Board of Health

Skokie Board of Health Thursday, October 12, 2023 7:00 pm Conference Room D&E, Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St MINUTES In attendance: Dr. Bruce Gaynes, Dr. Michael Gottesman, Juliet Haido, Maureen Hanlon, Margaret Keeler, Dr. Edward Linn, Rohit Pandya, Jan Shiffman, Dr. Romil Sood, Patricia Urbanus, Irtaza Usman, Dr. William Werner, Dr. Larry Williams, Ruth Varma, Sibyl Yau, Staff Liaison: Mike Charley, Excused: Dr. Swapna Dave, Heidi Nickisch Duggan, Dr. Kyungran Shim, Absent: Dr. Girija Kaylan Kumar, Trustee James Johnson, Trustee Keith Robinson I. Call to Order @ 7:00 PM II. Approval of Agenda, Approved via Consent III. Approval of Minutes: August 2, 2023 Special Meeting, approved via Consent *No official meeting minutes to approve from September 14, 2023 BOH meeting, due to no quorum. IV. Chair’s Report, Dr. Linn: Dr. Linn communicated that he is a board member of the Michael Reese Health Trust and he participated in a meeting last week. The focus of the trust has been on equity, inclusion and grants have been offered for social determinants of health. This year they honored Christine Haley, Chief Officer from the State of Illinois, she is responsible for homelessness in Illinois. Shelter insecurity was discussed during the IPLAN process. Dr. Linn is extremely proud of what was done by the IPLAN group on this issue. Dr. Linn communicated that Jeremy Schwartz has resigned from the Board of Health. Dr. Williams inquired whether a BOH member can attend remotely if there is no quorum. Mike Charley responded that under the Open Meetings Act, there must be a quorum of members physically present and only then can members attend remotely. Mike stated that he would research this further and provide additional information at the next Board of Health meeting. Maureen Hanlon asked if the Onboarding Handbook would be discussed during this meeting, she had found some grammatical errors. Dr. Linn recommended BOH members wanting any additional edits email Mike Charley. V. Ongoing/New Items of Business A. IPLAN Update, Sibyl Yau: IPLAN has been approved by the Village Board. Action Teams for the three identified priorities continue to meet. For the Access to Healthcare Action team, one goal is to establish a referral network for pregnant women, their families and for prenatal providers. The Behavioral Health Access team is looking to increase reimbursement rates for mental/behavioral health providers. The Affordable Housing Action team will be emailing a survey to two census tracks in Skokie with the highest rent burden to learn more about what barriers residents individuals have to finding Document Number: 615071 Version: 1  affordable housing and learn more about rent burden. VI. BOH Recurring 3 Minute/Person Introductions: Dr. Michael Gottesman: Been a resident of Skokie for 45 years with his family. Originally started out as the Educational Director at a large congregation in Skokie. He then worked at the Wilshire a facility built for Dementia. He worked for 28 years as a Nursing Home Administrator at various nursing homes. He ran Lieberman in Skokie and ManorCare in Skokie. He has a master’s in educational administration. He got his license as a Nursing Home Administrator. He has taught at Wright College for individuals wanting to become Nursing Home Administrators. He retired a couple of years ago from Generations of Elmwood Park. He currently provides consultation for nursing home care and neglect, starting a side business called Guardians of Care. He is a Rabbi of Skokie Central Congregation which is on Church and East Prairie. He has been with Skokie Central Congregation for 15 years now. He wanted to find a way to give back to the community and applied for the Board of Health. VII. Vital Records/Child Safety Seat Rental Program/Senior Reassurance Program Presentation, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Mike Charley presented information on the three programs: A. Vital Records: Certified certificates for births and deaths that have occurred in Skokie since 1969 are available for purchase from the HHS Department by visiting HHS at Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street. Residents can also visit https://www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/service/birth-certificates where certificates can be purchased from the Cook County Clerk’s Office. The Cook County Clerk has an office in Skokie at 5600 W. Old Orchard Road, Room 149 where birth and death certificates can be purchased in-person. B. Child Safety Seats: Infant/toddler car safety seats are available from the HHS Department for short-term loan to Skokie residents. This service can be especially useful to grandparents when their grandchildren come to visit. An advance reservation is recommended, and a $10 payment is required for each seat borrowed. HHS also offers a Child Safety Seat Program/Installation Inspection Program where a Certified Child Safety Seat Technician provides for education and inspections on car seat installations by appointment to Skokie residents. C. Senior Reassurance Program: This program for residents 65 and over was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program goal is to provide a safe haven to seniors that helps decrease their isolation. It promotes routine connection with seniors via telephone calls. Human Services staff provide seniors with referrals and connections for services when necessary. Dr. Linn recommended that HHS consider using volunteers to assist with this program. VIII. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Mike Charley provided the following updates during his report: A. COVID-19 cases are trending down, both hospitalizations and wastewater data over the last week. Cases had been increasing since the beginning of July 2023. B. New COVID-19 Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were approved by the CDC on September 13, 2023 and Novavax approved on October 3. Individuals are encouraged to go to vaccines.gov to find a vaccine provider/pharmacy. Skokie HHS is offering vaccine to the uninsured or under-insured through their Vaccines for Children (VFC) program and the Adult 317 program. C. HHS offered two large community flu clinics to Skokie residents. New this year is the offering of the senior high-dose flu vaccine. Vaccine appointments are up Document Number: 615071 Version: 1  approximately 22% compared to 2022. D. Data was provided that showed several sexually transmitted illnesses such as Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia have been on the increase. Dr. Linn asked whether this was State or local data. Mike communicated this is based on State-wide data. Dr. Linn encouraged HHS to educate the public on preventing sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Williams communicated that there has been an increase in sexually transmitted disease at long-term care facilities. E. The IPLAN Community Health Improvement Plan was approved by the Village Board on September 12. The plan will be submitted to IDPH for their review/approval. F. Mike talked about the HHS Assist a Family Program where gift cards are provided during the holidays to eligible families. G. Mike communicated that if any BOH members are interested in volunteering at the Boomers and Beyond event on November 3, 2023 or want to get trained to teach the Stop the Bleed Training to reach out to Mike via email. Dr. Williams communicated that the Stop the Bleed training is important. IX. Public Comments: No public comments X. Adjournment @ 8:00 PM Next Regular Meeting: November, 9 2023 @ 7:00 p.m. Document Number: 615071 Version: 1