The virtual InfoSeries on California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) will take place on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 from 9–10 a.m.

The event is designed to provide an overview of CalAIM, information about Enhanced Care Management, Community Supports and referral sources, and an opportunity for community feedback.

Click here to register for this virtual event.

Following a competitive process in 2019, CalOptima awarded a total of $20.1 million in grant funds for 12 projects led by community partners. The grant projects support dental care, food distribution, children’s mental health, medication-assisted treatment and primary care services/programs addressing social determinants of health. Click here to read about the impacts of these grant.

At CalOptima’s Board of Directors meeting on Monday, December 20, Chair of the CalOptima Board of Directors and Chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Andrew Do (pictured at right), welcomed two new directors to the agency's Board — Blair Contratto (pictured left), who participated in-person, and José Mayorga, M.D., who joined remotely.

Contratto is President and CEO at Mount Carmel Health Ministries and brings more than 40 years of service in not-for-profit health care to CalOptima. She was previously the CEO of Providence Health System Little Company of Mary and has served on health care and non-profit boards, including Alliance for Catholic Care Board and California Hospital Association Health System Board.

Dr. Mayorga is Executive Director and Executive Medical Director at UCI Health Family Health Center. He has held previous leadership roles at HealthCare Partners and Share Our Selves. He received the University of California, Irvine Latino Excellence & Achievement Award and Outstanding Community Builder Award in 2021 and the Orange County Medical Association Physician of Excellence award in 2020 and 2021.

Read more about Contratto, Dr. Mayorga and CalOptima's other Board Directors, here.

Children ages 5–11, accompanied by a parent/guardian, and unvaccinated community members of all ages, can attend upcoming clinics in January:

CalOptima will be on-site to check CalOptima Medi-Cal eligibility, give $25 Member Health Rewards to eligible members and host a resource table. Vaccine event flyers are available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Register at 1-714-834-2000 or www.othena.com. CalOptima Medi-Cal members can arrange transportation at

1-888-587-8088.

On December 27, the CDC announced that it is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others.

The CDC also updated the recommended quarantine period for those exposed to COVID-19.

To read the full news release, click here.

On December 22, Governor Gavin Newsom announced new booster requirements and testing measures to better protect all Californians as the Omicron variant becomes the dominant COVID-19 strain in the nation. The COVID-19 booster requirement for health care workers will mitigate potential staffing shortages while helping to safeguard the state’s hospital capacity and protect the health and safety of Californians.

CalOptima partners with University of California, Irvine (UCI) for regular contributions to the Community Announcements. The contributions are from UCI infectious disease experts and cover COVID-19 hot topics.

This week’s article addresses booster shots. Click here to read the article.

The OC Health Care Agency community program is updating the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Plan for fiscal year 2022-23 and are requesting input from community stakeholders through a survey.

The MHSA survey seeks information on:

If you would like to review the current MHSA three-year plan or the fiscal year 2021-22 plan update related to this survey, click here. The survey will close on January 31, 2022.

CalOptima Customer Service remains ready to respond to member needs as we adhere to guidelines to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 transmission. Our building is closed to visitors. Members can call Customer Service from the safety of their home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have staff who speak their language. Members can also visit www.caloptima.org and access their member portal.