Board of Health and Human Services

CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 279 3795, 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 DRAFT MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER At 7:49 a.m. the meeting was called to order. Chair Smith presiding. ROLL CALL Commissioners Sylvia Betancourt, Ralph Brooks, Reena Curtis, Manorama Present: Gupta, Troy Ha, Miles McNeeley, Jody Rawles, Christopher Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Susan Temple, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith Also present: Kelly Colopy - Director of Health and Human Services; Dr. Anissa Davis, MD, MPH - City Health Officer; and Dennis Keith - Executive Assistant. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. 20-044BH Recommendation to approve the minutes of the Board of Health and Human Services meetings held Friday, May 8, 2020. A motion was made by Member Robson, seconded by Member Gupta, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Page 1 of 6 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 279 3795, 7:45 AM Yes: 14 - Sylvia Betancourt, Ralph Brooks, Reena Curtis, Manorama Gupta, Troy Ha, Miles McNeeley, Jody Rawles, Christopher Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Susan Temple, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith 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. 20-045BH 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: • In response to a $30 million City budget shortfall brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City has requested that Departments cut back their budgets to find savings. For the Health Department this equates to an up to 12 percent cut to the Health Department’s general fund budget, which is approximately $365,000. • At the State level, realignment funds, which are funded through sales tax, vehicle sales and vehicle license fees, are down which will equate to a 9 to 10 percent cut to realignment funding this year, and into next year, which amounts to approximately $850,000. Conversations are ongoing on this matter to not take this funding, or to backfill this funding. Between the City’s requested 12 percent cut, and the potential loss of 9 to 10 percent in realignment revenue, the Department stands to incur an approximate budget cut of $1 million. • Received approximately $10 million in funding through the CARES Act for COVID-19 direct response activities. • The City overall, through the Governor’s May budget revise, stands to receive approximately $40 million which would help backfill COVID-19 costs incurred to date, and provide funding moving forward. Page 2 of 6 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 279 3795, 7:45 AM • The City is taking a strong focus on equity issues and addressing structural racism. The Department will also be looking to strengthen support for violence prevention and youth programming. Boardmember Robson inquired whether the City was looking into redirecting money not currently going to public safety to service areas and Departments. A discussion ensued regarding the Board coordinating a response to the Mayor and Council regarding the problem with cutting the Health Department’s budget during a pandemic, and the general overall need for a robust Health Department. A brief discussion ensued regarding the creation of an op-ed article on the importance of the Health Department and the need to include health in the public safety conversation. Chair Smith discussed possible Board engagement with other City groups and neighborhood associations to speak out and educate the public on the importance of public health and the need to include public health as part of the public safety conversation. A brief discussion ensued regarding the City’s COVID-19 Resiliency Team, which is focusing on what needs to be done to get people back to work, and to ensure safety within the community through early childhood education, youth programs, mental health resources, support for older adults and housing conditions. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 3. 20-046BH 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: • Held interviews for the Departments HIV/STD Implementation Specialist positions. This individual will be responsible for driving the HIV/STD 2019-2022 Strategy. • Moving forward with Hepatitis C and STD funding activities. • Currently in the process of hiring a Prevention Coordinator • Also, currently hiring a Public Health Nurse who will assist with COVID, as well Page 3 of 6 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 279 3795, 7:45 AM STD’s and other communicable disease control activities. A brief discussion ensued regarding data on other communicable disease activity. Dr. Davis indicated that there has been less foodborne illness and communicable disease activity due to the fact that businesses have been closed and everyone has been socially distancing due to COVID-19. A brief discussion ensued regarding guidance for the Long Beach Unified School District for their reopening for the fall semester. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. REGULAR AGENDA 4. 20-047BH Recommendation to receive an update regarding the Department's COVID-19 activities. Dr. Davis indicated that there were currently 2,512 COVID-19 cases in the City, an increase of 76 from the day before. To date there have been 108 deaths. 669 of the cases are among staff or residents of long-term care facilities. 84 of the deaths are among residents of long-term care facilities. Case rates are steadily increasing, as well as the hospitalization rate. The Department is focusing on ensuring sufficient contact tracers are in place. Currently, 10 skilled nursing facilities are being monitored where ongoing transmission is present. The State has released a mitigation plan for skilled nursing facilities regarding testing requirements, cohorting of COVID-19 positive patients and continued operation of these facilities due to staff shortages. The Department is also looking into the process for allowing the safe visitation of residents of these long-term care facilities who have been cut off from the support of family since the beginning of the pandemic. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 5. 20-048BH Recommendation to discuss Board goals and infrastructure. Interagency Communication Subcommittee members indicated that they have had difficulties scheduling meetings with their respective City Council members due to COVID-19 restrictions. Chair Smith encouraged Boardmembers to continue to reach out to their Council offices. Page 4 of 6 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 279 3795, 7:45 AM Chair Smith briefly discussed the continued need to create a standardized template providing guidance for ongoing engagement with the Mayor and Council districts. There was no update from the Resource Subcommittee. Boardmember Robson indicated that he had been appointed to the board of the Rose Park Neighborhood Association. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 6. 20-049BH Recommendation to discuss reimagining City support for the Health Department. Chair Smith briefly discussed the opportunity, given the current climate, to discuss and advocate for systematic change for Health and Human Services support. A brief discussion ensued regarding the potential of moving funding from Police and Fire to public health. A brief discussion ensued on the need to reprioritize public health. The Board discussed the need to educate the Mayor and Council of the important role that public healthy plays in public safety, and to ensure that public safety is viewed as being equally important as Police and Fire services. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. ONGOING BUSINESS 7. 20-050BH Recommendation to receive and file an update from the Toxic Tour Subcommittee. There was no new information to report on this item. This BH-Agenda Item was laid over. 8. 20-051BH 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 report on this item. Boardmember Smith inquired if there was any information available on the amount of funding received from cannabis growers/vendors for public health and education. Boardmember Page 5 of 6 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 279 3795, 7:45 AM Temple indicated that Health Education is usually the first funding cut, and that currently health education funding hasn’t been a priority when other education budgets are also being cut. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 9. 20-052BH Recommendation to receive and file an update on Community Hospital. There was no new information to report on this item. The hospital operator, Molina Wu, is continuing to work with the State to ensure permits and licensing are in place. Kelly Colopy, Director of Health and Human Services, indicated that the process has been slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. ANNOUNCEMENTS Boardmember McNeeley announced a series of events being held the week of June 15th for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The event series, sponsored by the Long Beach Aging Services Collaborative, will be held virtually and will cover various topics including Elder Abuse, Fraud, Wellness Check programs and late life domestic partner abuse. ADJOURNMENT At 10:02 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 Department of Health and Human Services, 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 6 of 6