Board of Health

City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES Meeting Call to Order – 5:38 PM Board President Christine Harris read the following Sunshine Law: This meeting, which conforms to the provisions of the Open Public Meeting Act, Chapter 231, and Public Law of 1975 is a regular meeting of the City of East Orange Board of Health. Notices have been filed with our official newspaper, with the City Clerk, and posted on regular bulletin boards. The public is permitted to participate at this meeting. Zoom Telecommunication ID: 921 7735 6883 Meeting Link: https://zoom.us/j/92177356883?pwd=a2lhRERJMU1CMUp6K29DRUUrdTlUdz09 After the roll call, it was determined there was a quorum to convene the meeting. Board Members Present: Christine Harris, President Horace H. Henry, Vice President Tobbia M. Corbitt Deanna Phillips Angela Jones-Williams Dr. Tonya X. Cook Council Liaison: Leneus Bergson - absent Board of Health Counsel: Farah Abuobead – absent Health Department Staff: Dr. Griffith, HHS Director Victor Kuteyi, Health Officer Mayoral Staff: None Public in attendance: None Approval of April 20, 2021, Meeting Minutes: Approved Unanimously pg. 1 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES Announcements President Harris: 1. The CDC and President Biden announced that wearing face masks are no longer required for those fully vaccinated and encouraged those who are not, to receive their vaccinations. 2. The Senate is working on a substitute Senate Bill S1, which repeals portions of statute 26 A2-16, 17, 18 established in 1976. The statute provides protection for certain municipal workers, such as health officers and environmental health specialists, when municipalities are seeking to consolidate or engage in shared services. If the bill passes, it will affect health departments state-wide. President Harris encouraged HO Kuteyi to contact NJACCHO’s President Marconi Gapas regarding the legislation. The State Association, NJLBHA, opposes passage of this legislation, and on behalf of local boards of health in NJ, so informed Senator Sweeney. President Harris expressed understanding for the push to consolidate services during trying economic times and advised shared services are a great option, however, we do not want vital health personnel eliminated in the process. Dr. Griffith Updates: Recreational Marijuana Retailers Dr. Griffith shared the HD & BOH needs to discuss recreational marijuana use. August 2021 is the deadline for Municipalities to decide whether they will allow retail sale of recreational marijuana. HO Kuteyi and Dr. Griffith briefly spoke with the H&E Committee about whether it would fall under our general structure for tobacco retailers or another category. We need to formulate a strategy regarding regulations and create parameters to track sales. President Harris agreed, stating that's part of the old business that we kept on the agenda so that we would not forget about it. President Harris brought to the Board's attention that there were some discussions and proposed legislation regarding emergency workers and public safety officers’ capability of assisting in emergencies if they consumed recreational marijuana. Since marijuana usage is legal one cannot be fired for being under the influence. There are no guidelines in place or testing available, such as a breathalyzer, to determine the level of cannabis ingested. Vulnerable Population Outreach Coordinator (VPOC) President Harris asked for insight regarding the function of the VPOC and the criteria for the position. Dr. Griffith explained the VPOC will compile all the data collected, since the beginning of the pandemic, into a brief assessment. The assessment will be used as a tool to reach out to individuals that might need additional support. This is work done in response to the pandemic and recovery. We have identified groups such as our homeless population, seniors, children, unemployed individuals; and various groups that require food, behavioral health, and additional resources. pg. 2 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES It is important to identify and pair them with services that exist within the City. President Harris asked if this is a part of the overall community assessment that is being done? Dr. Griffith explained that it can be, but this was pandemic-specific. A lot of the data, in terms of identifying vulnerable groups, is census-related because with the pandemic, there were individuals affected at disproportionate rates due to their underlying chronic illnesses that already existed. A multitude of information can be gathered from the census and other data sources to formulate this assessment and the County level assessment. President Harris asked if the grant was resubmitted with two names to fulfill the role. Dr. Griffith explained we tried to hire new individuals, but few were seeking a part-time position, so Nurse Karen and Ms. Judy’s names were submitted. Presently, there is a 2022 grant available because they are extending that resource so we're looking to apply for that as well. President Harris asked if the grant is renewable. Dr. Griffith stated the grant is not necessarily renewable, but we will continue to apply for the funding if it is available. President Harris asked if there has been any discussion on relocating the health department? Dr. Griffith expressed there have been discussions on relocating the health department, as we see the need for us to be available and accessible to the community via facilities that are appropriate and welcoming to our residents. Dr. Griffith shared that in the interim you may begin to see small improvements, one of which includes a ramp being installed in the front to make the building ADA accessible. It has been measured and plans were drawn now we just must take it one step further and make sure that the construction can happen if we are relocated. President Harris commended the Health Department for its accomplishments. EO Vaccination Website Dr. Griffith announced a successful soft launch of our website www.eovaccine.org which houses vaccine-related information. There are currently FAQs on the site, and it compares the different vaccines. The hope is that the site will be a resource for individuals to access and receive information about the vaccine should they have questions regarding what is happening locally and their options. It will also be another resource for publicizing health education materials such as some of the older newsletters and even newsletters moving forward on that website Health Officer Kuteyi Updates: Vulnerable Population Coordinator President Harris announced during the last meeting, HO Kuteyi stated the grant was resubmitted for approval and asked if we have received an update. HO Kuteyi stated Dr. Griffith amended the grant and submitted it for approval, however, he would need to speak with her regarding its acceptance. President Harris asked if we currently have a VPOC in place. HO Kuteyi stated we do have someone filling the coordinator role. pg. 3 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES School Reopening President Harris inquired if there had been further discussions regarding school reopening. Health Officer Kuteyi stated there was a meeting where plans were discussed before school reopening. The discussions included hybrid and in-class learning, ventilation, and social distancing protocols. Since that time there has not been another formal meeting regarding these protocols. President Harris stated that water quality is an issue not previously discussed and expressed concern for ensuring that the water is up to standard. Trustee Corbitt concurred asking if water fountains were still being utilized and if they had been substituted for fountains that do not allow students to drink directly behind each other. Vice President Henry stated that as standard procedure, the piper should be flushed if they remained dormant for a period of time, the water needs to be tested and if needed, sterilize the lines. HO Kuteyi stated he will contact the EOSD to ensure the water is tested for legionella. Trustee Corbitt asked if we will receive an update from the EOSD regarding the reopening. HO Kuteyi stated he anticipates a meeting will occur where we will receive a formal update very soon. HO Kuteyi shared he has had informal conversations with the school Superintendent regarding what modifications have been made and what is still in the works. HO Kuteyi expressed happiness with the school district's progress so far. President Harris remarked the Health Department should be working in conjunction with the EOSD to ensure the protocols are being adhered to, per the Executive Order. HO Kuteyi advised the Health Department reviewed the EOSD's reopening plan and are in constant communication with them to ensure proper execution of the plans. EO Vaccination Statistics President Harris asked if there have been any reported immigrants in East Orange. HO Kuteyi shared he has not received any reports of immigrants in East Orange. President Harris clarified she is bringing this topic to light because, in our last report, there was only 10 percent of EO residents had been vaccinated and while there may not be an increase there are a steady number of individuals affected with COVID-19. President Harris wanted to differentiate the substantial COVID-19 cases from our regular population to those who are positive and have migrated from other regions. President Harris asked for a statistical update regarding our local vaccination efforts. HO Kuteyi stated he received data from the Essex County OEM a week ago which shows that approximately 8,000 EO residents have received one or a portion of the Moderna vaccine and 1,000 to 1,200 received J&J from the Newark vaccination sites. This information should have changed since then as we are continuing our local vaccination efforts almost daily in EO. Whereas during our April meeting reports showed 10% of our population had been vaccinated the stats reflect about 27% of the population have received both and when we look at one dose of either vaccine that would go up like 38%. HO Kuteyi expressed the support we are getting from NCHC, Walgreens, and other healthcare entities is beginning to positively affect the numbers. pg. 4 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES The hope is to sustain the uptick in COVID vaccinations to advance towards herd immunity. President Harris asked if 40% of the EO population may have been inoculated. HO Kuteyi stated it is likely since this report was provided a week ago. HO Kuteyi speculates by the end of June the number of vaccinated individuals should have continued to increase. President Harris asked if there was a system in place for canvasing to determine whether residents have been vaccinated. HO Kuteyi shared we do have a questionnaire that absorbs that data and will help us determine any factors causing reluctance. HO Kuteyi believes we may not have had an opportunity to review the responses but once we do this will present us with an idea of what is causing reluctance so we can formulate or ways to combat it. President Harris asked if we get 75% of our population inoculated, would that constitute herd immunity for EO? HO Kuteyi affirmed that 75% of our population inoculated would be sufficient for herd immunity. President Harris remarked that we are doing a great job regarding the mobile clinic. Dr. Griffith agreed stating the percentage of EO residents who are vaccinated keeps inching up and our goal is certainly to continue to create access along with visibility so that our residents know that they have an opportunity to receive the vaccine if they so choose to. Dr. Griffith explained we recently completed our ward tour, where we have set up mobile sites in each ward. We have also been asked to provide support to Irvington and Orange which Victor has spoken about. The Health Department has a lot of other initiatives that continue to function and operate. Board members commended the HD for the tremendous job under difficult circumstances. Dr. Griffith expressed a desire to ensure residents know that they do have a resource in the health department. President Harris asked if the hiatus of vaccinations, while the side effects were being evaluated, caused difficulty in rescheduling appointments. Dr. Griffith shared we had many individuals scheduled for Johnson and Johnson, but we did start seeing some impacts when individuals expressed reluctance to accept either vaccination and generalized what was happening with J&J to Moderna. This provided us with an opportunity to create a dialogue with individuals and better balance their perspectives. Local Vaccination Efforts HO Kuteyi shared the East Orange Health Department has become a hub for vaccinations. The State provided EO with a consignment of Moderna and J&J vaccines for distribution to our residents as well as residents of Orange and Irvington. We have spearheaded initiatives to support both municipalities via our mobile unit and staff. This is an important step that aims to ensure our residents are not only vaccinated and protected in EO but when they travel to our neighboring municipalities. We have already begun vaccinating in Orange and anticipate vaccinating in Irvington within the coming weeks. President Harris offered congratulations and remarked by obtaining the consignment of vaccinations, demonstrates how effective you and your team have been in administering the vaccine and getting out the message. HO Kuteyi shared we have been continuing our vaccination efforts throughout EO via our mobile unit. On one such occasion, we held a vaccination clinic at ShopRite which was expected to be like our usual operations, however, Governor Murphy and Whoopi Goldberg surprised us with a visit. Their attendance created one of the largest turnouts we have had pg. 5 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES since beginning our vaccination efforts and we were able to vaccinate many individuals. We also operated a vaccination clinic at New Vision Baptist Church in EO on a Saturday and had a decent turnout despite the inclement weather. WIC Updates: Ms. Blue shared the USDA has extended remote services until August 2021, so clients will not have to come into the office to receive services. Ms. Blue explained the extensions occur every 90 days and stated she is uncertain whether this option will be offered for another three months once the August extension expires. We are waiting to hear from the State but state- wide most directors/coordinators are planning to reopen their offices between September and December. President Harris asked if WIC's client numbers are stable. Ms. Blue stated they are stable, and she and her staff have been very busy. We are working in conjunction with the EO Farmers Market as the checks are coming due in the summer months. Ms. Blue wants to ensure the Farmers Market checks are retained as they are a great resource for her clients. President Harris expressed happiness that Ms. Blue was able to join the meeting and that everything sounds good. Open Discussion: Trustee Corbitt asked for clarification on whether our vaccination numbers have increased by 30%. The last meeting was referenced where the data stated of 60,000 residents, 6,138 received the Moderna vaccine and 1,136 received J&J. That data reflects 10% of our population had been vaccinated as of last month. HO Kuteyi answered he is not aware of the most accurate percentage increase, but the data he received is for EO, from Essex County's Newark sites. The data reflects 8,226 doses were given, approximating 4,700 of those being at least one dose and 3,500 having had two doses. President Harris remarked the entry lag may be a contributing factor as to why there is a significant increase in numbers. Trustee Corbitt wanted to gain clarity on our closeness to reaching a vaccination total of 40% of the EO population. Board members concurred and expressed happiness at the increased numbers. President Harris also remarked on the difficulty in receiving up-to-date information as it is coming from multiple entities. Trustee Corbitt remarked she consistently hears on various news outlets how aggressive & proactive the County and EO HD have been in providing individuals with an opportunity to receive their vaccinations. BOH Autonomy President Harris advised Dr. Griffith there was some discussion last month regarding the role of an Advisory Board with Attorney Linder as the BOH received a request to review and rescind a resolution for Cost Estimator services for the Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (LHCHH) Program. President Harris asked for clarity regarding the BOH's role as they were not a part of the initial approval process and was advised by Attorney Linder an Advisory Board can create a resolution as a recommendation but would still need to be approved by the Health & Education Committee and City Council to be entered as law. Dr. Griffith clarified that was an RFP that was released and the BOH has been aware of the lead hazard control and healthy homes grant and as part of that grant there were multiple pg. 6 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES positions that needed to be filled. the cost estimator being one and so that process was initiated with the knowledge of the Board of Health. However, there were steps that we needed to go through and take to onboard and ultimately it was not done without the knowledge of the Board of Health. The process took some time to complete so whereas that grant I believe we were awarded that grant in 2019, we are still without a cost estimator in 2020. We had to resubmit the agreement because the cost estimator attempted to change the terms of the agreement and was inflexible and refused to comply with standards regarding lead and evaluating homes. The program coordinator, Mr. Salaam tried to work with the company, however, due to the lack of compliance the decision was made to move forward. President Harris asked the number of people who can perform this task. Dr. Griffith stated it is a very difficult question to answer as she is not aware of the number of individuals that have the capability of serving as a cost estimator. It was also mentioned that we are looking for a unique skill set as a cost estimator with lead experience is needed. President Harris asked if we have any new resolutions that may be presented to the H&E Committee. Dr. Griffith shared some of the upcoming resolutions include contracts for Senior Services activities and the cost estimator position for LHCHH. The resolution for Senior Services will allow us to forgo bidding in favor of a non-open process for annual activities. The activities include arts and crafts, golf, yoga, and exercise/dance. The contracts are usually submitted for bidding annually, but due to the history, we have with these vendors, we have decided to submit a resolution to Council to circumvent this process. Trustee Corbitt thanked Dr. Griffith for her efforts in assisting her family with obtaining their vaccinations. Trustee Corbitt asked if there have been any thoughts or conversations from the health department to collaborate with the school district for vaccine education and awareness. Dr. Griffith shared we continue to remain in contact with the school district. HO has a great relationship with Miss Santos, and Dr. Griffith has communicated on multiple occasions even recently with Dr. Harvest. The school district has seen a reduction in the number of cases and multiple teachers also opted to be vaccinated. Dr. Griffith shared her belief that our position at Campus High auditorium and offering vaccines there has been beneficial as well convenient for teachers but what we have also seen is that there have been minors that have come and were eager to get vaccinated, however, we were only offering Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. Some youths have been very diligent in showing interest in being vaccinated even bringing their parents with them if they needed to sign. We have had preliminary conversations to determine whether we should establish efforts to provide vaccinations with the school district like our childhood immunizations. At this time, there are pharmacies in the city that are going to be offering Pfizer as well as organizations wanting to partner so it is something that we need to discuss a little bit more because as a health department we will not receive Pfizer. The school district has been onboard with providing covid-related educational materials to parents. President Harris asked if vaccination efforts for minors will operate the same as for adults and would it be pg. 7 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 May 18, 2021 MEETING MINUTES easier to administer the vaccinations via school nurses? Dr. Griffith explained a hybrid process as appointments are important for us to have so that we can allocate vaccine appropriately so appointments would still be helpful, but we have been also accepting walk-ins when the school when these students are going to be getting the vaccinations. When we began administering the vaccinations, schools were closed so it may create a heavier workload for school nurses to administer the vaccinations. In addition, we are ultimately responsible for the vaccines, so it may not be appropriate for them to be administered by the nurses. Trustee Corbitt asked if the H& E meetings were virtual and open to all BOH members. Dr. Griffith stated the meetings are virtual and notifications for the meetings are received by President Harris. We can clarify that the meetings are open to all. President Harris shared Trustee Phillips has attended a meeting when pre-covid and believes the meetings are open to all BOH members. At the conclusion of Board business, President Harris adjourned the meeting at 6:54 pm. Respectfully submitted, Jo-Ann Mills Board Clerk pg. 8