Committee on Family, Health and Human Services Minutes
February 13, 2007
Committee Members in attendance: Judy Myers, Chair, Clinton Young, Marty Rogowsky, William Burton, and Ursula LaMotte.
In Attendance: Legislators: Vito Pinto DOH: Dr. Joshua Lipsman & Patsy Yang-Lewis BOL: Louise Gantress, Larry Goldstein and Melanie Montalto.
Items Discussed: Dr. Lipsman, Commissioner of the Department of Health discussed plans for the additional HIV/AIDS funding for 2007.
Minutes
Chairwoman Myers called the meeting to order at 10:32 a.m.
Chairwoman Myers informed the Committee that there has been an increase in media attention for HIV/AIDS recently and she gave several examples.
Dr. Joshua Lipsman, Commissioner of the Department of Health thanked the Committee for the additional funding for HIV/AIDS in the 2007 budget. He told the Committee that he wants to identify the 1 in 4 people in Westchester that do not know they are infected with HIV. He continued to say that studies have shown that once a person is diagnosed they are less likely to spread the disease. He would like to propose an HIV testing campaign with the additional funding.
Dr. Lipsman told the Committee that it costs $750 to have 2 staffers out in the community with the health van for a three hour session. He would like to use $25,000 of the additional money for added hours with the van and he would like to use the rest of money to do an RFP for community based organizations to provide testing.
Legislator Young stated that community organization testing does not work in his district. He said the neighborhood health center provides testing but people do not seem to accessing the service.
Dr. Lipsman said they will set aside some money for advertising of the program. They will also look for new sites in the communities that people may not have been thinking about. He said Project WAVE goes to all kinds of events such as soccer games to provide testing.
Dr. Lipsman continued to tell the Committee that those who have been infected are likely to be people of color, with an event split between men and women. He said the infected people are most likely in our cities and are between the ages of 30 and 50. He stated that he would like to do testing in malls and shopping centers and he would like to place advertisements in bus shelters and possibly on shopping carts.
Dr. Lipsman stated that this is one of Westchester’s worst Public Health issues.
Dr. Lispman said the risk group of people to identify is middle aged, heterosexual, African American women.
Legislator LaMotte suggested that the Department of Health collaborate with the Office for Women. Dr. Lipsman stated that they already work closely together on the issue.
Dr. Lipsman told the Committee that we can test 2,500 people with $100,000 and this would find approximately 25 new HIV cases.
Dr. Lipsman stated that he would like to send out an RFP that asks for creative thinking and new ideas for additional outlets for testing. The funding would be awarded to multiple agencies.
Chairwoman Myers and Legislator Burton asked for a timeline to have this up and running.
Dr. Lipsman said that with the Committee’s approval, they will send the RFP out with an April deadline. They will review the applications in May and have the programs up and running by the summer.
Legislator LaMotte said she would like to see statistics at the end of the year.
Legislator Rogowsky stated that there seems to be a consensus to move forward with this plan.
A discussion ensued regarding the health of the inmate population at the County prison. Dr. Lipsman stated that he cannot comment too much on this topic because his Department has little involvement. Legislator Rogowsky suggested that a joint meeting be held with the Public Safety and Security Committee with the Medical Center, the jail and the State to discuss the status of health of our inmates.
Moved by Legislator Young and seconded by Legislator Burton the minutes from the Family Health and Human Services Committee meeting on October 31, 2006 were approved 3-0.
Moved by Legislator Rogowsky and seconded by Legislator Burton agenda item numbers 6, 21, 26, 30, 32, 35, 36, 37 and 38 were received and filed with a vote of 4-0.
Moved by Legislator Burton and seconded by Legislator LaMotte the Committee on Families, Health and Human Services adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
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