Press Room

RELEASE: Commissioner Garcia Announces Creation of Senior Care Facility Task Force

COMMISSIONER GARCIA ANNOUNCES CREATION OF “SENIOR CARE FACILITY TASK FORCE”

The task force will survey Precinct 2 Senior Living facilities and draft recommendations to protect one of the most at-risk populations during the COVID-19 crisis

Harris County, TX — Today, April 23, 2020 Commissioner Adrian Garcia is announcing the launch of the “Senior Care Facility Task Force” to ensure seniors, who are among the most at-risk during the Coronavirus pandemic, are not forgotten. The group will hold discussions with operators of Precinct 2 senior living facilities and will use this information to present a set of recommendations for how to navigate the current crisis and keep residents and facilities safe. The task force features experts from an array of sectors related to all aspects of crisis management and senior facility care.

The members include: Dr. Raouf R. Arafat (Former Director, City of Houston Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness), Rosalinda Martinez (Associate State Director, Outreach and Advocacy at AARP), Claudia Aguirre (President and CEO, Baker-Ripley), and Michael Moore (Chief of Staff for former Houston Mayor Bill White, and point person for Mayor White for Houston’s response during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike).

 “I am so proud to have some of the area’s brightest minds working with me on the Senior Facility Task Force,” Commissioner Garcia said, “we are very concerned about our loved ones who are amongst the most vulnerable living in these residential facilities, as time and time again, we have seen that they can be hotspots for Coronavirus outbreaks. This task force hopes to establish a set of recommendations for the more than 150 locations in Precinct 2 that can then be applied county-wide.”

 The members of this task force bring a wealth of experience and insight to senior programming, engagement, epidemic detection/response, and disaster response and recovery. The set of guidelines and recommendations produced by the task force could serve as a framework for other senior care facilities throughout Harris County.