Board of Health and Human Services

CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM Milton Smith, Chair Miles McNeeley, Member Silene St. Bernard, DVM, Vice Chair Jody Rawles, MD, Member Sylvia Betancourt, Member Christopher Robson, Member Ralph Brooks, RN, Member Barbara Schwerin, Member Reena Curtis, PharmD, Member Nasir Tejani, MD, FAAP, Member Manorama Gupta, MD, Member Susan Temple, Member Troy Ha, DDS, Member Lydia Vaias, MD, Member FINISHED AGENDA AND APPROVED MINUTES CALL TO ORDER - 7:45 A.M. At 7:49 a.m. the meeting was called to order. Chair Smith presiding. ROLL CALL Commissioners Sylvia Betancourt, Reena Curtis, Manorama Gupta, Troy Ha, Present: Jody Rawles, Christopher Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Susan Temple, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith Commissioners Ralph Brooks Excused: Commissioners Miles McNeeley Absent: Also present; Kelly Colopy, Director of Health and Human Services; Anissa Davis, MD, MPH, City Health Officer; Dennis Keith, Executive Assistant and Bill Pearl, LongBeachReport.com. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. 20-035BH Recommendation to approve the minutes of the Board of Health and Human Services meetings held Friday, April 10, 2020. Page 1 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM A motion was made by Member Gupta, seconded by Member Robson, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 12 - Sylvia Betancourt, Reena Curtis, Manorama Gupta, Troy Ha, Jody Rawles, Christopher Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Susan Temple, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith Excused: 1 - Ralph Brooks Absent: 1 - Miles McNeeley PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Members of the public are invited to address the Board on items of interest to the public within the Agency Board jurisdiction. Each speaker will be limited to two minutes unless that time is extended by the Chair. There was no public comment. EXECUTIVE STAFF REPORTS 2. 20-036BH Recommendation to receive, discuss and file a report from the Director of Health and Human Services. Kelly Colopy, Director of Health and Human Services, provided the Board with an update on the following items: • The Department is starting to look at the 2021 Budget. This years’ budget process will be compressed, and very different from previous budget years. Departments are looking at mechanisms for budget savings. • Most Department staff are working remotely. There is currently a screening process at the Main Health front door. Clinics will be opening up more for business within the next couple of weeks. Approximately 100 Department staff are currently deployed to the COVID-19 response. This BH-Agenda Item was received and filed. Page 2 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM 3. 20-037BH Recommendation to receive, discuss and file a report from the City Health Officer on Communicable Disease Control activities. Dr. Anissa Davis, City Health Officer, provided the Board with an update on the following items: • Dr. Davis increased clinical openings. • A brief discussion ensued regarding any potential impact in other communicable diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Davis indicated that in light of COVID-19 being the current primary focus of health agencies, data on other communicable diseases has been inconsistent. This BH-Agenda Item was received and filed. REGULAR AGENDA 4. 20-038BH Recommendation to receive an update regarding the Department's COVID-19 activities. Ms. Colopy and Dr. Davis provided the Board with an update on COVID-19 activities and response to date, including: • A presentation on COVID-19 was provided at the May 5, 2020 City Council meeting which provided information on the number of cases to date, and the demographics associated with those cases. In Long Beach, the 90803 and 90807 area codes are the hardest hit areas of the City, primarily due to the number of long-term care facilities in those zip codes. The number of cases are tracking slightly higher than the State average, but significantly lower than those of the County. • The City’s African American population has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 for hospitalizations and deaths, as well as a smaller similar representation among the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population. Staff will be speaking with representatives from the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community to share best practices that they can use moving forward. Town hall meetings have already been held with African American and Spanish community members to ensure that they are being properly informed and educated on this Page 3 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM issue for their safety. • Generally, overall the number of new cases is dropping. The City is doing well compared against the six indicators that Governor Newsome has established. • The City has conducted over 14,000 tests to date. Testing at each of the City’s testing locations have been at, or near capacity daily. • The City is working to redeploy between 60 - 80 staff to assist with contact tracing. Staff will receive 20 hours of training to prepare them for this work. The City has also hired a company to assist with data management. • Work with homeless shelters is going well. Approximately 130 individuals were moved from congregate sheltering into contracted motels in Long Beach to provide a safer shelter environment. The focus is to have the City’s permanent year-round shelter open by the end of June. Current winter shelter operations will remain through September 2020. • Currently focused on outreach to older adults, with outreach to senior living facilities and food delivery programs. The COVID resiliency training group is looking at early childcare, an ongoing focus for older adults, as well as mental health resources. • A brief discussion ensued regarding COVID-19 antibody testing. Dr. Davis advised that current FDA approved antibody testing is inconclusive, as the tests detect the presence of any coronavirus, such as the ones that causes the common cold, and not specifically COVID-19. Also, determining that an individual had COVID-19 does not necessarily indicate immunity, as the actual level of immunity one obtains is unknown at this time. • A brief discussion ensued regarding safety orders or guidelines for medical/dental offices. Orders for the reopening of medical/dental facilities to normal operations are aligned with the Governors six-stage plan for reopening. • The State is aggressively pushing for testing of all staff and patients of long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. Department staff are working to conduct this testing, as well as provide support to these facilities regarding patient cohorting, training and provision of personal protective equipment. • A brief discussion ensured regarding pets contracting COVID-19. While extremely rare, pets contract the virus from humans, but do not transmit the virus Page 4 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM to humans. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 5. 20-039BH Recommendation to discuss Board goals and infrastructure. Chair Smith reminded Boardmembers to send him their listings of other organizations and affiliations they are associated with. Boardmembers working on the Interagency Communication Subcommittee have made several attempts to meet with their respective Councilmembers, but meetings to date have not been scheduled. Staff will continue to reach out in an attempt to schedule meetings. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 6. 20-040BH Recommendation to discuss rethinking the City's funding approach for 2020. Chair Smith provided some background on this request to add this item to the agenda. His intent is to reimagine the City’s investment in the Health Department on an ongoing basis moving forward. COVID-19 has shined a light on the lack of support for Health Departments, and he hopes to create ongoing awareness for future support with funding and resources. Chair Smith also discussed needed support and awareness from each of the nine Council Districts to actively engage in public health issues and to share public health information with their constituents. A discussion ensued regarding what types of communications Council districts are currently putting out to their constituents, how often they are communicating with them, and on how best to reach segments of the population who are unable to access information online, by email or through social media. A brief discussion ensued regarding the lack of, and need for, a full-time policy person in the Health Department. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. ONGOING BUSINESS Page 5 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM 7. 20-041BH Recommendation to receive and file an update from the Toxic Tour Subcommittee. There was no new information to provide on this item. Boardmember Betancourt mentioned a recent Harvard research study showing that people exposed to air pollution had a higher susceptivity to CVOID-19, increased complications and death. Boardmember Betancourt urged the Board to remain actively engaged on this issue and suggested that in-light of COVID-19 restrictions on conducting a physical toxic tour, look at creative options to share this information. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 8. 20-042BH Recommendation to receive and file an update on the status of the City's implementation of the legalization of cannabis. There was no new information to provide on this item. Chair Smith inquired as to whether there was a time limit for the City’s tracking of any affects the legalization of cannabis may have had on the City. No information was available at this time. Chair Smith inquired if there had been any changes to the Long Beach Unified School District curriculum in regard to cannabis education. Boardmember Temple, indicated that there have been no significant changes to the curriculum. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 9. 20-043BH Recommendation to receive and file an update on Community Hospital. Plans had been moving forward to reopen Community Hospital for COVID-19 overflow capacity use; however, the State opined that Community Hospital was not in an area requiring additional capacity. Work is still progressing towards the reopening of the facility. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements. Page 6 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND CALL-IN MEETING ONLY HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES (NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE) PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 961 354 438, 7:45 AM ADJOURNMENT At 9:21 a.m. the meeting was adjourned. Note: A digital recording of this meeting will be available in the Health and Human Services Department. The City of Long Beach provides reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If a special accommodation is desired, or if an agenda is needed in an alternative format, please contact Dennis Keith, Executive Assistant for the Long Beach Health and Human Services Department, 48 hours prior to the meeting at (562) 570-4014 or (562) 570-6626 (telecommunications device for the deaf), or by email at dennis.keith@longbeach.gov. Page 7 of 7