Washington creates new initiative providing resources to those quarantining
The Washington Department of Health announced a new program on Wednesday that will provide critical resources to people who need support when they’re staying at home.
Called Care Connect Washington, care coordinators will connect people to community-based services such as medication delivery, health care, help applying for unemployment, local housing agencies, food banks, childcare providers and more.
The program is geared towards those isolating or quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19 or being exposed.
“People who receive help meeting essential social and health needs are more likely to complete home isolation and quarantine successfully,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 response in a press release.
“Care Connect Washington will help to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and help families get through what could be a hard time by making sure they have what they need.”
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The program will be available to those who qualify via referrals which may come from case investigators or contact tracers, who ask about each person’s ability to successfully home isolate or quarantine.
Care Connect Washington will expand by region, with each region deploying a community-based workforce to support those who need help while in isolation or quarantine. The program began providing services to Yakima County in July and now provides services to Benton and Franklin counties.
Today, the Southwest Washington Accountable Community of Health(SWACH) extended Care Connect Washington services to Clark, Klickitat, and Skamania counties, while the Cascade Pacific Action Alliance’s Community CarePort provides community-based care coordination to Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Grays Harbor, Mason, Thurston, and Lewis counties.
As DOH builds the program out, expect more regions to begin providing services by January 1, 2020.
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