COUNTYOF
ALLEGHENY
Rich Fitzgerald County Executive
To:
To: Rich Fitzgerald, County Executive From: William D. McKain CPA, County Manager Date: March 8, 2022 Re: 2021 Allegheny County Highlights Report Cc: Jennifer Liptak, Chief of Staff Rich Fitzgerald, County Executive Jennifer Liptak, County Manager March 21, 2023 2022 Allegheny County Highlights Report
From:
Date:
Re:
Cc:
Stephen Pilarski, Senior Deputy County Manager Stephen Pilarski, Senior Deputy County Manager
Office of the County Manager 119 Courthouse • 436 Grant Street • Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Phone (412) 350-5300 • Fax (412) 350-3581 www.alleghenycounty.us • The Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) piloted and then expanded an Interdisciplinary Patient Care model to optimize healthcare services for incarcerated individuals. Each level of the ACJ facility now has a dedicated healthcare team to help ensure continuity of care, reduce wait times, and coordinate clinical needs. Department (ACHD), with assistance from Allegheny County Emergency Services, set up COVID vaccine clinics across the county, delivering 137,000 shots in arms. This supplemented the work being done by our local healthcare partners, achieving one of the highest vaccination rates in the state. With the assistance from our Department of Human Services (DHS), ACHD also ensured that residents of low-income senior buildings and the homebound also had access to COVID vaccines. • DHS was able to quickly stand-up the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, using a robotic system to process applications, enabling them to providerent and/or utility assistance to 12,486 households in a ten-month period. At the same time, DHS qualified and assisted nearly 2,000 older youths in the child welfare system, who were eligible for pandemic relief cash subsidies. • Remote assistance was provided in nursing homes throughout the county, thanks to DHS’ innovative use of a robot-like “Padbot” to serve as ombudsman to hear complaints, and in the Kane Community Living Centers through their use of “Curavicart” to enable residents to meet with their physicians. I am pleased to present the 2021 Highlights Report for Allegheny County, summarizing key accomplishments during the year for each of our executive departments. This year’s highlights reflect the hard work and dedication of county employees, who aim to enhance the quality of services for constituents, reduce costs, and operate more efficiently by focusing on technology, customer service, and sustainability. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continued to present many challenges to the residents of Allegheny County and to county government in 2021. Once again, our employees rose to the challenge to deliver new services, and to deliver existing services in previously unexpected ways. Some of those highlights include: • In addition to leading the overall public health response to the pandemic, our Health I am pleased to present the 2022 Highlights Report for Allegheny County, featuring key accomplishments during the past year for each of our executive departments. Once again, this year’s highlights re ect the hard work and dedication of county employees, who aim to enhance the quality of services for constituents, reduce costs, and operate more e ciently by turning great ideas into action. Just a few of the key highlights include: • As a result of successful e orts to improve air quality, the Health Department was able to submit evidence to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demonstrating compliance with national air quality standards for particulate matter pollution. O cial redesignation of attainment from the EPA is expected by mid-2023. • The Health Department was also successful in combating the new threat of Mpox during the past summer. Using its successful strategies honed during the COVID pandemic to test, isolate, contact trace and vaccinate, the department ultimately administered 990 vaccine doses and contributed to limiting this outbreak to 71 cases. • Our Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with PNC Bank, Highmark, UPMC, Action Housing and the City of Pittsburgh, developed, constructed, and opened Second Avenue Commons in downtown Pittsburgh. This low barrier shelter for persons experiencing homelessness can house up to 168 persons, and provides an array of services to meet the needs of clients. Since its opening in November, the facility has been lled at or near capacity. • At your direction, DHS also launched a new pilot program to help low-income residents with the cost of public transportation. More than 11,000 enrollees are receiving discounted fares, to test the impact of lower costs at varying levels of discounts. Feedback from the pilot will help to determine what a permanent version of the program might look like. • Three of the Kane Community Living Centers were newly recognized by Newsweek Magazine as among the highest ranked nursing homes in the country; and all four centers continue to boast four-star ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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