At Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, we take the well-being and safety of our members very seriously, and that is especially true for those who come into our clinics in Palmdale and Lancaster. As soon as we learned about our Palmdale clinic staff’s Cinco de Mayo celebration outside the clinic this week, we immediately reviewed the incident with our clinic managers, who acknowledged that having a social event for staff outside the building at this time was not appropriate. We have referred this to the appropriate internal departments to ensure there is a thorough investigation with appropriate follow-up actions.
We are also taking immediate steps, including working with our staff to reinforce our commitment to following all of the current public health and safety protocols in place during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Inside the clinic, all staff have been wearing masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) when examining patients. Additionally, in April alone, the clinics provided nearly 400 telehealth visits to make sure patients had uninterrupted access to care during the pandemic. Our clinic employees have proactively reached out to patients over phone or mail to set up telehealth appointments and ensure patients’ access to needed medications. We are grateful for their efforts in these unprecedented times.
Still, we are taking this opportunity to re-emphasize our guidance to our staff about use of masks and social distancing, including during staff meals held outside the clinic. Our collective efforts against the coronavirus crisis have been a long journey for all of us, and we fully recognize we must maintain our vigilance.
At Blue Shield Promise, we feel it is a privilege to serve the residents and the community of Antelope Valley and we will always strive to do better.
Editor’s note: This op-ed was written in response to an op-ed published Thursday, May 7, titled: “Are local healthcare professionals breaking the face-mask rule?” View it here.
Chris N says
I live down the street and walked by on my lunch walk that I take every day (without a mask) and seen the get together going on and seen no problem with it. I actually smiled and said “Good for them!”
More places need to open up and let people live again, this lock-down is ridiculous.
Randy says
I really hope people defending this come to the defense of common people who practice their right to liberty . This isn’t okay because they are “health care workers” – this is okay because nobody has the authority to impede the freedom of others under the pretense of false security. The lockdown is Unconstitutional- end it!
C says
What and ugly thing to do!!! It was seriously THAT hard to go about your day and allow these people a break?! So because you’re miserable, others must be as well?! Absolutely ugly!!!
William says
Wow Sonia, posting this is about as petty as it gets, and you should be ashamed of yourself. How far out of your way did you have to go to film a bunch of healthcare workers in a pathetic attempt to start fake outrage, then disguise it as attempting to start a rational dialogue on PPE and social distancing? They were not serving the public. They were not in any way in a place where the public would reasonably encounter their gathering.
I think most communities out there respect their health care workers for all that they are doing. It’s time that AV citizens realize the same for theirs. Front line workers are under a tremendous amount of stress dealing with this pandemic and need things like this to now and again to remember what they’re fighting for. I, for one, am glad to see that they are keeping spirits up and showing camaraderie with co-workers. You can tell that this is an excellent group of people who enjoy working with each other.
So maybe next time, just keep your phone in your pocket, and your patronizing attempts the create fake outrage to yourself.
Kay says
Good and right response!! This crap is getting out of control.
Alexis says
Well, Sonia, I hope no one losses their job because you chose to immediately start recording these people. You could have handled this situation in a more diplomatic way, rather than being confrontational with your phone. You were aggressive from the start and decided to take your issues to the Lancaster office after you went to Palmdale. Then you had the perfect opportunity to go public by getting permission from the A.V. Times. Shame on all of this that started by your actions, Sonia.