What’s
Up
MAY 2023 NEWSLETTER
Director’s Message Dear OC Health Care Agency (HCA) Team, May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Nurse Recognition Month. I am so proud of all those who serve our community in Mental Health and Recovery Services (MHRS). “Thank you” for all you do to help improve outcomes in the lives of residents in Orange County (OC). MHRS is undergoing a reorganization which I am excited about, and I believe will better serve OC. More to come as decisions are finalized for MHRS. You can read more on Mental Health Awareness Month in this newsletter. I also extend my “Thank you” to every nurse with the HCA! The . . . continued on page 2
FEATURED ARTICLES Nurses Month 2023...................4 Congratulations to PresidentElect Jenna Sarin......................7 OC HCA Named 2023 Community Champion of the Year...............9
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY
Peer-to-Peer
Eriny Girgis “I feel proud when I hear about the accomplishments people have made and the challenges they have overcome with our support. That is the most delightful feeling in the world. It is priceless to have played even a minor role in improving someone's life.” Peer-to-Peer recipient Eriny Girgis, Community Health Assistant II with the Comprehensive Health Assessment TeamHomeless (CHAT-H), Public Health Services (PHS) said she enjoys being at the OC Health Care Agency (HCA) because she is part of a team that serves the community. “Working for an organization that strives to improve society and the lives of vulnerable and underserved populations, like the HCA, fills me with pride and satisfaction. I have a lot of opportunities to give back to the community and am blessed to be a part of the HCA,” she said. Eriny was born in Alexandria, Egypt where she grew up and earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Alexandria University. She, her husband and their son and daughter moved to Orange County in 2010 after being selected for Green Cards through the US Immigration Diversity Lottery. Her husband is a cardiologist who now works in research and their children are both in medical schools. Their son is at the University of California-Irvine and their daughter at the University of Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine in Texas. Eriny credits her husband for influencing their children towards . . . continued on page 16