Board of Health

Skokie Board of Health Thursday, March 9, 2023 7:00 pm Zoom/Virtual Meeting MINUTES Meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P89raosxK0g Present: BOH Members: Dr. Swapna Dave, Dr. Bruce Gaynes, Juliet Haido, Margaret Keeler, Dr. Girija Kalyan Kumar, Dr. Edward Linn (Chair) Heidi Nickisch Duggan, Rohit Pandya, Jan Shiffman, Dr. Kyungran Shim, Romil Sood, Patricia Urbanus, Irtaza Usman, Ruth Varma, Dr. William Werner, Sibyl Yau; Staff: Mike Charley, Jennifer Davis, Amy Mc Manus, Garrett Reynolds Absent/Excused: Maureen Hanlon, Dr. Jeremy Schwartz, Dr. Larry Williams, Emeritus Member: Dr. Michael Drachler; Trustee Liaison James Johnson; Trustee Liaison Keith Robinson I. Call to Order at 7:00 p.m. II. Approval of Agenda: Approved via consent. III. Approval of Minutes, February 9, 2023: Pat Urbanus asked for several subtle changes to the minutes. The Minutes were then approved via consent. IV. Skokie Health and Human Service Presentation: Communicable Disease Surveillance & Control Program/Clinics & Screenings: Jenn Davis, Community Health Services Supervisor & Amy McManus, Disease Investigator/Intervention Specialist: Jenn Davis introduced Amy McManus as a new member to the HHS Department since November 2022. Amy McManus shared that she was previously with the UIC Department of Emergency Medicine as a Program Coordinator working on HIV screening and linkage to care in the ED and emergency care setting. Prior to that she worked at the Cook County Department of Public Health in various roles. Amy McManus shared the following regarding communicable disease investigation and intervention: • Health and Human Services (HHS) does daily reporting and investigation of communicable diseases (CDs). • HHS receives disease notifications through the IDPH INEDSS system (most CDs), IDPH MOVEit (HIV) and IDPH Syphilis field reports through fax. • HHS is responsible for triaging all incoming diseases, contacting physicians and patients, conducting surveillance and conducting case investigation to determine whether the case is actually a case. HHS ensures patients are being treated and disease transmission is prevented through CD case investigation. • HHS works directly and collaboratively with schools, daycare and long-term care facilities on disease consultation, outbreak and investigation. • HHS works with other state-certified health departments on shared diseases. Dr. Werner commented that Amy McManus does heroic work and he referred to his work with Skokie HHS helping with COVID-19 contact tracing. He asked how Amy deals with cases Document Number: 609221 Version: 1  where individuals are not responsive to outreach from the Skokie HHS. Amy McManus communicated that an overwhelming majority of individuals are responsive to her calls, so we are fortunate. V. BOH Recurring 3 Minute/Person Introductions: A. Juliet Haido is a registered nurse at Northshore University hospital in the Cath Lab. She is the registry nurse coordinator for all four Northshore hospitals. She has lived in Skokie for a little over 10 years. She has been a nurse for over 14 years. She is from Little Rock, Arkansas. Joined the BOH 5 years ago. She is representing the Syrian community. B. Dr. Kyungran Shim has lived in Skokie for 30 years. She met her husband in Skokie. After she got married and had two kids and her family moved to Skokie to raise children. She has been a BOH member for 5 or 6 years. She currently works at Cook County Health within the Division of General Internal Medicine. She has a primary case clinic next to Stroger Hospital and next to the University of Chicago. Her primary interest is colon cancer screening and smoking cessation. Both her mother and father died of lunch cancer recently. She joined the BOH to see how she can contribute to the overall community. C. Dr. Swapna Dave has lived in Skokie for over 20 years. She is a primary care physician from Mumbai, India. She got her master’s in public health through UIC. She worked at Northwestern University on several studies on heart disease prevention. She currently works for Merck, a pharmaceutical company and conducts research in the oncology field. She joined the Skokie BOH because she wants to stay engaged in the Skokie and South Asian community. She is on multiple South Asian Boards. She has a daughter that is a Junior at Niles North High School and a husband that is a pharmacist. The following BOH members offered to introduce themselves the April 2023 BOH meeting: Ruth Varma, Dr. Girija Kalyan Kumar and Heidi Nickisch Duggan VI. Chair’s Report, Dr. Linn: Dr. Linn communicated that he recently read encouraging things that COVID-19 is reaching an endemic state. Both COVID hospitalizations and waste water data have plateaued. The Omicron variant continues to persist, with no new non-Omicron variant recently; this is good news. More good news is that the Paxlovid treatment is still effective. Dr. Linn recommended that individuals are up-to-date on vaccines with their bivalent booster. He communicated that it is expected to have a new multi-valent vaccine ready for the fall. Those that are more vulnerable may be advised to get a second bivalent dose prior to this fall, but this is not (FDA/CDC) policy yet. It appears that a very well known and inexpensive drug Metformin has been shown to reduce severe COVID illness, but more studies are still required. Metformin was originally produced for Diabetes. There is likely to be an effective and available RSV vaccine and the ACIP committee has recommended moving forward with the vaccine. Dr. Linn communicated that there have been two recent outbreaks of Polio. One in New York and one in the United Kingdom. The virus appears to be a result of the oral Polio vaccine that mutated to an infectious state. Wastewater data shows Polio in the wastewater, however due to the high rate of vaccine, we haven’t seen significant transmission of the disease. Those areas where there is a higher level of the unvaccinated are at higher risk for contracting Polio. There are current public health considerations for combining the oral and injectable Polio vaccine, for double protection. This stresses the importance of maintaining regular vaccination schedules. Document Number: 609221 Version: 1 VII. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Mike Charley introduced Garrett Reynolds (Garrett participating in this meeting). Garrett is HHS’s Public Health intern. Garrett is an MPH student from Purdue University and is assisting with the IPLAN process and the MRC program. Mike Charley’s monthly report presentation included updates on Skokie, US and Cook County COVID-19 data. In general, COVID data shows that the cases, hospitalizations and deaths of plateaued. Skokie HHS continues to offer the Moderna COVID vaccines and will make a push through social media and communications to encourage Skokie residents to get the COVID vaccine and to ensure they are “up-to-date” with their COVID vaccine. Mike Charley provided some staffing updates on the open Social Worker position and a new Environmental Health intern position. He provided grant updates. He provided information on a pending ordinance that would amend the Village’s Animal Control ordinance to increase dog limitations and prohibit using platform feeders that are accessible to nuisance wildlife. He also shared that two HHS staff obtained their Stop the Bleed certifications to teach the course. HHS has already conducted training courses for HHS staff and Skokie school staff. The plan is to train Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) members, so they are able to conduct training in the community also. Mike Charley talked a little about the May 11 Emergency Declaration ending including the pending Medicaid redetermination and emergency SNAP benefits ending. Mike Charley ended with providing information on two other Skokie commissions that HHS staff are liaisons to; the Commission on Family Services and the Human Relations Commission. VIII. Old/New Items of Business A. BOH Onboarding Subcommittee: Heidi Nickish Duggan shared that a small sub- committee met and have drafted a draft Board of Health Handbook and Onboarding Guide. Heidi shared the different sections which include 1) A welcome letter from BOH officers and the Director of HHS, 2) The Purpose of the BOH, 3) the Village BOH ordinance enabling language, 4) the Village’s Statement of Conduct and Ethics, 4) required BOH member training, 5) a calendar of events/opportunities for BOH service, 5) Board of Health member bios and contact information, 6) the idea of a BOH “onboarding buddy”, 7) HHS Org Chart and Contacts, 8) a report showing HHS program summaries and 8) Important links, including past BOH meeting minutes and agendas. Heidi invited BOH members to review the document and can add comments directly to the Google doc. The document can be approved at a future BOH meeting. Jenn Davis commented that if any BOH members are interested in participating at any HHS events or activities, BOH members can reach out to her at the HHS Department. Jenn can add the BOH to future event invites. B. IPLAN Update, Sibyl Yau: Sibyl Yau communicated that the IPLAN process is using the Collective Impact process which focusses on equity. Currently three workgroups are meeting to work on the three identified priorities, Access to Healthcare, Access to Mental Health and Affordable Housing. The Access to Healthcare and Access to Mental Health teams have met once. The Affordable Housing group will meet soon. Meetings held to-date have been very informative and participants have provided excellent feedback. The subgroups continue to look at available data, will meet twice per month through June for 90 minutes/meeting. Sibyl communicated that the Village’s Planning commission has also been researching affordable housing, so the information gleaned from their research and recommendations will be an important part of the IPLAN’s affordable housing discussion. Sibyl walked through next steps in the process including the fact that the final IPLAN report will have to be approved by the BOH in August, prior Document Number: 609221 Version: 1  to being sent to the Village Board for final approval. Sibyl recommended that BOH members get involved in the IPLAN’s sub-groups. C. BOH Upcoming Meeting Locations: Dr. Linn communicated that the April meeting will be held via Zoom, but the May 11 meeting will be held in-person, due to the pending end to the State’s emergency declaration. IX. Public Comments: No public comments. X. Adjournment at 8:23 p.m. First by Pat Urbanus and Second by Dr. Kumar Next Meeting: April 13, 2023 @ 7:00 p.m. Document Number: 609221 Version: 1