With Input from Angela McGregor

Prompted by the recent stories of MRSA in Venice, the Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC) Homeless Committee  met Friday afternoon to approve a motion members drafted for VNC approval regarding providing health monitoring of Rose Ave encampment and any other Venice encampment for the protection of all Venice residents as well as the homeless.

Recently there was a “scare” of an outbreak of MRSA in Venice amongst the homeless as reported in Venice Update at Veniceupdate.com. This motion if approved by the VNC and implemented should monitor and report all health risks to the public.

First of all the motion, which was unanimously approved, stated that the City, the County, the State and the Federal government had a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that all housed and unhoused should have access to medical care as needed. The motion states:

They want all outbreaks of MRSA to be reported immediately in writing to the VNC;

They want the Lava Mae shower facility to be properly verified free of contaminants by the LA County Health Department;

They want an immediate and periodic health inspecition of encampment on Rose and all encampments in Venice to ensure the health and safety of all residents.

Taylor Bazley, Venice deputy for Councilman Bonin, was in attendance at the meeting and stated that there have been, per the County Health Department, no reported cases of MRSA in Venice in the past two months. This does not rule out, however, that cases may have been diagnosed and reported elsewhere prior to an infected individual moving to the streets of Venice. He said that the Dr. King of the Venice Family Clinic does routine outreach to this community and had reported no cases, but their outreach is not comprehensive enough to absolutely rule out the possibility of an outbreak. As such, Department of Public Health Workers are working with Venice Family Clinic to identify cases. As Bazley put it, “We’re pretty confident there aren’t any new cases”. However, he said, Supervisor Shiela Kuehl is treating this as a “major health crisis” although it likely is not, out of an abundance of caution.

After the meeting, and not part of the meeting, Taylor Bazley was asked what could be done about the trash on 3rd. He said he had ordered more trash cans and said more cans or more frequent pickup service was needed. Update assumes 3rd will have more trash cans and/or more frequent pickup service.