Board of Health — Skokie, IL
Date: 2020-09-10

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, September 10, 2020

 Staff Liaison's Village Hall
 Board of Health IVIembers - Virtual via Zoom
 Meetings 7:00 p.m.



 AGENDA

Due to the CO VI D-19 pandemic, this meeting is being held virtually. Members of the public who wish to comment as to
an item on the published agenda must submit their statement or question in writing to Bruce A. Jones with the Skokie
Health Department and all properly submitted statements or questions will be presented and read during the relevant
portion of the meeting. Written comments also may be submitted by email to citizencommentsSD.skokie.om by mail to
Village ofSkokie, Attn: Bruce A. Jones with the Skokie Health Department, 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie, Illinois, 60077;
or via the Village's drop box located by the public entry to Village Hall

 I. Call to Order
 Statement to be read by Chairman Dr. Werner:
 Until further notice, meetings of the Board of Health will be held electronically, with a majority of
 members participating via remote access in order to comply with the State of Illinois Gubernatorial
 Disaster Proclamation. Members of the public who wish to comment as to an item on the published
 agenda must submit their statement or question in writing to Bruce A. Jones with the Skokie Health
 Department; and all properly submitted statements or questions will be presented and read during the
 relevant portion of the meeting.
 Written comments also may be submitted by email to citizencomments@skokie.org by mail to Village
 ofSkokie, Attn: Bruce A. Jones - Interim Director of Health, 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie, Illinois,
 60077; or via the Village's drop box located by the public entry to Village Hall.

 II. Approval of Minutes

 III. Covid & Flu Updates: Susan Reisberg RNC, MSN, FNP Personal Health Supervisor

 IV. Chair's Report

 V. Director's Monthly Report

 VI. Old/New Items of Business

 VII. Citizen Comments (See information at top of page)

 VIII. Adjournment.

 Next Meeting: October 8, 2020, 7:00 p.m.
 Staff Liaison's Village Hall
 Board of Health Members - Virtual via Zoom Meetings

 Bruce A. Jones — Interim Director of Health
 Board of Health Overview




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Skokie Board of Health
 Meeting Minutes
 September 10, 2020

Present Excused Absent
Mr. Abbasi Ms. Urbanus Dr. Dave Dr. Gaynes
Dr. Drachler, Emeritus Mr. Usman Ms. Moy-Wooten Ms. Maureen Hanlon
Ms. Nickisch Duggan Ms. Ruth Varma Ms. Margaret Keeler
Ms. Juliet Haido Dr. Vernon
Mr. Bruce Jones Dr. Werner
Dr. Linn Dr. Williams
Mr. Pandya Sibyl Yau
Dr. Shim Trustee Michele
Dr. Sood Bromberg

Bruce Jones, Susan Reisberg, Staff

A. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Dr. Werner, Chairman. Dr. Werner
 read a statement stating that meetings will be held electronically until further notice per the State of
 Illinois Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation. Members of the public may submit questions to Mr.
 Bruce Jones and they will be presented and read during the relevant portion of the meeting.


B. Approval of Board of Health Meeting Minutes, Materials Distributed: The minutes of the
 February 2020 sent to members electronically and approved by consent agenda.


C. Presentation:
 Ms. Susan Reisberg, RNC, MSN, FNP gave an update regarding the Skokie Health Department’s
 response to the pandemic from its inception at the end of February 2020 to the current time The
 Health Department has been conducting contact with individuals, working with businesses to educate
 and assist in containing outbreaks, providing guidance to Long Term Care Facilities (LTCF) with
 outbreaks, working with schools, and handling numerous queries from residents. Happily, our LTCF
 are now doing quite well and are currently out of outbreak status. The Health Department received a
 grant for over $800,000 from IDPH which has allowed us to hire 2 full-time contact tracers thus far.
 One is a native Spanish speaker. We will be hiring additional bilingual contact tracers and will have
 them in place by our next meeting. The grant enabled the Human Services Department to hire 2 social
 work professionals to assist individuals with assistance that results from a COVID-19 diagnosis and
 subsequent impact on their lives due to disruption of work and financial and mental health
 consequences. We are fortunate to have such comprehensive services.

 The Health Department hosted 3 students from the UIC School of Public Health this summer. Their
 initial projects changed drastically as they shifted to assist with COVID. Elliot Weiss took on data
 analysis with David Clough and was so proficient in the process that he was able to take on the task
 while David was on vacation!
 Elizabeth Meininger took on the task of following up with businesses who experienced outbreaks and
 created a spreadsheet which has been useful for the Department to keep track of the many outbreaks,
 large and small.
 Jacy Wasoski worked with LTCF to ensure that cases were reported weekly to the Health Department
 and listed all required information and delineating staff and residents.
 All students assisted with contact tracing as time permitted. This was an exceptional cohort of
 students and public health will be in good hands with graduates such as these!

 We must recognize our MRC volunteers who assisted not only with contact tracing but continue to
 assist us with follow-up of other communicable diseases that the staff have not had time to follow-up.
 They provide invaluable assistance.

 Community flu Clinics: Staff has been working with Oakton Community Center employees to plan
 safe clinics following IDPH guidelines. We will be vaccinating residents over a longer period of time
 to reduce the number of individuals in the building and maintain social distancing. The clinics will
 take place over a nine hour period on September 30 and Tuesday October 6 from 10 am to 7 pm.


 Discussion:
 Dr. Vernon, currently working as an infection control specialist in the IDPH Office of Health
 Protection informed us that LTCF will be receiving Point of Care (POC), testing supplies which tests
 for antigen to the COVID-19 virus. LTCF will need to comply with reporting guidelines and register
 to enter cases into the Illinois Electronic Disease Surveillance System. Negative results will need to
 be followed up by COVID PCR testing. The additional reporting requirements may be too
 burdensome for these facilities. There is discussion that schools may receive POC tests as well. In
 terms of a COVID vaccine, Dr. Vernon informed us that a vaccine will require sub-zero storage and
 that 2 immunizations administered 3 weeks apart will be required. Dr. Vernon stated that he would
 share this information electronically with the BOH as this information is “hot off the press”.


D. Chair’s Report:

 Major Happenings:
 Best Wishes Dr. Counard Moves On
 Dr. Catherine Counard has taken a position with the Illinois Department of Public Health after ably
 serving the Village of Skokie for 11 years. Her last day with the Village was August 14. We thank her
 for her leadership and wish her well as she begins a new chapter as the Medical Director in the Office
 of Health Protection. Bruce Jones, Environmental Supervisor will serve as the Interim Director of
 Health. Dr. Bruce Doblin, MD and Master of Public Health will serve as the Village’s medical
 consultant as the search for Director of Health is pursued.
 Dr. Drachler was welcomed as BOH Chair Emeritus.
 Dr. Werner announced new BOH members Maureen Hanlon, RN, JD; Sibyl Yau, RN; Dr. Linn, MD;
 and Margaret Keeler, PA. Welcome.
 Resignations: Timothy Youkhana, Jessica Jones


 Community Flu Shot Program:
 Please refer to Susan Reisberg’s presentation above.

 Ongoing Projects
 1. Planning of Skokie Community Foundation Health Symposium
 Beth Lindley and David Clough met with a team of providers to plan a Health Symposium for
 Healthcare and non-profit providers through the months of July and August. The first program will
 be held on September 9th via Zoom.



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 2. Skokie Community Foundation Flex Fund Grant
 On August 9, 2020, the Skokie Community Foundation wrapped up their fundraising campaign with a
 total of $58,274 raised to support Skokie families negatively impacted by COVID-19. During the
 month of August, 14 families received support through this grant process.


 CDBG-CV Funding
 Additional COVID-related CDBG funding will provide rent/mortgage and utility assistance to Skokie
 residents negatively impacted by COVID-19. Connections for the Homeless will serve as the
 “banker” for these funds and Human Services staff will work with them to coordinate applications up
 to $2500 per household. Human Services staff has met with the Connections team on several
 occasions to plan the application process.


 Teen Library Council (8/13)
 Beth Lindley met with the Teen Library Council to say thank you for their support of a well-being
 call program over the summer and to discuss the Census with them. We reviewed why the Census is
 important and encouraged family discussion about completing the Census.


  E. Old/New Items of Business:
 No old items
 New items:
 a. Mr. Abbasi proposed that the BOH adopt an ordinance which would ban flavored vaping
 products similar to what the City of Chicago has just enacted. After a brief discussion Mr. Abbasi
 entered the motion which was seconded by Ms. Nickisch Duggan. The motion passed
 unanimously.


 b. Dr. Linn has observed that many people do not wear bicycle helmets and noted that Skokie does
 have an ordinance that individuals under the age of 16 must wear them. Helmets limit head and
 brain injury. Dr. Linn would like to re-educate our community about the importance of wearing
 helmets. A lively discussion ensued with ideas such as partnering with service organizations to
 make it easier for families to purchase helmets, working with local bicycle shops to educate and
 promote helmet usage, partnering with Skokie Police to provide bicycle safety education. They
 are the ultimate enforcers of the ordinance. Bicycle safety month is in May so the Board has time
 to pursue this initiative.


  F. Citizen Comments:
 Mr. Bruce Jones checked for citizen comments on the website throughout the meeting.
 None were submitted.


  G. Adjournment:
 The meeting was adjourned at 8:09 p.m.

 Next Board of Health Meeting:
 Thursday, October 8, 2020, 7:00 p.m.
 Board of Health Members-Virtual via Zoom Meetings


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