Thermo Fisher Scientific and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have partnered to open a new cGMP cell therapy manufacturing facility adjacent to UCSF Medical Center’s Mission Bay campus. The facility will be used by both UCSF researchers and Thermo Fisher Scientific customers.

According to Thermo Fisher Scientific (and many others in the industry), challenges in manufacturing cell therapies — especially at scale — are impeding wider adoption. The partnership was first announced in 2021 with the aim of overcoming some of these difficulties.

“By bringing increased capacity and extensive cell therapy experience to the city of San Francisco, we hope to accelerate the development of advanced cell therapy at UCSF and with the surrounding life sciences community, which is home to more than 200 biotechnology companies.” said Dan Herring, general manager of cell therapy services at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “In the future, we also hope to expand our partnerships with academia and industry focused on cell therapies and industry in the development of novel cell therapies and other immune cell-based therapies to treat patients with blood cancers, as well as those with solid tumors.” to support. ”

The facility will provide process and analytical development capabilities, as well as clinical and commercial cGMP manufacturing services for autologous and allogeneic cell therapies. It includes six individual, user-configurable GMP production suites (with expansion capacity) and self-contained HVAC and associated infrastructure to protect against cross-contamination.

UCSF researchers will use the facility to develop new therapies, with an initial focus on treating glioblastoma, multiple myeloma and other cancers using CAR-T and CRISPR technologies.

As a writer and culture vulture, I have always been fascinated by the power of words to shape our understanding of the world. While initially pursuing a career in the music industry, beginning as a classical pianist and later producing electronic music for record labels around the world, my true passion has always been writing.

Now I write as Associate Editor for the pharmaceutical industry’s diverse audience, covering everything from exciting new scientific research to new facility announcements and more. I am particularly interested in cell and gene therapeutics and the societal impact of drug development.

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• campus news

• October 24, 2022

Supporting Victims of Violence Leads to Safer Communities, Says Justice Reform Champion

By Suzanne Leigh

Ashley Biden, MSW, attended a site visit to UCSF Trauma Recovery Center in San Francisco. The visit included a tour of the facility, presentations and panel discussions. She is introduced to Mary Burke, (left) MD, Professor, UCSF Psychiatry, by Alicia Boccellari, (right) UCSF TRC Director of Special Programs and NATRC Executive Director.

Ashley Biden, MSW, social worker and justice reform advocate, was welcomed to UC San Francisco by colleagues and representatives from organizations supporting victims of violent crime.

Biden, a consultant to the National Alliance of Trauma Recovery Centers, which was pioneered at UCSF, participated in a roundtable on the role of trauma recovery centers at the Nancy Friend Pritzker Psychiatry Building. She told the audience that people who were victimized by violent crime were themselves at risk of becoming perpetrators of crime.

Everyone has faced trauma in their lives, but many marginalized people do not have access to the mental health services that would best serve their needs.

Ashley Biden, MSW

Trauma recovery centers may assist victims in applying for compensation, moving to a safer neighborhood or upgrading home security, acquiring job training, and getting therapy in their own homes if they are too traumatized to leave home or even get out of bed, said Biden, whose work also includes leading a trauma support group for 20 women who have been released from prison, and consulting for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

“It’s known that hurt people hurt people,” she said. “Disproportionately high numbers of victims of violent crime are low-income, have lower levels of education, face systemic racism and deal with untreated mental health conditions. The most harmed are frequently the least helped.

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trauma recovery centers

The first trauma recovery center was piloted at UCSF in 2001 as a state-funded program, and is now a national model with trauma recovery centers growing across the US. Centers can assist victims in:

• applying for compensation

• moving to a safer neighborhood

• upgrading home security

• acquiring job training

• getting therapy in their own homes

“When they get restitution and support to handle their anger and triggers, and receive treatment for depression, they heal. We create a network in which everyone has the resources to heal, at no cost to them, using evidence-based treatments,” she said, noting that her first taste of societal inequities came from campaigning for re-election with “my dad” when he served in the United States Senate, and noticing that some residents “lived in nice homes and others did not.”

The flagship trauma recovery center at UCSF was founded in 2001 by roundtable co-participant Alicia Boccellari, PhD, professor emeritus at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and director of the National Alliance of Trauma Recovery Centers. The program has subsequently evolved from a small state-funded program to a national model with 39 branches in eight states and growing.

Data shows that the impact of trauma recovery centers has resulted in 71% of sexual assault survivors receiving mental health care, versus 6% for usual care. Access to mental health service has jumped from 38% to 72%, cooperation with police has improved with a 69% increase in the number of police reports filed, and there has been a 41% drop in homelessness. Other data shows a decrease in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a drop in alcohol use and improvements in both mental and physical health.

Biden and Boccellari were joined at the roundtable by Lenore Anderson, JD, president of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, and Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice. The event was moderated by Sarah Metz, PsyD, health sciences associate clinical professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, and director of the Division of Trauma Recovery Services.

“Everyone has faced trauma in their lives, but many marginalized people do not have access to the mental health services that would best serve their needs,” said Biden. “The trauma recovery center model just makes sense. It’s a one-stop shop that offers survivor-centered care.”

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• patient care

• July 13, 2022

Innovation Means Shorter Hospital Stays, Fewer Complications

By Melinda Krigel

Cardiothoracic surgeons Tom C. Nguyen, MD and Tobias Deuse, MD, perform UCSF’s first robotic mitral valve surgery. A 3D camera allows surgeons to see the mitral valve and other structures inside the heart. Surgeons use a robotic surgical system to guide the robotic arms and movements of the surgical instruments. Image by UCSF

Cardiothoracic surgeons at UC San Francisco have performed the first robotically assisted mitral valve surgery in San Francisco. The surgery was recently performed on a 63-year-old patient who had mitral valve prolapse.

Mitral valve surgery is performed when the heart’s mitral valve needs to be repaired. Traditionally, mitral valve surgery required opening the chest and putting the patient on heart-lung bypass to keep blood circulating during surgery. Since 2016, UCSF surgeons have been performing minimally invasive mitral valve surgery without having to open the sternum and with smaller incisions. Robotically assisted mitral valve surgery adds yet another level of precision.

“Robotically assisted mitral valve surgery allows us to make even smaller incisions with greater precision,” said Tom C. Nguyen, MD, robotic heart surgeon and chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UCSF. “By using the robotic arms, we have more degrees of articulation than with our natural wrists. The robot also magnifies the surgical field 10X in 3D. Ultimately, this translates into more precise surgery with faster recovery.”

During the robotically assisted surgery, the surgeon looks through a 3D camera to see the mitral valve as well as other structures inside the heart. The surgeon uses the robotic surgical system to guide the robotic arms and movements of the surgical instruments.

“Every valve looks different, and the extraordinary 3D vision that the robot camera provides, is just a real step up from all the technologies we have been using in the past,” said Tobias Deuse, MD, cardiac and transplant surgeon and director of Minimally – Invasive Cardiac Surgery. “The camera, together with the increased mobility of the instruments, allows for a very thorough evaluation of the valve and helps us make good and long-lasting repairs.”

Thanks to these innovations, mitral valve patients have fewer complications and can be discharged within three-to-four days. This patient’s symptoms included increased fatigue and palpitations. Since the surgery, he is at home and his recovery is going well.

In addition to mitral valve surgery, there are plans for additional robotically assisted cardiothoracic surgeries, including removal of intracardiac tumors and myxomas as well as for coronary revascularization.

Other robotic surgeries currently being performed at UCSF encompassing a wide range of specialties and procedures, including removing cancerous tissue from the lungs, uterus, ovaries, colon, rectum, esophagus, bladder, prostate, head and neck, liver and pancreas. Other robotic surgeries are used for the treatment of uterine fibroids and endometriosis, female pelvic organ prolapse repairs, hernia repairs and bariatric surgery.

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After two years of participating in mostly virtual events due to the pandemic, UC San Francisco is rallying its community to come together in Golden Gate Park for AIDS Walk San Francisco on July 17 to raise funds for programs and services that benefit people of the Bay Area .

As an institution dedicated exclusively to health, UCSF has participated in AIDS Walk San Francisco since it started in 1987 as part of its longstanding commitment to the health and wellbeing of the community.

Proceeds raised in the annual 10K fundraising trek this year will go toward the POP-UP program (Positive-health Onsite Program for Unstably Housed Populations). Image by Noah Berger

For the past 35 years, members of the UCSF community have joined thousands of Bay Area residents who have walked, donated funds, and volunteered in AIDS Walk San Francisco in the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS, raising more than $90 million for organizations across seven Bay Area counties.

This year, Francesca Vega, vice chancellor of Community & Government Relations, is leading the charge for the UCSF coalition of teams that has set a fundraising goal of $50,000.

“As a world leader in providing pioneering patient-centered care and ongoing research to find a cure, we understand the importance of raising funds that support these efforts in the community we call home,” Vega says. “I encourage faculty, staff, students and their friends and families to join our UCSF team in AIDS Walk San Francisco.”

At UCSF, about a half a dozen teams have formed that are raising money in a friendly competition to see which team brings in the most money. The team with the highest total of donations wins the coveted AIDS Walk Trophy presented by UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood.

Helping Those Living With HIV

Proceeds raised in the annual 10K fundraising trek this year will go toward the POP-UP program at Ward 86 – one of the nation’s first dedicated HIV outpatient clinics – at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and UCSF 360 Wellness Center, which has offered cutting-edge care since 1984, among other Bay Area AIDS-related programs and services.

Launched in 2019, POP-UP (Positive-health Onsite Program for Unstably Housed Populations) aims to reduce health disparities among homeless and unstably housed individuals living with HIV in San Francisco.

AIDS Walk San Francisco funding will be instrumental to assisting Ward 86 achieve its goals of helping patients with HIV and homelessness become healthier and receive tailored HIV care.

Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH

“We are honored here at Ward 86 to be a recipient of AIDS Walk San Francisco funding,” says Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and medical director of Ward 86. “Funds raised will be applied to those living with HIV and homelessness, especially to offer long-acting antiretroviral therapy (ART) to these patients.

“POP-UP has enrolled over 150 of our most vulnerable patients and our low-barrier drop-in care program has managed to increase virologic suppression rates in this population from 0% to 50%, but we still have a way to go to help this population. AIDS Walk San Francisco funding will be instrumental to assisting Ward 86 achieve its goals of helping patients with HIV and homelessness become healthier and receive tailored HIV care.”

Establishing a Model of HIV Care

UCSF’s legacy of leadership in AIDS over the past 40 years began with the emergence of the unknown virus in the early 1980s when San Francisco was the epicenter of the epidemic. At that time, UCSF physicians and allied health professionals and staff rose to the challenge of this public health crisis by working with the partners and patients in the San Francisco community to develop a standard of practice that became known as “the San Francisco Model” of care .

This model of interdisciplinary collaboration among doctors, nurses, social workers, case managers, psychiatrists, addiction specialists, nutritionists and others has yielded innovations in HIV and infectious disease care and served as a model for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, UCSF’s HIV-focused practices and programs, continue to build on the innovative research and clinical care that furthers understanding of the disease and enables HIV-positive patients to thrive.

The post UCSF to Return to Golden Gate Park to Increase Funds in AIDS Stroll San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tia, the modern medical home for women, announced today the grand opening of its first Bay Area clinic at Mission & Van Ness in San Francisco. Transforming the historic 1500 Mission building, the flagship Tia Clinic will provide Bay Area women with a first-of-its-kind medical home designed to make every woman feel seen, heard and cared for.

Tia’s “Whole Woman, Whole Life” model includes virtual and in-person services, fusing primary care, mental health, and gynecological care with wellness services like acupuncture and pelvic floor physical therapy in one integrated experience. The new brick-and-mortar clinic represents the first of 10 sites that Tia plans to open in the Bay Area that will serve 40,000 women.

Additionally, united by a shared vision to end fragmentation in women’s healthcare, Tia and UCSF Health plan to develop a new network of clinically integrated clinics together, forming a cornerstone of a Bay Area women’s healthcare network that increases access to high-quality care with an exceptional experience. By connecting Tia’s retail-style clinics with UCSF Health’s specialty and inpatient facilities, the two aim to fill a critical gap in primary care with connected, whole-person care that integrates physical, mental and reproductive health for women and their families.

“Women deserve comprehensive primary care that centers on our experiences — clinically, psychosocially and experientially. Sadly, a ‘one-size-fits-most’ healthcare system leaves 50% of women without a primary care provider — depriving women of essential, preventive care and forcing them instead to bounce from specialist to specialist searching for answers, which drives up costs and worsens outcomes,” said Carolyn Witte, co-founder and CEO of Tia. “Tia wants to change that by working with UCSF to create a women-centered healthcare system that spans outpatient to inpatient with an anchoring on prevention. The UCSF Health team are not only champions and trailblazers of clinically excellent care, but inclusive and equitable healthcare designed to affirm women’s choices. We are honored to collaborate with a health system whose values ​​are uniquely aligned with our own.”

Tia and UCSF Health aim to create a seamless and closely integrated program between the two independent healthcare organizations, which includes:

• Shared clinical leadership between UCSF Health & Tia, with UCSF Health medical directors and high-quality specialists working hand-in-hand with Tia medical directors and providers at all clinical locations;

• shared clinical protocols and care coordination to ensure consistency between primary and specialty care and seamless baton passes for providers and patients;

• Coordinated measurement of and improvement on critical quality metrics that enable UCSF and Tia to work together to improve patient outcomes and women’s healthcare standards across UCSF and Tia locations;

• Deep technical integration that enables shared clinical notes, medical records, care coordination, and quality data reporting to drive better outcomes and experience for both patients and providers.

“Women nationwide struggle to find primary care that fully integrates their health care needs throughout their lives,” said Amy Murtha, MD, Professor and Chair of the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. “UCSF Health is a leader in women’s health and renowned for its integrated specialty care, but we can’t reach every woman in the Bay Area. This collaboration aims to help address that fragmentation by increasing women’s access to primary care services, with seamless access to UCSF’s specialty care when they need it.”

The clinics will provide Tia’s signature “Whole-Woman, Whole Life” care model, rooted in a deep understanding of sex-specific difference, culturally tailored and trauma-informed care. With their shared commitment to diversity, inclusion and health equity, Tia and UCSF Health will work to ensure diverse representation in their patient and provider populations. Tia also will continue to integrate robust training for all clinicians and clinical support staff on racial justice in healthcare and culturally competent care that’s tailored to the lived experience of women of color.

In the Bay Area, more than 40 percent of women have delayed preventive health services during the pandemic, according to a recent survey of 500 women. The study, which was commissioned by Tia, also found that 80 percent of women in the Bay Area say that worry or stress about the pandemic has impacted their mental health.

One of the worst fragmentation points is the transition between primary care and specialty care where breakdowns at critical points in a woman’s care journey can have devastating effects, most notably in maternity care.

Tia, which focuses on prevention and engages women early on, will provide UCSF Health with new outpatient access points that reach more women for its high-quality network of specialty providers and inpatient services, including its award-winning pregnancy, labor and delivery program. The tight clinic integration between the organizations also enables Tia’s Care Coordination team to transition care between the two organizations smoothly.

Tia has grown rapidly over the last year and is on a path to serving 100,000 women nationwide by the end of 2023. UCSF Health is the second major health system collaboration for Tia and follows the company’s expansion in New York, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Tia also recently closed a $100 million Series B funding round to further expand its footprint in new and existing markets over the next few years.

Tia plans to open its clinically integrated locations with UCSF Health throughout the Bay Area in the coming years. For more details on the Tia Clinic in San Francisco, visit www.asktia.com/location/tia-san-francisco

The post Tia Opens Flagship Clinic in San Francisco and Groups with UCSF Well being to Scale Complete Ladies’s Healthcare to 40,000 Bay Space Ladies appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 2, 2022–

Tia, the modern medical home for women, announced today the grand opening of its first Bay Area clinic at Mission & Van Ness in San Francisco. Transforming the historic 1500 Mission building, the flagship Tia Clinic will provide Bay Area women with a first-of-its-kind medical home designed to make every woman feel seen, heard and cared for.

Tia’s “Whole Woman, Whole Life” model includes virtual and in-person services, fusing primary care, mental health, and gynecological care with wellness services like acupuncture and pelvic floor physical therapy in one integrated experience. The new brick-and-mortar clinic represents the first of 10 sites that Tia plans to open in the Bay Area that will serve 40,000 women.

Additionally, united by a shared vision to end fragmentation in women’s healthcare, Tia and UCSF Health plan to develop a new network of clinically integrated clinics together, forming a cornerstone of a Bay Area women’s healthcare network that increases access to high-quality care with an exceptional experience. By connecting Tia’s retail-style clinics with UCSF Health’s specialty and inpatient facilities, the two aim to fill a critical gap in primary care with connected, whole-person care that integrates physical, mental and reproductive health for women and their families.

“Women deserve comprehensive primary care that centers on our experiences — clinically, psychosocially and experientially. Sadly, a ‘one-size-fits-most’ healthcare system leaves 50% of women without a primary care provider — depriving women of essential, preventive care and forcing them instead to bounce from specialist to specialist searching for answers, which drives up costs and worsens outcomes,” said Carolyn Witte, co-founder and CEO of Tia. “Tia wants to change that by working with UCSF to create a women-centered healthcare system that spans outpatient to inpatient with an anchoring on prevention. The UCSF Health team are not only champions and trailblazers of clinically excellent care, but inclusive and equitable healthcare designed to affirm women’s choices. We are honored to collaborate with a health system whose values ​​are uniquely aligned with our own.”

Tia and UCSF Health aim to create a seamless and closely integrated program between the two independent healthcare organizations, which includes:

• Shared clinical leadership between UCSF Health & Tia, with UCSF Health medical directors and high-quality specialists working hand-in-hand with Tia medical directors and providers at all clinical locations;
• shared clinical protocols and care coordination to ensure consistency between primary and specialty care and seamless baton passes for providers and patients;
• Coordinated measurement of and improvement on critical quality metrics that enable UCSF and Tia to work together to improve patient outcomes and women’s healthcare standards across UCSF and Tia locations;
• Deep technical integration that enables shared clinical notes, medical records, care coordination, and quality data reporting to drive better outcomes and experience for both patients and providers.

“Women nationwide struggle to find primary care that fully integrates their health care needs throughout their lives,” said Amy Murtha, MD, Professor and Chair of the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. “UCSF Health is a leader in women’s health and renowned for its integrated specialty care, but we can’t reach every woman in the Bay Area. This collaboration aims to help address that fragmentation by increasing women’s access to primary care services, with seamless access to UCSF’s specialty care when they need it.”

The clinics will provide Tia’s signature “Whole-Woman, Whole Life” care model, rooted in a deep understanding of sex-specific difference, culturally tailored and trauma-informed care. With their shared commitment to diversity, inclusion and health equity, Tia and UCSF Health will work to ensure diverse representation in their patient and provider populations. Tia also will continue to integrate robust training for all clinicians and clinical support staff on racial justice in healthcare and culturally competent care that’s tailored to the lived experience of women of color.

In the Bay Area, more than 40 percent of women have delayed preventive health services during the pandemic, according to a recent survey of 500 women. The study, which was commissioned by Tia, also found that 80 percent of women in the Bay Area say that worry or stress about the pandemic has impacted their mental health.

One of the worst fragmentation points is the transition between primary care and specialty care where breakdowns at critical points in a woman’s care journey can have devastating effects, most notably in maternity care.

Tia, which focuses on prevention and engages women early on, will provide UCSF Health with new outpatient access points that reach more women for its high-quality network of specialty providers and inpatient services, including its award-winning pregnancy, labor and delivery program. The tight clinic integration between the organizations also enables Tia’s Care Coordination team to transition care between the two organizations smoothly.

Tia has grown rapidly over the last year and is on a path to serving 100,000 women nationwide by the end of 2023. UCSF Health is the second major health system collaboration for Tia and follows the company’s expansion in New York, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Tia also recently closed a $100 million Series B funding round to further expand its footprint in new and existing markets over the next few years.

Tia plans to open its clinically integrated locations with UCSF Health throughout the Bay Area in the coming years. For more details on the Tia Clinic in San Francisco, visit www.asktia.com/location/tia-san-francisco

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220502005182/en/

Libbey Baumgarten -libbey@jbc-pr.com

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: WOMEN PHYSICAL THERAPY MANAGED CARE HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH BABY/MATERNITY CONSUMER FITNESS & NUTRITION

SOURCE: Tia

Copyright Business Wire 2022.

PUB: 05/02/2022 08:00 AM / DISC: 05/02/2022 08:02 AM

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220502005182/en

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• patient care

• January 21, 2022

American College of Surgeons Confers Level 1 Surgery Status After Rigorous Evaluation Process

By Jess Bertold

Members of the team at UCSF Benioff Children’s San Francisco who worked toward securing Level 1 Surgery status celebrate their success. Image credit: Raymond Ibale

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco has been verified as a Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) – in honor that was six years in the making.

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco was the second children’s hospital in California to achieve Level 1 Surgery status, after UC Davis Children’s Hospital. To receive the designation, a hospital must demonstrate compliance with the ACS Children’s Surgery Verification program standards, and enroll in the ACS Pediatric National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), a multispecialty database used to measure surgical outcomes and improve care. UCSF enrolled in the Pediatric NSQIP in 2015.

“Becoming a Level 1 Surgery center reflects a great deal of planning, commitment, and hard work on the part of many staff and faculty and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to the patients and families we serve,” said Matt Cook, president of UCSF Benioff Children’s hospitals. “We are excited to continue building upon our pediatric health system in order to provide the safest and highest quality patient-centered care.”

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland is an ACS-verified Level 1 Trauma Center, and recently hired a NSQIP pediatric surgeon champion and pediatric surgical quality analyst to facilitate its verification process as a Level 1 Surgery Center.

A Creative COVID Workaround

To meet the 136 standards required in the ACS application, the San Francisco facility assembled a Children’s Surgery Verification team and created a Perioperative Performance Improvement and Patient Safety (PIPS) Committee, which includes representatives from every pediatric surgical specialty, medical proceduralists, anesthesiology, neonatology , critical care medicine, hospital leadership, OR nursing, radiology, emergency medicine, and the Child Life Program.

Ayanna Fritton, RN, Children’s Surgery program manager, helped to guide the Children’s Surgery Verification program from infancy and through the application and evaluation process.

Additionally, “the program structure gave way for the creation of new policies and procedures, building a data source platform and implementing changes to the current credentialing and privileging for specific providers,” said Ayanna Fritton, RN, Children’s Surgery Program Manager, who has helped to guide the program from infancy and through the application and evaluation process.

“The ACS standards go beyond the hospital walls into community outreach, patient transport and follow-up discharge care, always with the goal of joining these pieces with the in-hospital experience,” Fritton said. “This way, we are providing high-quality, coordinated care to all patients, including many who are medically complex.”

A two-day site visit is the ACS’s required last step in the application process. Every site visit has a three-person survey team comprising a pediatric surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurse who review the hospital facility, clinical outcome data and quality improvement process. The original site visit was scheduled for May 2020, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lan Vu, MD, UCSF associate professor of Surgery, is medical director of surgical quality and physician champion of the Children’s Surgery Verification program.

UCSF’s Children’s Surgery Verification team got creative, volunteering to be a pilot site for the ACS to test their virtual site visit format. They made a series of hospital tour videos featuring the three critical care units, perioperative area, ED and radiology. It was narrated by Lan Vu, MD, UCSF associate professor of Surgery, medical director of surgical quality and physician champion of the Children’s Surgery Verification program.

Of more than 220 children’s hospitals across the country, only 38 were verified Level 1 Children’s Surgery Centers at the time of UCSF’s designation. ACS renews verification status every three years, and enrollment in the verification program is currently voluntary.

“We anticipate that verification status may dictate resource allocation and patient referrals in the future, similar to the established Trauma Center designation,” Vu said. “More importantly, the program supports UCSF’s mission to provide excellence in patient care.”

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• Patient care

• February 2, 2021

The collaboration of the Latino Task Force is based on test websites set up in the community

By Laura Kurtzman

Annie Jupiter-Jones (left), a volunteer with the Latino Task Force Food Hub who delivers isolated food to seniors, disabled people and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, receives a vaccination at a clinic in the mission district. The clinic is a partnership between UCSF, the Latino Task Force, and the City of San Francisco. Photo by Mike Kai Chen

When researchers from UC San Francisco and their community partners working with Unidos en Salud asked the people who came to their COVID-19 testing site in the San Francisco Mission District to be vaccinated, a whopping 86 percent said yes.

That’s a higher number of people willing to be vaccinated than multiple national, statewide, or even Bay Area surveys have shown – and testament to the confidence that Diane Havlir, MD, and colleagues at UCSF have over many The Latino Task Force built up over the months to help a community that has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus.

Now, with the help of the San Francisco Department of Health, Unidos en Salud is bringing vaccines to the people in the mission district. If there is a limited supply, the first doses will be given to community health workers and people aged 65 and over.

“The data is overwhelming when it comes to dispelling the myth that the entire Latinx community is vaccine reluctant,” said Havlir, a UCSF professor of medicine who worked with the leaders of the Latino Task Force on Unidos Create Salud That Offers Rapid Tests and Response “services on BART Square on the 24th and Mission.

Carina Marquez, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at UCSF and a leader in developing the rapid response model with the Latino Task Force, said the community vaccine hub was the perfect addition to the proving ground.

“With this vaccination center, we can identify and support those who become infected during this surge, and we are also ready to grow the community and protect it with vaccines once supplies open up.”

The mission site is the first of a network of city-run community vaccination centers bringing vaccines to neighborhoods – including Bayview, Excelsior, and Visitacion Valley – with the highest rates of infection for COVID-19 and limited access to health care services.

Marisol Guillen (second from left), a Latino Task Force volunteer, and her son greet the Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, at the opening of Unidos En Salud’s first COVID-19 mass vaccination site. The partnership between UCSF and the Latino Task Force opened a website for key people at the forefront of the Latinx community. Photo by Mike Kai Chen

“This vaccination site is an important step forward in providing convenient, culturally literate vaccine access to the Mission District, a neighborhood hit hard by the tragedies of COVID-19,” said San Francisco Mayor, London N. Breed. The network, she added, builds on the successful partnership the city has built with UCSF and the Latino Task Force to expand vaccination to the missionary community and “will help turn the tide on COVID-19” .

Havlir and Joe DeRisi, PhD, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and co-president of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, worked with community partners in the Unidos en Salud collaboration to study the virus’ path through the local community by looking at the virus Identify evolving strains and understand which public health interventions are most effective for working people exposed both in the workplace and in crowded living conditions at home.

UCSF’s private funding for the Mission District Vaccination Center was provided by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, McKinnon Family Foundation, Carl Kawaja and Wendy Holcombe, and donors from the UCSF COVID-19 Response Fund and Unidos en Salud / United in Health San Francisco Project.

“At UCSF, we are committed to continuing our ongoing partnership with the Mayor and the Department of Health to protect our city’s most vulnerable communities from COVID-19,” said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, UCSF Chancellor. “By continuing our collaborative community testing programs and now making vaccines available in hard-hit areas where the virus is spreading rapidly, we can prevent more suffering and help protect the entire city from this virus.”

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CityBuild Academy graduate Xavier Hagwood is working on the construction of the new building for the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. Photo by Susan Merrell

As part of its commitment to promoting local economic opportunity, UC San Francisco is working with the City and County of San Francisco to train residents to build the new research and administration building at the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG).

UCSF is donating up to $ 1.1 million to CityBuild Academy – a construction training run by the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development – which offers a five-week course to equip local job seekers with the skills they need to be a pre-apprentice to become workers on the $ 271 million construction project who may help out with work, ironwork, carpentry, drywall, glazing, and painting.

The new building will provide a home for researchers whose work has a particular focus on the health problems of disadvantaged communities both domestically and internationally, including basic researchers, clinicians and public health researchers who are also studying HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as a traumatic brain injury , Women’s health, innovation for digital health justice and transformative services for people who have experienced violence and trauma.

With the construction of the new research building, UCSF will voluntarily seek to meet San Francisco’s goal of ensuring that 30 percent of construction jobs are local residents recruited by Mission Hiring Hall, a local organization that leads industry initiatives for CityBuild.

“With this professional development program and our broader goal of hiring at least 30 percent of our local construction workers, we are strengthening the economic opportunities UCSF offers the community, increasing employment opportunities for San Francisco residents, and engaging our local unions to innovate, multiply partnerships that benefit both the university and the community, ”said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. “We are proud to partner with the city on this professional education program and to demonstrate our commitment to the people who live in the communities where this great hospital operates.”

The first cohort of 15 trainees started on April 5th and a second cohort is to follow later this year. The training academy is located in the UCSF Mission Center Building on 15th Street and Harrison Street.

Graduates receive safety and hazardous waste certificates and can complete trade union training in the construction industry. The training program pays union fees and purchases the tools they need to successfully begin their careers in the industry.

“After more than a year of economic troubles from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to get more Franciscans back to work,” said San Francisco Mayor, London N. Breed. “I am grateful to UCSF for helping launch careers in construction for San Franciscans, especially those from historically deprived neighborhoods. UCSF and the city work together to promote economic opportunities and inclusion for all. ”

I am grateful to UCSF for helping launch careers in construction for San Franciscans, especially those from historically deprived neighborhoods. UCSF and the city work together to promote economic opportunities and inclusion for all.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed

Ken Nim, CityBuild Director, added, “We have worked with UCSF for many years to recruit and train local residents to build projects on UCSF sites. We are pleased about the additional investments of the UCSF in the training of the residents for the construction of their latest research building at the ZSFG. ”

Construction on the building began in August and is expected to be completed in two years. The five-story facility is being built on 23rd Street between Vermont and Utah in a former surface parking lot. It will house state-of-the-art research, teaching and administration space under a long-term lease agreement with the city and county of San Francisco.

As general contractor, The Boldt Company will hire some employees directly and oversee subcontractors who hire employees for certain aspects of the project.

“It is in our best interests to support and end these training programs as our industry relies on a steady pool of newcomers ready to work,” said Geoffrey Nelson, director of project development at Boldt in San Francisco. “We are committed to the success of UCSF’s 30 percent local hiring target and a business that will benefit the neighborhoods surrounding this important community building project.”

The construction training partnership builds on UCSF’s almost 150-year affiliation with the city, through which UCSF doctors and other health professionals provide most of the medical services and related health care at ZSFG. Research in the new building will help the ZSFG, which serves the city’s most vulnerable populations, perform excellently. It is also an important part of the UCSF Anchor Institution Initiative, which leverages the university’s economic and human resources to address issues such as income inequalities that affect the long-term health of the community.

“This building is already an example of UCSF’s partnership with the city, and it is now providing important new employment opportunities for the local community,” said Francesca Vega, Vice Chancellor for Community and Government Relations at UCSF. “This is an important step in helping some of the San Franciscans affected by the pandemic get back to work and is part of our ongoing commitment to improving the health and well-being of our city.”

About UCSF: The University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) is entirely focused on health sciences and is dedicated to promoting global health through advanced biomedical research, higher education in life sciences and health professions, and excellent patient care. It includes UCSF Health, which includes three high-ranking hospitals, as well as affiliates across the Bay Area.

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Terry Hill (right) receives her first dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Patrick Sorensen, RN, a nurse at UCSF Medical Center, at a San Francisco vaccination transit clinic offered by UCSF and the San Francisco Department of Public Health at City College . Photo by Susan Merrell

As the COVID-19 vaccine supply increases, UC San Francisco is expanding its vaccination efforts to include the most vulnerable – the elderly and community health workers.

Since the first batch of vaccine was shipped in mid-December, UCSF teams have worked diligently to vaccinate UCSF staff and learners by giving those at the highest risk of contracting the virus while on-site.

The implementation of this complex, multi-phase vaccination program required a tremendous amount of team effort, while vaccine doses were administered for several days and uncertainty about future deliveries was uncertain. The multidisciplinary team meets daily to assess current vaccine supplies and decide who will be included in future rounds of vaccination based on state and federal guidelines

UCSF leaders emphasize that all members of the UCSF community will have the opportunity to get vaccinated in the coming months. All faculties, staff, students, and patients are encouraged to get vaccinated when it’s their turn. It is important that everyone continues to follow public health instructions such as: B. wearing face covering, washing hands, maintaining physical distance, and completing daily health screening before coming to campus.

To date, UCSF has offered vaccination appointments to more than 21,600 employees and learners whose on-site duties pose a high risk of exposure to COVID-19. Almost 18,000 of them have received their first dose, and almost 16,500 have their second scheduled. It has also vaccinated more than 6,300 patients, starting at age 75 and above. In total, it delivered nearly 35,000 vaccines in the first six weeks of vaccination. So far, UCSF has seen very few side effects in its vaccination program.

Truc Nguyen (far left), RN, and Rossana Segovia (far right), NP, speak to Karen Whalen, a retired parole officer in the San Francisco adult probation department, to make sure she doesn’t get any after the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination Has symptoms at the vaccination center at UCSF’s William J. Rutter Center on UCSF’s Mission Bay campus. Photo by Susan Merrell

UCSF has responded to an urgent request from the city for help in vaccinating the estimated 88,000 frontline health workers who are not affiliated with a medical center, e.g. B. Dentists, paramedics, and home health workers. To date, UCSF has vaccinated more than 1,380 of these members who are listed in the Centers’ first priority for Disease Control and Prevention, along with UCSF staff and patients.

“Our vaccinations have resumed rapidly,” said Josh Adler, chief clinical officer of UCSF Health, in a message to the UCSF community. “As we continue to schedule vaccinations for the rest of our workforce and learners at the highest risk of exposure, we have begun inviting additional staff and our patients by age group in accordance with state guidelines.”

The latest developments in UCSF’s ongoing vaccination program include:

• This week, the vaccination site on the Mission Bay campus was moved from Mission Hall to the Rutter Center to allow UCSF to increase the number of vaccine doses administered from about 600 to more than 1,000 per day and improve the experience for patients.
• At the vaccination site on the Parnassus Heights campus, UCSF will deliver the vaccine to employees, learners and healthcare workers.
• And on January 22nd, UCSF partnered with the City of San Francisco to open the city’s first high-volume, drive-through vaccination facility at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF).

Partnership with the city

In the four days since the CCSF site opened, UCSF clinicians and staff have administered more than 3,000 vaccines to elderly members of the community, 80 percent of whom live in the city, including about 60 percent who are not UCSF patients. This website is vaccinated on 1,000 patients per day and aims to reach 3,000 people per day as the vaccine supply increases. Currently, anyone 75 years of age or older who is either a UCSF patient or a San Francisco resident can schedule vaccination with CCSF.

“With the launch of this mass vaccination program, Mayor Breed and the San Francisco Department of Health are taking on the critical leadership that has made the city a model for fighting the pandemic,” UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood told MBBS. “As our community waits for vaccine supplies to become more widely available, UCSF stands ready to assist San Francisco in vaccinating the city’s residents, with an initial focus on those most susceptible to the disease.”

With the launch of this mass vaccination program, Mayor Breed and the San Francisco Department of Health are taking on the crucial leadership role that has made the city a model for fighting the pandemic.

UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS

The goal of UCSF and the city’s vaccination effort is to vaccinate as many people as possible, depending on the availability of vaccines. To this end, we are looking for volunteers who can help at both the CCSF site and the UCSF campus in Mission Bay and Parnassus Heights.

While some have questioned why those living outside the city were vaccinated in front of San Francisco residents, public health officials point out that the virus knows no geographic boundaries when people travel across the Bay Area. The initial online registration system for vaccinations with CCSF allowed non-San Francisco residents to schedule an appointment. However, the city plans to introduce a new online system for city residents only. Public health officials agree that it is advisable to vaccinate as many people as possible to combat this one-off public health crisis.

Josh Adler (far right), MD, Executive Vice President of Medical Services at UCSF Health, gives Mayor London Breed (second from left) and Grant Colfax (far left) a tour of the COVID-19 vaccination center at City College, San Francisco. , MD, the director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Photo by Susan Merrell

“The opening of the City College site marks an important milestone in our mass vaccination effort that will in time end this terrible pandemic,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of the San Francisco Department of Health Mayor’s press release. “While vaccine supplies in San Francisco remain extremely limited, this site and the other high volume vaccine sites opening in the coming weeks will provide the physical space, medical staff and logistical processes to efficiently deliver the vaccine when it is available it will be available. ”

Adler recognizes that the inconsistent and inadequate supply of vaccines across the country and the Bay Area can be frustrating, but is optimistic about the national vaccination strategy announced by President Joseph Biden. “With a greater federal focus on COVID-19 management and vaccines, we hope the supply becomes more stable and the spread increases,” he said.

“Enormous vaccination effort”

While the first day of vaccination at CCSF began on a cold and rainy day, with the arrival of sunshine, the weather warmed and lifted the spirits of those who worked outdoors.

More than 60 UCSF Health clinicians and staff participated in the effort, including Susan Pappas, General Manager of the UCSF Health Experience Excellence Division. She drove up and down in a golf cart, delivering bottles of vaccine to the tents in the CCSF parking lot.

For Pappas, the experience was on the verge of happy tears with the thought that this “enormous vaccination effort could be the beginning of the end of this devastating pandemic”.

“I can tell you with confidence that all of our hearts were warm after we had the opportunity to attend,” said Pappas. “The team performance was efficient, exhilarating and simply excellent. It has been so rewarding to work with colleagues who have carried the burden of this COVID pandemic over the past year and to see their excitement part of something so positive. “

The team at the city’s first major vaccination site also included Adler, who provided medical assistance and answered a flurry of questions from news reporters, as well as Kim Murphy, director of the UCSF Health Administration, and Wayne Little, RN, director of perioperative patient care, both of whom Site director served.

Many patients thanked UCSF for responding to the challenge and for running the drive-through vaccination center at short notice. A woman from San Rafael was literally dancing a stencil in the parking lot and was so excited to receive the vaccine.

Another patient, who preferred to remain anonymous, told staff how grateful she was to the UCSF team involved in the effort. “I received my first dose of the COVID vaccine at CCSF today after receiving an invitation yesterday to make the appointment,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect as people on the news were having all sorts of problems with the vaccination passages, but for me this passage was unexpectedly easy. I arrived about 15 minutes early and got vaccinated quickly. It was top notch. “

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