Board of Health

EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 20, 2024 MEETING MINUTES Meeting Call to Order – 5:46 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 Communication ID: 851 7799 9035 Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85177999035?pwd=ZlRhbVk1NS90YmNLM0NGeTZWWDRqQT09 After the roll call, it was determined there was a quorum to convene the meeting. Board Members Present: Christine Harris, President Tobbia M. Corbitt, Vice-President Deanna Phillips Angela Jones-Williams - absent Dr. Tonya X. Cook Council Liaison: Naiima Fauntleroy – Council meeting conflict Board of Health Counsel: Attorney Emeka Madubuogo - Council meeting conflict Health Department Staff: Horace Henry, HHS Director – Council meeting conflict Health Officer Dr. Miranda Diaz Mayoral Staff: Jada Braime-Butler Guests: None Public in attendance: None Approval of January 16, 2024, Meeting Minutes: Approved Unanimously Announcement: VP Corbitt announced the recent passing of Reverend Michael Jordan, a vital leader in the community. Condolences and expressions of sympathy were extended. pg. 1  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 20, 2024 Health Officer Dr. Diaz Updates: Health Needs Assessment President Harris asked Dr. Diaz if she had an opportunity to review the health needs assessment presented at last month's meeting. Dr. Diaz provided the Board with an overview of the questions asked in the assessment. Board members emphasized that the assessment is lengthy and expressed concerns that constituents would not complete the assessment if interrupted. They also noted that some of the questions are more community oriented rather than health focused. Dr. Diaz shared that the assessment is attached to an app and the respondent can provide their email address and can skip questions they don’t want to answer. She also stated that the assessment is still in the draft stages, and she would implement some of the Board’s survey questions. FileBank President Harris asked if the file bank document management system has been rolled out in the department. Dr. Diaz shared that they are still working on moving things forward but there were some hiccups with the scanners. Infant Immortality Dr. Diaz stated she reached out to Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey to foster additional partnerships. Nurse LaRusso and Dr. Kamara have roles within their committee. The organization helps clients navigate through the healthcare system. Nurse LaRusso shared that the Maternal & Child Health of Northern New Jersey program will be rolled out in waves throughout the state with Essex County being one of the first areas to receive the program. The program aims to provide extended care outside of the hospital setting. Two examples are: having specially trained nurses provide home visits for families caring for newborns, and, assisting parents who have lost children. The program is available to all regardless of insurance type and status. Nurse LaRusso shared her intent to promote the program during East Orange’s revamped baby shower program. Grants Dr. Diaz shared that for the first time ever, we have applied for Ryan White funding, a grant that stemmed from the young man from Indiana, who had HIV and subsequently died from the disease. The grant allows us funding for housing, rapid HIV testing and community health workers. It is a sizable grant, and we will find out on the 29th of February if we have this grant. We are going to apply for three more grants over the next couple of weeks. The amount of our award for the 2024 Strengthening Grant was approximately $400,000; however, our 2025 funds will be between $49,000 - $60,000, a significant reduction dependent on how many are awarded the grant next year. So that's why we're looking for all these different types of grants and funding that we can get. As the principal investigator under this Ryan White grant, Dr. Diaz will be collaborating with Irvington & Newark, who are operating without health officers, making it a busy endeavor. But we're excited and we're hoping that we have some good news for you next month at our meeting. President Harris asked how much money is left over from the previous Strengthening Grant. Dr. Diaz stated she is unsure but will get back to us. Mobile Mammogram Dr. Diaz shared that the mobile mammogram unit will be coming to City Hall in March and complemented Nurse LaRusso for her remarkable work. pg. 2  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 20, 2024 Nurse Ankrah Updates: Immunization Tracking President Harris inquired about the public-school immunization tracking system. Nurse Ankrah shared the program is going well. The schools have begun sending their list of immunized students to our department, and this year it looks like the response is very high, but we're waiting on a list from the NJ Department of Health. That list will contain schools that comply and are delinquent. We then follow up with the delinquent schools and make sure that every child is up to date. The list will allow us to either provide vaccinations to those who have not receive them, provide education and/or direction to available resources if they want to be vaccinated elsewhere. Usually, we send nurses out to the schools, but because we are understaffed, we can't go out to all the schools. So, we're waiting on the list from the Department of Health, distributed in March, that tells us which schools are compliant, and those that are delinquent. From there we can focus our efforts on the students who are not compliant with their immunizations President Harris asked how the State determines the level of delinquency. Nurse Ankrah shared the levels are determined based on the immunization reports submitted to NJDOH by the East Orange schools. The schools also send the EOHD an immunization report. President Harris asked for the total number of non-compliant students in EO. Nurse Ankrah explained that the State has a system which extracts and compiles the data from the reports, however; the EOHD has to do it manually. Currently, we have not received all the reports from the school to provide the total number of non-compliant students. Dr. Miranda provided the Board with an overview of how the data is collected from the reports and explained that nurses should be going out at the beginning of the school year and auditing all the schools including childcare organizations and pre-schools. Then you look and see which schools are compliant with having all their immunizations according to grade up to date. Then in February they submit a form. This form has a census, if you will, of the children in the school. Once the forms are collected, we compare those to all the schools that are in East Orange, to see who is compliant with their immunizations. Dr. Diaz stated she will work with Nurse Ankrah to create a system where they would perform the audits at the beginning of the school year which should help us remain on top of the immunization compliancy. Regarding the State Department immunization list, Dr. Cook asked: is it the dept of health’s goal to vaccinate the children? Dr. Diaz responded that the list is to identify those who are vaccinated or those who are exempt and the options available for vaccination. CDRSS Nurse Ankrah relayed to the Board that he and his team are still working to close the outstanding CDRSS (Communicable Disease) cases. Nurse Ankrah shared they reached out to Essex Reginal to assist them with closing some of the cases, so we do not miss the deadline. President Harris asked how many outstanding cases are there? Nurse Ankrah stated there are over one hundred cases. President Harris asked if they were still hiring a part-time individual to help with data input? Nurse Ankrah explained that part-time individuals are not allowed to access the system if they are working with an agency. The State only made that exception during COVID to manage the high volume of cases. Homelessness Team Updates: Introduction Keless Murray explained that she is a social service consultant for the homelessness program and serves as the point of contact for clients. She gathers their information and completes an intake assessment. The Essex County’s Homelessness Connection Day on January 24 th was a multi-agency event and for clarification, Mrs. Corbitt asked for the scope of the event. Ms. Murray responded that it was a county-wide multiple non-profit agency event. The East Orange Homeless event at Mt. Olive and the Essex County’s event both occurred on the same day. pg. 3  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 20, 2024 Homelessness Connection Day Mr. Blakley shared that he participated in Essex County’s Homelessness Connection Day on January 24th. Mr. Blakely stated that he and his team were able to connect with a lot of other Essex County organizations that may assist us with placement or when there's time to go out to certain functions, we can go out there as well. President Harris asked for the number of homeless individuals they encountered during the event. Mr. Blakely shared that they provided surveys at the event. The surveys are shared with the County and the County will share with the Feds. After the Feds tally the surveys, they quantify the data and create a report to be shared with the municipalities. He reiterated to the Board that he goes out in the middle of the night on various days and does a count of the number of homeless people he encounters and will include his findings with the data from the Feds before sharing with the Board. Mr. Blakley shared that we previously had a count of roughly 4-6 people from last year, but that number is incorrect and hopes that the updated report along with his efforts will reveal the true number. Mr. Blakely shared that it is harder to pinpoint the number of chronically homeless individuals since East Orange does not have homeless shelters. Therefore, those who may be chronically homeless go to shelters in other municipalities. Mr. Blakely shared that the survey asks questions such as: where did you stay on January 23rd; how long have you, in the last six to eight months, been chronically homeless or had episodes of being homeless outside; and are you currently receiving any benefits? Mr. Blakely shared that he encountered three gentlemen that had social security issues, so he took them to the Social Security Department to begin the process of reestablishing their benefits. Mr. Blakely stated that he and his team participate in monthly feedings for the homeless at Mt. Olive Church, on the last Thursday of the month. We set up tables and get in touch with the individuals there that are coming along the line. Senior Population Mr. Blakely remarked that there has been a rise in the number of seniors who are becoming homeless due to the recent rental increases. Many seniors are on a fixed income and can’t afford any additional charges. We also have a dilemma with the apartment buildings not being required to share their inventory because they are privately owned. VP Corbitt relayed a story that during an attempt to assist a family member the engagement with the building staff was cold and she was advised that they have so many applicants on the waiting list that they are not taking additional names. Nurse LaRusso stated that she will be working with the Homelessness and Outreach teams to do home visits for seniors as home health aides require an individual to have Medicaid. This would supplement the current Home Friends program that Senior Services operates. And to continue face to-face connection with senior. VP Corbitt stated we should engage Councilwoman Fauntleroy to include some legislative measures to assist our operational and educations efforts. Nurse LaRusso Updates: Internships President Harris asked about the internship program. Nurse LaRusso responded that the internships process is different, so I'm adjusting to the way the universities and the other institutions are functioning. Nurse LaRusso stated overall, they are a wonderful group and asked permission for them to attend next month's meeting to introduce themselves to the Board. President Harris stated yes, and that anyone is welcome to join the meeting and congratulated her on reinstituting the program. pg. 4  EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH City of East Orange REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services NEW JERSEY 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 20, 2024 Outreach Team Updates: Introduction Ms. Sade Boss introduced herself to the Board and shared that she is a member of the outreach team and operates as an infectious disease generalist. Ms. Boss explained that she also assists in creating new outreach programs including educational events. Before, we focused a on COVID-19 and vaccine events. We did a lot with our senior buildings, and we wish to continue to work with them within our outreach program. We already have connections with a lot of the social workers there. Recently though we have reimplemented our school district initiative, where we provide workshops for the students. The school district initiative was very successful, and we were requested to return, so we will do it again and focus solely on the early childhood – pre-K and kindergarten. We have some of the materials from last year, and we're adjusting it to their age. Overall, we're just really excited to start doing more outreach and creating programs for the City because we do see a need and as we go, we'll create more programs and keep you guys updated as well. President Harris thanked Ms. Boss for her presentation and for joining the meeting for the first time Ms. Sade Boss is also very involved with and participated in creating the childcare initiative. The Maternal and Child Health of Norther New Jersey as a universal home visiting program, free for mothers with newborns. Open Discussion: Director Henry’s Confirmation Board members congratulated Director Henry as he was confirmed as the new Health Director. President Harris commented that we have a wonderful director and health officer and a talented staff. At the conclusion of Board business, President Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:22 pm. Respectfully submitted, Jo-Ann Lowe Board Clerk pg. 5