As assistant director of the Placer County Office of Emergency Services, Holly Powers brings together a variety of partners to prepare for, respond to, and lead the recovery from natural or human-made disasters.

COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for health care. At least for the moment, though, local providers have been hanging tough and looking toward economic recovery.

Under the gloom of a pandemic, people on the front lines of the crisis are encountering a level of unprecedented stressors layered onto already challenging jobs.

As a hospital assistant at UC Davis Medical Center, Tony Braham helps nurses lift and move patients. In other words, “We’re the muscle of the hospital,” Braham says, and his startup aims to help “the muscle” be more mobile.

Contact tracing has been used for decades to track the spread of infectious disease, but it was a process few in the general public understood until the highly-contagious coronavirus entered America’s consciousness in early 2020.

After screening millions of cells that secrete antibodies, scientists at a Rancho Cordova-based automated cell processing company and its collaboration partners believe they found a potential path to treat COVID-19.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Precision Medical Products primarily focused on products for post-surgical patients. But with PPE in short supply nationwide, the company swiftly allocated all its resources toward the production and distribution of N95 and KN95 respirators.

California doctors are diagnosing anything from appendicitis to strep throat with only a phone during the coronavirus pandemic. Video visits and conversations are the closest doctors can get to patients who are sheltering in place and avoiding potential exposure from doctor visits.

Though service gaps and challenges remain, health care could eventually become the Sacramento region’s calling card.