The Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization recently commissioned a report, the Community Health Needs Assessment, to assess the “health and well-being of Lompoc residents through four focus areas: financial stability and affordability, chronic illnesses, behavioral health, and healthy lifestyles.”
Did the “organization representatives” have a hidden agenda? And were reports of chronic illness only based on unverified innuendo?
This study’s findings are questionable. Why? Because as stated in the findings section of the report, “focus group discussions with 50 community members and organization representatives provide qualitative context by capturing lived experiences and factors influencing the data. Twelve focus groups explored the four focus areas, including four held in English with Lompoc residents, four held in Spanish with Lompoc residents, and four held in English with service providers working in Lompoc.”
The U.S. census estimates that the city of Lompoc’s population for 2025 was 43,315 residents, and the surrounding areas contribute another 10,000-plus, so a sample size of “50 community members and organization representatives” (less than 0.001 percent of the population) is hardly representative of the Lompoc Valley.
Regarding the assessment of chronic illnesses, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) only allows disclosure of health information to the individual or within the health organization for the purposes of billing and other administrative services.
Relying on the generic code used for insurance billing purposes isn’t a reliable indicator of the “health of the community.” For example, my wife received a simple injection as treatment, and it was billed to Medicare and our insurance provider using a “surgery” code.
One disturbing observation was from one community member from a focus group who said, “I have the difficulty of getting help in my language. … It’s not the same to be helped by someone who is culturally compatible with me as it is to be helped by someone who is American.”
This statement points to another issue, which is the assimilation of immigrants into the communities where they live.
When I was stationed overseas in Europe and Asia, the local governments required me to bring my own translator if I needed any help. In our area, I am sure that there are several people who could help this person because it’s a safe bet that wherever you go, it is an American who will try to help you.
The report discusses “financial hardship” as having an “impact on people’s health and well-being.” To help make the point, they report that “by comparison, the living wage for the household—the minimum income a family needs to cover basic necessities—in Santa Barbara County for two working parents with two children is estimated to be $151,133 per year, or $36.33 per hour for each parent.”
They also say, “The median household income in the city of Lompoc, which is $70,038,” falls short of what they consider a “living wage.” Clearly there was an underlying agenda at play here.
In Lompoc, the primary employment opportunities are in service industries, agriculture, and government. There are almost no manufacturing jobs in the city, and most commercial space jobs are at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Recent reports of an expected increase in personnel at Vandenberg probably include construction and operation of launch sites and increases in military personnel.
While there were several potential solutions for the findings discussed in Appendix A, “Considerations for Action” of the report, how to obtain a living wage wasn’t one of them.
I have one: Politicians need to stop trying to fix the problem. Their solution is usually to raise the minimum wage. In 2027 California plans to increase the minimum wage to $17.40 an hour.
Raising the minimum wage only causes all the things we buy and services we use to increase in price. At the end of the day, that increase has a negative impact on low- and medium-income families who will remain in “financial hardship.”
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc.
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This article appears in August 20 – August 27, 2026.
