General Council Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Location: / Mid-Region Council of Governments / Time: / 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Voting Members Present: Lora Church, Melisa Crain, Sherri Gonzales, Michelle Melendez, Walter Punke, Michelle Skrupskis
Non-Voting Participants: Roberto Anchondo, David Broudy, Mark Clark, Paul Oostenbrug, Fred Pintz, Juan Reynosa, Misty Salaz Staff: Marsha McMurray-Avila, Tracy McDaniel
Agenda Items / Discussion / Action /
1. / Welcome and intros / All present introduced themselves. Chair Michelle Melendez facilitated the meeting.
2. / Updates on BCCHC activities – questions and highlights on Staff Report / Congratulations to Marsha for the honor of receiving the Larrazolo award for lifetime achievement in public health. The award was presented at the NMPHA Annual Conference on April 19. BCCHC was well-represented at the NMPHA Annual Conference. Thanks for all those in attendance.
BCCHC’s new website is now live. Please visit bchealthcouncil.org to check out the new site. Currently featured on the homepage is a link to the Happiness Initiative’s happiness survey for Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Please take 20 minutes or so to complete the survey to help the local Happiness Initiative group collect information that can be used to contribute to development of our County Health Profile and subsequent action steps to improve the well-being of our communities.
The Opioid Summit has been set for September 19. The NM Attorney General is also hosting a prescription drug summit in May. We hope the results of this summit will inform the planning committee as we prepare for the Bernalillo County Opioid Abuse Summit.
New Mexico Alliance of Health Councils has been holding regional convenings of health councils throughout the state in conjunction with the Health Equity Partnership. On April 17, a statewide convening was held in Albuquerque. The Metro Region (Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia counties) convening will take place on May 22nd.
Enrique reported that the Southeast Heights Community Health Walk organized as part of community health week was a success. Other neighborhoods have expressed interest in participating in the event next year.
Enrique has been working on the Education = Health initiative in the International District. He organized 2.5 hours of door knocking and found 20 people interested in assistance with attaining a GED. This was accomplished through outreach along only 2 blocks of a single street in the target area. The case managers providing assistance could only accommodate these 20 people. The initiative is now switching gears. They are asking people if they’re graduating this Spring. They would like to organize a community celebration to honor those earning a diploma, GED, degree from CNM or UNM, etc. / Everyone should visit bchealthcouncil.org to take the happiness survey.
4. / Presentation by Kitty Richards (BernCo Office of Health & Social Services), Juan Reynosa (SWOP) and Esther Abeyta (San Jose community activist) / Esther and Juan began the presentation by discussing the San Jose neighborhood – the environmental justice concerns and the actions taken by the community. San Jose neighborhood contains two superfund sites. Community members in the neighborhood face higher rates of asthma, diabetes, and other chronic diseases than those living in other areas in Albuquerque. Esther has been a leader in the community in bringing attention to the health disparities faced by the community members and has worked with Bernalillo County Place Matters and the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) to take action against polluters. One example of action was the Health Impact Assessment of the proposed NMRT dirty recycling facility. The HIA showed the potential negative effects the facility could have had on community members. Information from the HIA was presented to the County Commission and the permit to establish the facility was denied. Esther is now working with SWOP to monitor particulate and gas levels in the neighborhood. They are using Global Community Monitor equipment to collect air samples to measure levels of pollutants in the air.
Kitty presented a Powerpoint: “Assessing the Influence of Residential Segregation on Health Outcomes at the Neighborhood Level,” highlighting current environmental justice concerns and community actions in Bernalillo County. A PDF version of the presentation can be accessed here: http://www.bchealthcouncil.org/Resources/Documents/bcchc%20presentation%204-23-13.pdf
5. / Group Process using Results-based Accountability (RBA) Approach to Analyze Selected Indicators / Due to participant interest in the subject matter and the information provided by the guest speakers, we decided to forego the planned RBA exercise, allowing more time for questions and answers.
6. / Adjourn / May’s meeting will focus on healthcare access. / Next BCCHC meeting will be
May 28 from 3:00-5:00PM at MR-COG

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