Board of Health — Skokie, IL
Date: 2021-11-11

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, November 11, 2021
 7:00 PM
 Police Department Training Room
 7300 Niles Center Rd, Skokie, IL 60077



 AGENDA


I. Call to Order

II. Approval of Agenda

III. Approval of Minutes: October 14, 2021

IV. Chair’s Report, Dr. Werner, BOH Chair

V. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services

VI. Co-Responder Program Presentation, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services

VII. Old/New Items of Business

VIII. Public Comments

IX. Adjournment.


 Next Meeting: December 9, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, November 11, 2021
 7:00 PM
 Police Department Training Room
 7300 Niles Center Rd, Skokie, IL 60077



 MINUTES

Present: Dr. William Werner; BOH Members: Dr. Bruce Gaynes, Margaret Keeler, Dr. Girija Kalyan Kumar, Dr. Edward
Linn, Dr. Rohit Pandya, Dr. Jeremy Swartz, Dr. Romil Sood, Patricia Urbanus, Ruth Varma, Dr. Larry Williams; Sibyl
Yau; Emeritus: Dr. Michael Drachler; Staff: Mike Charley,

Not Present/Excused: Dr. Swapna Dave, Juliet Haido, Maureen Hanlon, Heidi Nickisch Duggan, Dr. Kyungran Shim,
Irtaza Usman, Dr. Michael Vernon; Trustee Liaison James Johnson, Trustee Liaison Keith Robinson; Staff: Bruce Jones,
Sue Reisberg

I. Call to Order @ 7:00 PM

II. Approval of Agenda: Approved via consent.

III. Approval of Minutes: October 14, 2021, approved via consent.

IV. Chair’s Report, Dr. Werner, BOH Chair: Dr. Werner recommended that BOH members take the Skokie
 Community Survey available on the Village website, a survey that asks for ratings on Village services,
 emergency services, quality of life in the community and questions regarding taxes and the Health
 Department. The National Academy of Medicine had a two-hour webinar. The webinar covered crisis
 standards of care and ongoing lessons of COVID-19. Crisis standards of care are affecting hospitals out west,
 they are overwhelmed. Also, there was recognition that with the pandemic there has been inequitable
 distribution of COVID-19 services. Dr. Werner communicated that equity should be discussed and prioritized
 moving forward when discussing healthcare. Dr. Williams communicated that he recently wrote an article on
 Health inequities and disparities and had it published. Dr. Williams stated that healthcare providers must go
 through community groups to communicate with underrepresented individuals. For example, the food bank
 in Niles and community centers. Dr. Linn communicated that the State dropped the ball when requiring
 individuals to register for COVID vaccine clinics via computer. Dr. Linn agreed that vaccine clinics should be
 more community focused, although Skokie did a great job with the vaccine rollout. Dr. Linn stated that
 Skokie doesn’t have the geographic spread and Skokie has a lot of pharmacies, which helped with the vaccine
 rollout in Skokie.

V. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Charley presented an
 update on COVID-19 including updates on HHS’s vaccine clinics, Skokie’s masking order and Skokie’s
 vaccination rates.

VI. Co-Responder Program Presentation, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Charley
 presented information on the Village’s newly created Co-Responder Program. Information shared included
 information on the Pilot Program in May of 2021 and phase two of the Village’s co-responder program which
 started on November 1, 2021. The co-responder program consists of a partnership between Skokie’s Police,
 Fire and Health and Human Services Departments. The program pairs a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trained
 officer and social worker to respond to behavioral health-related calls. The program supports an overall
 effort to expand specialized law enforcement and behavioral health strategies tailored to meet the needs of
 people with behavioral/mental health concerns in the Skokie community. The co-responder program was
 developed with several key program objectives: to de-escalate situations, reduce recidivism, reduce the use
 of force police response, reduce the number of people with mental health issues diverted to the jail system,
 link individuals to appropriate services and to improve information sharing and coordination, as appropriate,
 across systems and service providers.

VII. Old/New Items of Business: Patricia Urbanus communicated that Carvana is seeking to install a 12-floor car
 tower that will be lit night and day. There are neighbors near the location that are concerned about the
 possible nuisance light and/or noise from the car tower. There is a meeting on November 18 where the
 Village will be discussing a Zoning variance to allow the car tower.

VIII. Public Comments: No public comments.

IX. Adjournment @ 7:50 PM


 Next Meeting: December 9, 2021, 7:00 p.m.