Board of Health

Skokie Board of Health Thursday, February 9, 2023 7:00 pm Zoom/Virtual Meeting MINUTES Meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv3t34ziPBQ Present: BOH Chair: Dr. Edward Linn; BOH Members: Dr. Bruce Gaynes, Juliet Haido, Margaret Keeler, Dr. Girija Kalyan Kumar, Heidi Nickisch Duggan, Rohit Pandya, Romil Sood, Patricia Urbanus, Irtaza Usman, Ruth Varma, Dr. William Werner, Sibyl Yau; Staff: Mike Charley, Brian McHugh, Jennifer Davis Absent/Excused: Dr. Swapna Dave, Maureen Hanlon, Jan Shiffman, Dr. Kyungran Shim, Dr. Jeremy Schwartz, Dr. Larry Williams, Emeritus Member: Dr. Michael Drachler; Trustee Liaison James Johnson; Trustee Liaison Keith Robinson I. Call to Order @ 7:03 PM II. Approval of Agenda: Approved by Consent III. Approval of Minutes, January 12, 2023: Approved by Consent. IV. Skokie Health and Human Service Presentation: Co-Responder Program, Brian McHugh, Social Worker: Brian McHugh presented that he is part of a two-member Co-Responder team which includes Brian McHugh and a Crisis Intervention Trained (CIT) Police Officer Kimberly Blue. This program is a partnership with Police and Health and Human Services. The co-Responder team works with all internal Village Departments and with external social services stakeholders. The goal of the program is to respond to crisis calls, develop trust with residents and link individuals and families needing services to appropriate services. The co-responder team responds to a myriad of calls which are non-criminal offenses including working with the homeless, individuals and families. The team works with different local agencies including Turning Point, Metropolitan Family Services and the YWCA. The team receives calls directly from Police Dispatch and cases are also assigned to them through Police Supervisors. The team receives around 90-100 cases/month. The team always carries different resources with them at all times including food, blankets and other essential supplies to ensure they can provide for individuals and families immediate needs. Mike Charley added that the program is somewhat new and innovative and there were very few co-responder programs around the country when Skokie originally piloted the program in May 2021. After the success of the pilot, the program officially started operating on November 1, 2022. Mike communicated that the co-responder program is excellent at de-escalating difficult crisis situations, but also providing longer case- management of those crisis cases. Document Number: 606265 Version: 1  Heidi Nickisch Duggan communicated that she is a librarian and libraries do have social workers that interact with individuals that require assistance, so she is thankful for this program. She hopes that the co-responder program is broadly promoted and recognized. Brian McHugh responded that the co-responder team regularly and collaboratively works with many of the Skokie Public library staff and he appreciates the co-responder’s relationship with the library team. Patricia Urbanus inquired about how the program is funded. Mike Charley communicated that the co-responder program is funded both through the Police Department and Health and Human Services’ budgets. Sibyl Yau asked about the co-responder team’s schedule and how call-back works. Brian McHugh responded that the team works 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Monday – Friday, but the team is on-call and will respond after-hours and weekends. Sibyl Yau asked whether there were any plans to expand the program. Mike Charley communicated that there has been discussion on expanding the program to accommodate additional days/hours, however no specific decisions have been made at this time. Brian McHugh added that many of the Skokie Police officers are Crisis Intervention Trained. He mentioned that one of the biggest benefits of the program is that the co- responder team can spend time with individuals and families on crisis calls to assist them during their crisis. This involvement allows other Police staff to conduct other important functions when on the scene of a crisis. Dr. Bill Werner thanked Brian and Office Blue. Dr. Werner asked how trauma informed care was built into the work that the co-responder team does. Brian McHugh followed- up saying that the team does use trauma-informed care approach when responding to calls. Dr. Linn commented that he is happy and proud that Skokie has a co-responder team and would love to see the program expand. V. Medical Reserve Corps Updates: Jenn Davis, Community Health Services Supervisor: Jenn Davis was a member of the MRC prior to joining the Village as a staff member. She was promoted to Community Health Services Supervisor in the fall of 2022. During COVID-19 the MRC saw an influx of new members. Jenn communicated that currently staff are working on determining what members want to remain on the MRC. There are 200 confirmed volunteers and there is a goal is to increase mental/behavioral health volunteers. A new volunteer software program has been purchased called Better Impact that will help track training and maintain MRC member lists. The MRC will meet quarterly. Future quarterly meetings/events include CPR training in March, a presentation from the American Red Cross in May/June, a volunteer appreciation event in July and a Stop the Bleed training in the fall. For Stop the Bleed, the goal is for MRC volunteers to get trained and then to use those MRC volunteers to conduct trainings within Skokie schools for school staff. Staff to conduct quarterly “call-down drills” that will consist of a notification to MRC members asking them to respond within 4 hours. Document Number: 606265 Version: 1  Sibyl Yau asked Jenn Davis whether there is any information on what the pre-requisite training is for new MRC members? Jenn Davis responded that she is working with MRC Illinois and other MRC units to identify the training requirements for new members, more to follow on this. Jenn Davis communicated that staff are looking to provide for web-based trainings to MRC members, in addition to four quarterly meetings. Dr. Werner recommended that any member of the BOH that wants to volunteer for the MRC should, it’s very gratifying. VI. BOH Recurring 3 Minute/Person Introductions: A. Patricia Urbanus: Pat communicated that she was a nurse. She trained at St. Francis hospital in Evanston, she has a master’s degree in from the School of Nursing from Columbia University in New York. She worked at a health department in New York and at several hospitals in New York. She moved back Chicago and worked at the University of Illinois College of Nursing were she tauught and started the nurse delivery program. After she had children she worked part-time, then full-time at Planned Parenthood for 20 years. She also worked at Infant Welfare and Board of Health stations in Chicago. She is in the MRC and was in the second class of the MRC and now on the Board of Health. B. Rohit Pandya: Rohit was born in Mumbai, India in 1952. After graduating college in 1974, the American government was inviting pharmacists to America. He came to American in March of 1976. Started in a small pharmacy in Newark, NJ. He worked in a second pharmacy also in NJ. In 1981 he moved to Illinois. He worked for 2 ½ months at an Illinois pharmacy and then got a job with Walgreens as a pharmacist on April 11, 1981 and retired from Walgreens in October 2020. He lives in Skokie and has been a BOH member since 2007 or 2008. He has two children and recently became a grandfather again to a grand- daughter. VII. Chair’s Report, Dr. Linn: Dr. Linn presented on the National Emergency Declaration ending on May 11, 2023. He communicated that there will be multiple emergency declarations affected. He provided updates on EUAs and vaccines, availability of antigen tests, Medicaid’s continuous coverage, ongoing wastewater COVID-19 surveillance and other COVID-19 surveillance and testing. VIII. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Mike provided for updated Skokie COVID-19 data (Skokie’s community transmission level at 100 cases/100,000, cases are decreasing, Cook County Community Level is at “low”, ICARE shows 31% of Skokie residents have bivalent booster). Mike also provided updates on HHS staffing, grant updates, information on the Rules of the Road courses, a recent Village Board approval to sign an agreement with Platinum Pest Solutions for rat control, an upcoming animal control ordinance amendment going to board on February 21, an update on the HHS lobby remodel/improvements and information on the AARP tax program. IX. Old/New Items of Business A. BOH Onboarding Subcommittee: Moved to March Meeting. B. IPLAN Update, Sibyl Yau: Sibyl presented updates on the IPLAN process. She provided an updated timeline and information how the IPLAN addresses several Document Number: 606265 Version: 1  of the Essential Public Health Services. She also provided some of the data that is being looked at with the three different previously identified priorities (Access to Medical Care, Access to Mental Health, Affordable Housing). C. May 11, 2023 – Shift to In-Person Meetings: Mike Charley and Dr. Linn communicated that it is anticipated that with end of the Emergency Declaration the June BOH meeting will go back to an in-person meeting. D. BOH Special IPLAN August Meeting: A special meeting will be held in August 2023 for the BOH to approve the IPLAN document prior it forwarded to the Village Board for their approval. X. Public Comments: No Public Comments XI. Adjournment @ 8:36 PM Next Meeting: March 9, 2023 @ 7:00 p.m. Document Number: 606265 Version: 1