BHCA Treasurer Alex Saldana kept busy during the pandemic lockdown. Alex is the owner and CEO of Oxford HealthCare (oxfordhealthcare.com), which manages in-home nursing, therapy and care-taking staff, and since March 2021 has administered vaccines to the greater Long Beach area.
“In this emergency, the main view was to help the communities around us and the individual who wanted to be vaccinated to return to as much normalcy as possible.”
Alex needed to vaccinate his staff, so he secured equipment — freezers, refrigerators — and arranged for his Long Beach location and some of his regional centers to be able to prepare and administer the vaccines. He then identified staff who could administer the vaccines, based on their scope of practice.
“Once we did that, we were registered throughout the state to be a provider for the vaccine. Then we submitted our request for the vaccines, received them, and began in locations and in-home settings using the state sign-up system.”
Alex provided shots at his office location in downtown Long Beach, and at sites throughout L.A. County. Overall, he has administered vaccines to at least 4,000 people in Long Beach.
“We partnered with the LB Department of Public Health, reached out to BHCA, our online presence, and community outreach to administer vaccine. And we are still reaching out and looking to give shots in the arm.”
“When Long Beach has reached its herd immunity, we will feel like we achieved our goal. Until then, we will keep reaching out.”