Colleges and universities across the country have worked to suppress SARS-CoV-2 and safely bring students back to campus. These efforts generally include testing and support services for students, faculty and staff, but they tend to start and stop within campus boundaries.
UC Davis and the city of Davis have taken an innovative approach. It’s called Healthy Davis Together, and it’s a joint project that aims to get the community through the pandemic by applying university research and expertise to public health initiatives in the city. This is done through extensive free testing, free face masks and protective equipment, services for people in isolation or quarantine, and pilot projects initiated jointly by the city and university. The unique program has been attracting national attention.
We talk about Healthy Davis Together with two people involved in setting up and running the program.
- Tod Stoltz is director of business development and international affiliations at the UC Davis Center for Health and Technology. At Healthy Davis Together, Stoltz oversees overall project administration, leading the innovations and technology core, the environmental monitoring approach, and the work with local K-12 schools.
- Mike Webb is city manager for the city of Davis and co-chair of the Advisory Committee for Healthy Davis Together. He has worked for the city of Davis for about 20 years, in his most recent position since 2017. As city manager, Webb directs the city’s administrative departments and supports the city council. He manages Healthy Davis Together activities on behalf of the city.