Board of Health and Human Services

CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM Milton Smith, Chair Miles McNeeley, Member Silene St. Bernard, DVM, Vice Chair Christopher Robson, Member Sylvia Betancourt, Member Barbara Schwerin, Member Ralph Brooks, RN, Member Nasir Tejani, MD, FAAP, Member Reena Curtis, PharmD, Member Susan Temple, Member Manorama Gupta, MD, Member Lydia Vaias, MD, Member Troy Ha, DDS, Member FINISHED AGENDA AND APPROVED MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER At 7:45 a.m. the meeting was called to order. Chair Smith presiding. ROLL CALL Commissioners Manorama Gupta, Troy Ha, Miles McNeeley, Christopher Present: Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith Commissioners Sylvia Betancourt, Reena Curtis and Susan Temple Excused: Commissioners Ralph Brooks Absent: Also present: Kelly Colopy - Director of Health and Human Services; Anissa Davis, MD, MPH - City Health Officer; and Dennis Keith - Executive Assistant. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. 20-063BH Recommendation to approve the minutes of the Board of Health and Human Services meetings held Friday, July 10, 2020. Page 1 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM A motion was made by Member Robson, seconded by Vice Chair St Bernard, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 9 - Manorama Gupta, Troy Ha, Miles McNeeley, Christopher Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith Excused: 3 - Sylvia Betancourt, Reena Curtis and Susan Temple Absent: 1 - Ralph Brooks 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 participation. STAFF REPORTS 2. 20-064BH 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 City officially approved the Racial Equity and Reconciliation Plan on Tuesday, August 11th. • As part of the FY 21 Budget, the Office of Equity will be moving from the Health Department to the City Manager’s Office. Katie Balderas, the Equity Officer, will be relocating to the City Manager’s Office. • The City has received approximately $12 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding which needs to be spent by December. The Department is working to manage the various projects covered by this funding including a nonprofit relief fund, older adult assistance, early childhood education, youth leadership, food distribution and housing conditions, among others. Page 2 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 3. 20-065BH 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 communicable disease control activities: • Still only one West Nile Virus case in Long Beach. • Two cases of typhus have been reported in the City. • There is a nationwide salmonella outbreak related to red onions grown in Bakersfield. Two cases have been reported in Long Beach with hundreds of others reported across the U.S. and Canada. • There has been a 37% decrease in Chlamydia cases (1,388 cases to date) from last year at this time, a 13% decrease in Gonorrhea cases (765 cases to date), and a 4% decrease in Syphilis (211 cases to date). There has been an increase in Congenital Syphilis. Department received grant funding in the amount of $80,000 per year, for the next three years, to address and combat congenital syphilis. • Finalizing a contract with St. Mary Medical Center Care Clinic for the placement of an onsite DIS worker for the reporting of STD’s. • Belinda Prado, the Department’s HIV/Surveillance Coordinator has taken a position as Epidemiology Manager for Orange County Public Health. • Flu season begins November 1st. The Department has received some extra funding to assist with flu pods which will be used as practice ahead of a COVID-19 vaccination. Flu pods will be held every Thursday and Saturday, beginning in October, and running through the end of November. • Drive through school-age clinics providing Tdap and Varicella vaccinations have been scheduled. Similar drive through clinics for kindergarten students have also been established to provide the various vaccinations needed for them to start school. • The Department will be hiring a Public Affairs Officer within the next two months. Page 3 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM • The Department hired a STD/HIV Strategist who will be starting with the Department next week. This individual will be driving the work defined in to the 2019/2020 HIV Strategy. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. REGULAR AGENDA 4. 20-066BH Recommendation to receive and file an update from the Director of Health and Human Services on the 2021 Health Department budget. Ms. Colopy provided the Board with an update on the Health Department’s FY 21 Budget: • The Department’s FY 21 Budget is $157 Million, and the Department currently has 370 full-time staff. Changes to the Department’s General Fund budget include: • An increase of $414,400 for transitioning the HEART Team from the Fire Department to the Health Department, which will include three additional full-time staff. • An increase of $1.5 million for Racial Equity and Reconciliation efforts. • An increase of $255,000 in one-time funds for the Proactive Homeless Initiative. Changes to the Health Fund include: • Addition of 10 new full-time staff to provide administrative, finance and accounting support of approximately $49 milling in COVID-19 grants and contracts. • $125,485 moved from the Department’s General Fund allocation to the Health Fund for two full-time staff in the Cannabis Program. Notable Changes include: • $700,000 for the opening of an Office of Youth Development. Page 4 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM • $400,000 for the Safe Long Beach Violence Prevention Program. • $400,000 focusing on Health Equity. • Hiring of an Everyone Home Plan Coordinator to include a focus on equity in homeless services and housing access. Ms. Colopy indicated that the Health Department’s one-time expenditures for the COVID-19 response amounts to approximately $69 Million. The Department has received various one-time COVID-19 grants that can assist in offsetting this amount. The Department has built an $11 Million emergency fund balance that can also be used to cover any remaining balance. Dr. Gupta inquired as to the Department’s contract tracing. Dr. Davis indicated that the Department has traced 1,600 contacts to date. Of those 1,600, approximately 9% end up testing positive for COVID-19. The Department also developed an app that can assist with contact tracing; however, there has only been a 29% response rate with this app. Chair Smith inquired if the Department was still progressing towards re-accreditation in light of the COVID-19 response. Ms. Colopy indicated that staff were currently working on this and that the process is ongoing. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 5. 20-067BH Recommendation to receive an update regarding the Department's COVID-19 activities. Dr. Anissa Davis provided an update on the Department’s COVID-19 response: • Total of 9,425 cases in Long Beach, an increase of 142 cases over the past 24 hours, and there has been a total of 188 deaths. • There has been an issue with the State database for reporting COVID-19 cases. A glitch was identified that was preventing electronic labs from getting their data to CalREDIE. Reports are that the system has now been repaired. The data still seems to be a bit off but is improving. A brief discussion ensued regarding the current case count and the statistics for the various age groups. Page 5 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM The Board discussed the potential for enforcement of the masking order. Boardmember Robson requested that the City act to enforce the wearing of masks in public, and to transition from education to enforcement. It was discussed that the Board prepare a letter requesting the investigation of enforcement of the order and to provide an administrative citation and fine to those who are non-compliant. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 6. 20-068BH Recommendation to discuss Board goals and infrastructure. There were no updates from Interagency Communication Subcommittee or Resource Subcommittee. Boardmember St. Bernard indicated that she had been spending some time comparing the City of Long Beach Board of Health and Human Services mandate to similar Boards in other municipalities. Boardmember St. Bernard is preparing a comparative document and will come back to the Board with some potential suggestions. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 7. 20-069BH Recommendation to discuss reimagining City support for the Health Department. Chair Smith spoke briefly and suggested that in light of the current budget recommendations, the Board hold off on any actions related to the Department’s budget and additional support. He advised that the Board remain vigilant in regard to opportunities to increase various methods for the City to support the Department. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. ONGOING BUSINESS 8. 20-070BH Recommendation to receive and file an update from the Toxic Tour Subcommittee. Chair Smith discussed removing this item from the agenda due to an inability Page 6 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM to conduct such a tour given the current COVID-19 climate. A motion was made by Member Robson, seconded by Member Gupta, to remove this item from future agendas. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 9 - Manorama Gupta, Troy Ha, Miles McNeeley, Christopher Robson, Barbara Schwerin, Nasir Tejani, Lydia Vaias, Silene St Bernard and Milton Smith Excused: 3 - Sylvia Betancourt, Reena Curtis and Susan Temple Absent: 1 - Ralph Brooks 9. 20-071BH Recommendation to receive and file an update on the status of the City's implementation of the legalization of cannabis. The Board briefly discussed working with the Long Beach Unified School District on online cannabis and tobacco education options. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. 10. 20-072BH Recommendation to receive and file an update on Community Hospital. There was no new information to provide on this item. State licensing for the facility is continuing to move forward. A Board briefly discussed drafting a letter to Senator Lena Gonzalez expressing the need for reinstating this community health resource. A brief discussion ensued regarding the resignation of the State Public Health Director. A brief discussion ensued regarding the threats of violence received by public health officials regarding health orders and the masking requirement. This BH-Agenda Item was approve recommendation. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements. Page 7 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 BOARD OF HEALTH AND WEBEX VIRTUAL MEETING HUMAN SERVICES MINUTES PHONE: 1-213-306-3065 ACCESS CODE: 146 685 2350, 7:45 AM ADJOURNMENT At 9:28 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, 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 8 of 8