaukee and West Allis police departments operate Crisis Assessment and Response Teams — special units that pair behavioral health specialists with uniformed officers to respond to 911 calls for people in a mental health crisis. Now, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is creating three deputy sheriff positions to deploy with mental health specialists to respond to such crises in the 17 Milwaukee County communities without such services. The new units will not affect the county tax levy because the $300,000 needed for the positions is being shifted from the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division to the sheriff's office — a controversial approach that met with some pushback with county supervisors but ultimately passed on a 13-5 vote of the County Board. (Cahill, 7/2)

NBC News: Police Response To Mentally Ill People Is Under Scrutiny. Denver May Offer Way Forward
The calls come into 911 every day: A homeless man is standing outside a liquor store screaming and acting aggressive. A woman is having a mental health crisis and says she can’t feel her body or face. A man who was escorted away by police 90 minutes ago has returned and is exposing himself and urinating on buildings. Instead of being routed to police, this type of call is handed over to STAR, short for Support Team Assistance Response, a year-old program that sends a social worker and paramedic to low-level emergency calls. Of the 1,351 calls STAR responded to over the last year, not one had to request backup from the Denver Police Department. (Collins, 7/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: How A Fierce Lobbying Effort Amid COVID Boosted California Health Funding
After more than a decade of fruitless entreaties from public health advocates, Democratic lawmakers have secured a landmark agreement that promises $300 million a year in new state funding to fortify and reimagine California’s hollowed-out public health system, a complex network of services shouldered largely by the state’s 61 local health departments. The deal, outlined last week as the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved a record $262.6 billion state budget for fiscal year 2021-22, marked a dramatic reversal for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had rebuffed requests the past three years to bolster annual spending on public health, arguing that federal funding would suffice. At Newsom’s insistence, the infusion for public health won’t kick in until July 2022. (Hart, 7/3)