Transcripts For SFGTV Aging And Adult Services Commission 20240713

And the commissioner knows our i will say baseline Behavioral Health challenges within the city. Those are only reinforced again by covid19. We are looking to use the hotels now and then we are also working with h. S. And h. S. H. To set people up in a shelter with broader support and more capacity to take care of people who are covid positive who are also lean towards developing capacity and facilities to care for people who are covid recovered. And once people move through the covid positive recovery and it is important to emphasize 80 of people do okay. So in the congregate setting, this percentage will vary depending on the population. The bottom line is we need to also support people who are in the covid19 recovery past the infectious period. And that is something that we have been keeping hard on with the Housing Agency and those are support questions and those questions. I have two questions with the manpower of the Contact Tracing and when you stated that you are hoping to get up to a capacity of 150 people of being able to do the Contact Tracing and when do you see that might be possible . Is question one. Question two, one of my concerns as we are Going Forward is you had just mentioned Behavioral Health issues not only during the crisis and as things ease up and longterm in the aftermath. With relooking at increasing xas within the Department Training . What are the is there planning now going on to be able to address these needs which are rather significant across all age groups . Thank you, commissioner. And we do have people identified to the City Attorneys Office has made available scores of investigators who will be training this with a way that is culturally appropriate and we have had remarkable interest in this program with scores of emails who want to join this effort. We will meet the 150 threshold fairly quickly. The other City Department wills go back to their other work. And we are doing aggressive recruitment and will fill that out. I meant to say in the presentation we are this pandemic has forced us to do things in new ways and build new teams and capacity faster than was even imaginable. And one of the things to acknowledge with the department of Human Resources and our new h. R. Director is we hire as many as 200 nurses in the last four weeks to strengthen the medical approach and applying it to the Contact Tracing, staffing and thinking that through. And also with regard to Behavioral Health, the acting director are the leads and thinking through not only what we need now and with the shelter in place which is, lets face it,s treatmently challenging and also what do we need to think through what is the intersection of the Pandemic Response so that should be part of one of the key colors that we build out. Thank you. I am most interested in the Behavioral Health because in my work the need is increasing significantly. Commissioners, any other questions . Hi. I had actually one or two questions and first, of course, i want to thank dr. Colfax who and with the show he does with the Mayors Office and the press conferences which he handles so very well. And thank you. I think you help show a very thoughtful and very compassionate department. Obviously also grounded as you continue to say. And the chronicle notes that you always have science right there and that is the type of image we all want in this type of crisis, so i appreciate that. I understood when there was a request of the jewish home that this was going to be a fairly selfcontained unit, so that might just be a simple yes, no, or thats not the way it works. And the new guidelines have seemed to come down also from the president ial task force and seem to ls a talk about as you are moving towards having, lets say, less Surge Capacity, would there be the opportunity to then other areas in an acute hospital that would be sort of selfcontained . Or perhaps certainly covid that is selfcontained. And second question since we are all giving two questions actually does relate to the sros and i wont get into the article that you i am sure have seen in the examiner that discussed the issue of a particular family in china town that was trying to reach some sort of accommodation by way of also the sro and all and that clearly operational level becomes sometimes very problematic with regards to how we would like to do things. I would like to know if what you mentioned and to help try to answer some of the questions with the patient privacy which is true on p. H. I. A with patients permission and it may well relate to how a patient then relates late we are their being discharged and needing to go home, or the patients relatives can certainly be some sort of way in which there is a dialogue because those patients would be interested in that. And the approach being taken and made it appear our department was not working together to protect those sros along with the availability of the housing that you have put together so well. So i didnt know if you would be able to give some comments on those. And i wanted to certainly have you have enough time to give us an insight into the future, whatever that may be. The information that i have is that the state, again, the state came out and visited the home. Did an assessment. And from my understanding from my understanding made the assessment that the home was meeting infection Disease Control guidelines and so forth for the state. And they authorized i want to be cautious with the words i am using but my understanding is they basically authorized the jewish homes plan and thought it was adequate to protect residents. Im sorry. I am running out of the battery. And in any case, thats the information i have with regard to the jewish home and the state with regard to their plans for covid positive. With regard to the sros, we have been very active as i iterated in my review with the community [inaudible] can you hear me okay . I think your wifi was going in and out, so like the last minute we didnt hear you. It was going in and out. Now we see and hear you. Director colfax, perhaps where you were standing earlier had better reception if you would like to move your plug. Well, also you can take off video to use less bandwidth if you want to do that. Is that better . Yes. We can hear you. Thank you. I was going back to i was responding to commissioner chows second question with regard to the sro work. Again, we have from te beginning identified sros as a key vulnerable population with regard to ensuring they get their resources to help mitigate the spread of the virus. We have an sro task force which is not only made up of Public Health teams and also other City Departments. We have been with the health order and with inspections and we have been effectively enforcing the sro order. And we reached out to the residents in multiple languages and offer people hotel rooms where they can stay and be supported with food and other basic necessity if they so choose to go into the hotel rooms. So were doing everything that we can as a system. And as quickly as we learn about that, we iterate the system and that can improve. And there are specific examples. I am sorry for that, and we will continue that those are rare. And they get the services to take care of themselves and mid gait the spread of the virus to mitigate the spread of the virus. I think that is a reasonable response that these occurred within about, oh, two weeks ago and obviously everything was still moving and trying to get that under control. But i appreciate your last response there that if such did occur or had occurred, it is not our routine and we are looking to try to ensure they are all accommodated. Thank you. And to give you an opportunity to talk about there is no need to go back to the slide, but the data and number of covid positive patients who are both in who are in intensive care versus nonintensive care, do we know what percentage are currently on ventilators . And my second question regarding that data is, to what do you attribute the redubs in the number of p. U. I. S . That expanded testing or is it something happening in the hospital setting . Can you hear me okay . I am getting an echo. In general, the i. C. U. Patients, about 3 4 of those are on ventilators. Its challenging to update that data on a regular basis because the ventilator status can change rapidly and this is from nine different hospitals. But just on sort of a monitoring level, the real question is whats our i. C. U. Capacity . And in those i. C. U. S, most of those represent beds with more capacity. We expanhandled the i. C. U. And Ventilator Capacity as part of the surge planning by 91 , so we almost doubled the capacity there. And that was a key concern as we looked at the situation in new york. And again, people really responded tremendously to that. Commissioner, im sorry, i forgot your second question. The reduction in the number of p. U. I. The p. U. I. Number is one that i watch with caution in terms of interpretation about what will happen in the next coup of days. And likely that will depend on things like a neighborhood in laguna honda is all being tested and it is when the c. D. C. Was here or if there is specific things that certain hospitals are doing where they may be testing a large number of people for a very specific reason. There are so many heterogenuous reasons why the p. U. I. Can go up and down that i have been focused on the hospitalizations of confirmed positives. Unless i start seeing a consistent trend in the p. U. I. And i think you can see as from that graphic it is hard to see that yet. Director colfax, would you like to go into possible future steps or defer that to another meeting . I know you do have a hard stop. Well, i think that i just as we think through where we would go from this stage, and i think its important, one, to emphasize the importance of physical distancing, wearing the mask, the shelter in place, compared to where we started march, there is more covid19 circulating in the community. So even though to some extent while its been a month, over a month, and it is challenging, but i want to emphasize that those pharmaceutical, Public Health interventions remain really key in addition to basic hygiene. But as were looking at our approach Going Forward, we really need to think about what are the key and we are starting to think about with other partners across the region and the state and what are the key things we need to be looking at for potential relaxation of some of the social distancing protocols. Where would that be most necessary . What is the balance in terms of the risk and benefits of that . And i think there are real Health Questions as well that need to be considered because we know the aggressive shelter in place that we have done while its been the right thing, there are certainly Health Consequences including of that. And what are the key things we need to be looking at in terms of expansion of our Contact Tracing capabilities, a change in not just a flattening of the curve but a potential decrease in the curve, and then how do we develop a system that is flexibility so that if there are outbreaks that we are able to turn certain switches on and off. That is a general answer to a complex question and the Health Commission and may want to add a few words to this because hes been thinking a lot about this with some of the other health officers. I dont know if you have anything else to add from my general interview and i know we only have a few more minutes. Thank you very much. Can everyone hear me . Yes. Yes, so let me just summarize it and just really quickly the big ideas. Dr. Colfax covered most of it. There are basically three phases the way this is being thought about in the country. We are currently in phase one which is slow down the infectionened, prevent hospital surge, and start preparing for the next phase. The next phase is when we begin to open up and pull back on the shelter in place. To do that we have to have all the systems in place that dr. Colfax mentioned. We need to have a good testing system, case investigations, Contact Tracing, being able to deal with all our vulnerable populations. Having all that in place. The third phase is far off and that is going to be when we have good therapeutics and we have a vaccine. So that is probably were not going to have a vaccine for probably a year and a half, so thats at the highest level, that is how were thinking about it. And were also waiting for the state. The state has given us some initial guidance in how they are thinking about it, but we need more specifics because we want to align as much as possible to the state so that were able to focus on the Public Health role and less about the challenges of picking and doing the sheltering in place the sheltering in place which affects so many different businesses. Thank you. Move on to the next item on the agenda. A give me one second to put a slide up, if you wouldnt mind. Certainly. Were going to move on to item 6 which is general Public Comment. Before we begin, i want to put the slide up so people have the information. Just give me a second to get there. I will work on it, but moderator, we can start the Public Comment. Do we have any calls on general Public Comment, item six . Moderator . Are you still with us . Oh, i see. No calls. There is nothing on this for item six. We can move on to item seven which is an action item and resolution honoring the San Francisco department of Public Health for its ongoing response to the covid19 health crisis. And commissioner, i will read the draft resolution and i will include and note the clause that commissioner chow is going to suggest through an amendment. And excuse me if this is long. Those of you who are in the d. P. H. Executive team, take this in because this is a time of gratitude. Whereas dr. Grant colfax, San Francisco department of health, director of health, initiating d. H. P. Planning efforts to respond to covid19 in late january 2020 and began reporting to Health Commission on covid19 related activities at that time. And whereas, on february 25, 2020, ma mayor breed with input from dr. Colfax and dr. Aragon was one of the first cities in the United States to declare a local emergency due to the threat posed by covid19. The San Francisco board of supervisors concluded and in the mayors emergency proclamation on. And whereas, march 4, 2020, the california Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency due to covid19. And whereas, march 6, 2020, dr. Aragon declared a local emergency and board of supervisors con curd. And whereas, on march 6t city issued Public Health guidance to encourage social distancing to disrupt the spread of covid19. And whereas, march 7, 2020, dr. Aragon ordered city facilities to cancel nonessential group events of more than 50 people and prohibited visitors z lagun hospital. And whereas on march 11, an order was issued of 1,000 people or more in public gatherings. March 13, 2020, he issued and order prohibiting gathering of 100 people or more. And whereas dr. Colfax and dr. Arrgon worked closely with several counties to align the area in a uniquely coordinated covid19 prevention and response effort. And whereas, on march 16, 2020, dr. Aragon issued an order coordinated with five other bay area counties for residents to stay at home through april 7, 2020. And on march 31, 2020, dr. Aragon expended to may 3, 2020. And whereas on march 19, 2020, Governor Newsom following the leadership of San Francisco and five other bay areas counties issued an executive orreder to require californians to stay at home and whereas, dr. Aragon continued to put forth a series of Innovative Health orders to outline necessary measures to protect the health and well being of all San Francisco residents and to focus on the most Vulnerable Health population. And whereas dr. Colfax and other d. H. P. Leadership have worked closely with state and local leaders in the complex procurement to expand the hospital and medical shelter capacity and purchasing personal protective equipment and testing supplies. And whereas, dr. Colfax, dr. Aragon and other d. P. H. Leadership has coordinated with nonprofit organizations and businesses to develop the San Francisco community of care including sharing of medical staff and precious resources to increase medical Surge Capacity and resources devoted to the covid19 responses. And whereas the effort to provide transparency and keep the public informed, dr. Colfax and dr. Aragon and others continue to lead the pace to coordinate important covid19 case data, testing data and give updates on the Public Health response. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the San Francisco Health Commission commends dr. Grant colfax for his steadfast and compassionate leadership during the covid19 pandemic. He continues to lead the d. P. H. Through the ultimate challenge of temporarily repurposing 2 billion department to respond to the Ongoing Health crisis. And further more, we extend our gratitude to dr. Aragon whose orders having progressive and clear for residents to protect their health and save their lives. Therefore, be it resolved, that the Health Commission acknowledges the staff of d. H. P. And Incident Managers and the Emergency Operation center and include d. P. H. Director of health, dr. Susan phillip, Deputy Health officer, and director of d. P. H. Prevention and control. And others. Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital chief operating officer. And further resolve that the Health Commissioner recognizes the leadership of dr. Susan urlich, chief executive officer of zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. We thank them for their inkrenl leadership and hard work to ensure each object continues to implement covid19 response. And further, we express our deep gratitude for every Health Employee for the final contributions made each day to benefit the health and well being of all San Francisco residents. And in labs, and testing center, shelter, hotels and on the street. And further resolve that the Health Commission thanks the staff of all d. P. H. Partner, especially other department, local hospitals and special appreciation to ucsf, and communitybased organizations for the ongoing work implemented each day to impact and save live. The next clause is suggested by commissioner chow. Further be it resolved that the Commission Urges the department to continue their collaboration to successfully combat the pandemic and further resolve that the Health Commission thank members for their requirements and protecting the most vulnerable individuals in San Francisco. And further resolve that the Health Commission expresses deep appreciation to mayor breed for her bravery and skill in leading the city during the crisis. And to the San Francisco board of supervisors for their support on Public Health related issues and leading us during this time. I hereby certify this Health Commission at the meeting of april 21, 2020. Commissioners, the resolution is put before you. Thank you, mark. Before we go, i understand that members of the department of executive team may have another pressing item they need to attend to. If that is indeed the case, would it be appropriate to give them an opportunity or for us to thank them specifically for their fantastic work and allow them to move on to where they need to be. Director colfax . Absolutely. Yes, i will stay, but other staff should feel free to attend other matters. Mark, i would like to offer one quick amendment in the second whereas clause to follow consistency and acknowledge the extraordinary leadership of mayor breed in the bold, early, and aggressive action. Later in the sen ten, mayor london breed was one of the first mayors rather than cities in the United States to declare a local emergency. Great. Thank you. I will note that. Thank you. And before opening the floor do we need a motion first, mark . You can get all of the amendments and then do a motion per amendment or take it one by one. That is up to you, commissioner. Commissioner i think we can do them all together. Are there any and is this an appropriate time for comments from other commissioners . You should go well, if you are going to do amendments, you can do that now. And then in terms of comments and discussion, wait until we see if there is Public Comment first. Are there amendments and if not, does someone have a motion to approve as amended . So moved. Second. Mark, please take a role call. Actually, first you take Public Comment. Moderator, any Public Comment . Any Public Comment, moderator . No. No, so i will do a role call, commissioners. I will show my face so we can look at that. [role call vote] commissioner, if you want to end this item gore to see if the commissioners have any more comments or do any personally thanking. I would like to offer the opportunity for commissioners to offer comments. First, i would like to begin in addition to acknowledging the people of San Francisco for the sacrifices they have made in order to comply with the orders that have been placed, that are literally saving lives every day. We cannot express in an appropriate depth of gratitude that we feel to the employees of the San Francisco department of Public Health, so many of whom are working 24 hours seven days a week in order to protect all of the people of San Francisco, particularly those who are most vulnerabled a at risk nor pandemic. All the way from director colfax throughout the entire department and Outreach Teams on the street, we are inspired every day by your leadershy and commitment. And the behavior that we can only hope to model as commissioners in upholding our role to support you and your fantastic work. Words cannot express the gratitude that i personally feel for you and like to offer an opportunity for my colleagues on the commission to add their words. Commissioner, please raise your hand if you would like to speak. Commissioner chow. Yes, thank you. I also wanted to express beyond the former resolution and gratitude and absolute joy. This has been perhaps the most horrendous Public Health event that we have faced as a city maybe in at least certainly within my time on the commission, and probably extends all the way back to 1918 if we were to read the history. I can only be astonished at how well our department has responded. I have not seen the department as unified as it is today in trying to answer our great public need. This resolution doesnt really do justice to the work that the 8,000 members of our Health Department does and how the citys other departments as dr. Colfax has noted, have stepped up and really responded to understand the health needs and need for us to protect our community as such. So unselfishly. I wanted to say that i was very proud that i was able to actually be a part of this commission during the time and this is the First Quarter that we are at least ahead in the First Quarter. Thank you. Other commissioners . Commissioner chung. Yes, thank you for directtors and dr. Aragon for your work and leadership. Personally i dont think anybody should have to have the experience of going through two deadly pandemics and unfortunately it seems to be the burden of our generation. With that said, i am so glad that i live in San Francisco, a city that provides not only Compassionate Care but also voial support to the most impacted and the vital support to the most impacted and the most vulnerable to the virus. It is not just gratitude. I think that for me there is a sense of pride to be able to brag to other colleagues about how well we are doing. And i express my deep appreciation to all of you. Thank you, commissioner. And a unified force, there is nothing we have ever seen. My only reference is my dear grandmother was here in the 1918 spanish flu. And she had given me some of the Horror Stories but how at that time in 1918 that the city of San Francisco did really come together as we are doing now. Thank you to all of you for your wonderful efforts. Thank you. I just want to reinforce what everybody else has shared on my colleagues. I cant express enough how much respect i have for the whole department. Also knowing that you are at the start of this short of executive staff and short of resources to need in a normal time to have responded to quickly and to work so closely in coordinating with all of the different departments under the leadership of mayor breed. And i think across the country of all of the different places and the tragedies that many of our vulnerable population and community are experiencing, i just wish that there was a way to transport the kind of leadership in community and sense of common good that we have here in San Francisco. Even with all the questions and all the kind of wanting to be better sentiments that are expressed by many of our advocates. I do feel that San Francisco is most fortunate. Words cant quite express, but again, justice want to express thanks and gratitude, respect, and i know that we have a lot more to go. A lot more road to go and we will be there. We are all in this together. A commissioner green. Yes. It was said so eloquently by all of you. I am on the front line. I am in the hospital every day. And the example that this department has set and our mayor and our staff has set for how to be compassionate and how to Work Together as a Cohesive Community has been so reassuring for those of us who are potentially exposed to the disease on a daily basis. I am so impressed and incredibly grateful for the speed with this which this department has acted, for the speed with which the mayor identified this problem, and in the face of potentially a lot of controversy and question from national sources. I think its resulted in so many lives saved. I think every person in this community and particularly everyone at the d. P. H. And mayor and department of supervisors and Mayors Office can take credit for keeping citizens alive and healthy. I feel that deeply and personally as someone who is an age that could potentially make me vulnerable. I just cant say enough about how proud and humble and grateful i am for everything thats been done. Thank you for your comments, commissioners. Mark, shall we move on . Item 8, actually, and give me one second to post try to post there we go. See if that is going to work. I want to post the Public Comment info for you all. Were going to move on to item 8 which is the contracts report. Mark . Yes. An i would just like to thank the commission. Thank you, director colfax. Please, feel free to say more if you would like. I just want to thank you for the kind words, the recognition, and really reinforce that the team has been has been working very hard. And the people that they are caring for every day will continue to need our help and support and one of the things that is so inspiring to me and the rest of the executive team are the people on the front lines who are caring for people in the hospital, going to the people who need to be interviewed and cared for in a supportive way, meeting peoples Behavioral Health needs and the concern of individuals and families and the communities. Going to places like the mse south shelter outbreak and people on the Street Medicine Team that worked all night to ensure that the guests and the staff of that shelter got the care they need. I just think every day im inspired by the work that the team is going and inspired by the work the city is doing across the various departments and collaborating like never before. I am grateful and honored to be able to support the department and thank you for your kind worted and recognition on behalf of all members of the department. Thank you, director colfax. That was beautifully said and the entire commission stands with you in gratitude and pride. Okay. Hard not to cry hearing all those lovely words. I am going to post the Public Comment information again as we move on to item 8 which is the monthly contracts report. There will be several contracts here with several presenters. Eeveryone on the line, only nine people can be on camera at a time and for instance, dr. Colfax, if you wouldnt mind taking the video off at this point, and dr. Aragon as well, if you could take your video off and i dont think we will need you for the contracts. Thank you. And put miss ruggles and on there we go. This will take a second. Some are on audio. The microphone is off. Thank you. D. H. P. , business office. This feels like the old world and there is a series of contracts and i will group them where they are groupable and go through them, but this first one is with the San Francisco Public Health edition and it is a new contract that has services that are ongoing and management of management, Program Administration of existing subcontractors and is an Ongoing Service that is the Public Health foundation has provided and continues to provide for many of our services. So this previously had been provided with the particular subcontractors under the San Francisco study center and moved to the San Francisco Public Health foundation as the result of slis sayings. And o solicitation. And the services in this contract are through the Public Health division and are providing several Community Capacity building and promotion work and this contract will be for a term of four and hah half years with a total contract amount of 3,610,930 and the annual amount is 665,383. I realize normally we include the prior annual amount so you have something to compare it to, which we did not. And missed that this time. So i added it to the ones where dr. Chow has specific questions, but if you have any programmatic questions and i believe and i believe that Patricia Irwin is on the phone if you do have questions. Commissioner, any questions about this contract . This is dr. Chow. The question really is, is this the same as selena health . Or why are we using two different titles for these things . That is a great point, which i didnt even the Public Health Foundation Actually now you have tote that is different. San francisco Public Health foundation is the Public Health foundation and Heluna Health is different and used to be Public Health foundation copolymer prizes. Foundation copolym enterpri. The first one is the San Francisco Public Health foundation. The Public Health foundation and started several years ago when dr. Mitch cass was director. And so that is separate than the Public Health Enterprise Foundation which was something completely different. So we are on the Public Health foundation contract right now. Commissioner that is different from the Public Health foundation. Yeah. Commissioner all right. Any other questions . We can move on to the next. The next one is Heluna Health, formally Public Health Foundation Enterprises inc. Now its doing business as Heluna Health. So contract is an amendment adding 1,027,708 and we are extending the current term by 18 months through june 30, 2024. You actually previously approved this contract on june 5, 2018. This contract provides i shouldnt gotten water. Program administration and support services to the Community Health equity and Promotion Section and so in this one they do have Heluna Health provides Administrative Services for the continuum of h. I. V. Prevention and care and treatment program, San Francisco ending the epidemic, and then hepatitis c virus Public Health services program. And the department has brought this contract back and received additional Grant Funding and so we just are increasing the not to exceed amount to include these additional funds and extending the term. A commissioner, any questions . If none, we can move on to the next one. We had three contracts with the San Francisco Health Authority that we also refer to as the San Francisco health plan. The first is the payment to private providers and the next two are Third Party Administrative contracts. You approved these are all been pretty recently approved. August 2019 and in one of them in november, but what were doing now because from the last years presentation and also the one in november you might recall that we reconfigured some contracts and consolidated them and started up new programming with the deactivated fund. You can hear me because i am on the phone. Awe it is fine. So anyway, these three contracts and what we are doing is extending them to multiyear instead of one year contracts because everything is in place and are going to the board of supervisors and back to approve the now new contract which were doing for four years. From reimbursement on nonhealth network care provideers and participating in the healthy San Francisco private provider network. And also payment to Ambulance Companies proprovide answer transport, pharmacy benefits for specific healthy San Francisco medical homes and reimbursement for providers providing gender confirming surgeries to the gender health San Francisco program. I can go through all three and you can ask questions and with the representation on the phone or maybe in a picture. Would you like to go one by one or all three . I would like to hear them all. And to start july 217 and this is providing that and language enrollment assistance and customer Third Party Administration for the healthy pedestrian program. The last contract is the Third Party Administrator city option. This contract also is a new contract multiyear going to the board of supervisors. With that, i would probably turn it over to alice if you have specific program. Commissioner, are there any questions . Seeing none, we can move on. The next question is Harm Reduction Therapy Center and is a Behavioral Health apt and extending the term by one year. The reason that the amount is bigger and we brought the contract to you in december 2018, you approved it as a new contract for the homeless treatment. Right after that, the mentally ill homeless treatment and funding was added to the contract and i think we brought the grant maybe separately as part of a broader discussion. But anyway, it got added into this contract and more recently some homeless outpatient treatment funding. The homeless mentally ill Outreach Team provides street medicine through the healthy streets operations center. And they have a mobile van, and then the Outpatient Treatment Services are to outreach and engage people who use drugs on the street. They have Harm Reduction model. It is an ongoing contact and realigning it and bringing it back because of the additional funding and extending the term to align this with the same end date. And i believe if you have questions, Marla Simmons is on the line. Any questions, commissioners . All right. Seeing none, we can continue. Okay. The next there are six contracts that are actually related to that power point that you have. Were not going over the power point today, but dean goodwin is on the line. We have tried throughout the last couple of years to Group Contracts when it was possible coming off as a solicitation so we could ground the explanation in a broader look at the program. So dean put together super comprehensive power point presentation about h. I. V. Health services and within that he set very specific contracts. So you have a group of five contracts that are part of the center of excellence on slides 8 through 15. It is all the next side except west side. West side is part of the Home Health Care and Home Community based Health Care Services on slides 20 through 22. They are all Ongoing Services providing the same doing the same thing essentially. I dont have this slide deck open, but slide 8 through 15, you can see what the center of excellence is. If you have specific questions about any of these contracts, dean is on the phone i am sure to answer. I did want to comment that i thought the presentation and the power points were really helpful and normally if we were at our usual committee meeting, we could get a better explanation, but it does assist us in understanding what the contracts are all about. And so i just want to commend staff for having put that together. And on top of that, and thank you, commissioner chow, i just like to remind commissioners and those who may be viewing from the public that although the governor and mayor did provide an opportunity to hold the meetings and the commission serves the roles as various committees as we consider things such as contract so all the work of the finance committee is being done by the full commission. So were grateful to commissioners and members of the public for your patience as well as to the staff for the hard work in putting together the presentations. Other questions, commissioners . While were looking at the whole block, i wanted to extend moi commendation to the information that they did provide me and the commission in regard to the contract what we commonly call the San Francisco health plan for their Administrative Services and we had to go back several times to get clarity, but we were able to do that. I really appreciate that. Thank you. So do i. And then the next contract is not part of that group is haluna health. I am not sick. And that one is im sorry. Dry. The approval of haluna health for the amount of 520,295 for the period of it is an amendment to extend the contract excuse me. It is actually an amendment to add funding into the contract and the funding is because we have received additional grants. We received 477,974 in additional federal c. D. C. Grant award, and then we had carryforward funding, and then the last part that is 42,000 is the contingency. It is a contract that you have seen before, but anyway, if you have questions, we have staff on the line. It is pretty straightforward and just adding money to an amendment. Miss ruggels, if we were in person, we would be offering you water. Do you need a moment . It is so dry in here. Am i allowed to suck on an lozenge . Yes, of course. All right. I am recovered. Good. Thank you. Do you have any questions on this one . A commissioners . Seeing none, we can move on to the next contract. Okay. And the last contract is the justice and diversity Bar Association of San Francisco. This is actually Ongoing Services but it is a new agreement following solicitation that was just completed. This contract does add legal work to help clients effectively document their disability claims and help them get back their disability claim helps them to be success nfl obtaining their benefits and provides advocacy in assisting them if they have challenges in order to attain those benefits or be reinstated. Again, it is an ongoing contract that we just did an r. S. P. Commissioners . An any questions from commissioners on the contract support . I believe that is the final contract, correct . We have two memos. But the two memos are separate items. A right. So commissioners, i am going to first check to see if we have any Public Comment. Moderator, do we have any Public Comment for this item . Any Public Comment . No, no Public Comment. So you all can vote on as a whole on this item and so ewith would need a motion for that. Is there a motion to i a prove . An i move to approve. I second. Thank you. I will do a role call vote. [role call vote] we can move on item 9 and get myself on here. Sorry about that. Item 9 is request for approval of new contract with prc baker places to support the creation of Behavioral Health respite center. Right. I will introduce it and if you have questions, Kelly Hiramoto is on the line for this. You might recall from recent hearing about this new program, prop i hearing, but this is the contract that comes with it. This is the request for approval and new contract with baker place and prc baker place for this service. This is the second of two programs they provide. This is the second one and opening up at 11 56 valencia street. It is a total contract amount over the term of 7,777,339 and annually about 2. 9 million. Since we had the hearing, the two things that have happened were that, one, you can see that at lo. O funding for this program is funded by a grant by tipping point. And the board of supervisors approved that grant since we were last in front of you. And then the other thing is that theyre leasing their location through a city lease withle is Activation Army for this program. And that was also approve by the board of supervisors. But if you have other questions, i know kelly is there. Any questions, commissioners . If we have no questions, mark, we can move to a vote to approve. Mark, you are on mute. So we need a motion, commissioners. So moved. Second. All right. I will do a role call. [role call vote] item 10 is the request for approval with a new contract with Bardy Diagnostics to provide a cardiac rhythm monitoring device for patients of d. P. H. This is an agreement in 1,151,068 from may 1, 2020 through april 30, 2023 and this is a new contract to provide a cardiac rhythm ambulatory monitoring device that is a small wire free patch that can be worn continuously by patients. I am not going to go on because i only know what the words say, not to explain it, but there is staff online if you have any specific questions about how this system works or what the goal is beyond whats been written. This is sort of a contract for up to and then provides the ability to use the machines or i should say the ambulatory devices and keep the entire block. I dont believe they will expend anything that isnt used but i will let the staff respond to that. Good afternoon, everybody. Rosaly and the medical director is actually on board. Are you on the call . Can you clarify if you dont use the full amount . So we replenished stocks. That was my understanding and i wanted to be sure that you understood. Thank you. Any other questions, commissioners. We need a motion to approve. So moved. Second. Thank you. I will do a role call vote. [role call vote] item 11 is zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital regulatory status report. Thank you to the team and everyone who joined the call for the contracts report as well as the new contracts. Thank you very much. Thank you for giving me time on the agenda to bring you up up with the things happening at zuckerberg San Francisco in the last coup of months. We selfreported three events and putting together responses to the events. If you remember last year the law changed around selfreport and they are investigating the reports we send to them and asking them to report them to the joint commission that occurred simultaneously. And that acute care and we have two teams of surveyors at the beginning of the covid issues there. Both were slated to go for five days. And on the fourth day of that survey process and we have our first positive patient with the state of deficiencies and with very few findings. A lot of what they were investigating they were not able to substantiate or not find any serious issues around the hospital and see the summary of those. From the course of the last six to eight months we have been working with a difficult Patient Population and had some issues with staff. We are at a point now where we are almost bringing those two complaints to an end. They had the list of citations they were planning to present to us and gave us an opportunity as an organization to respond and provide evidence to how to address them. And many of them we have done a lot of work in the last six to eight month and that is secondary to the work place violence headed out to do a phenomenal amount of work to standardize how we respond to violence towards staff at the General Hospital. So the fact that they are given an opportunity to curb the citations and respond to them before they issue the final statement i think speaks really well to the amount of work they saw that have been that had been done over the months they were working with us on the investigation. I will ask if there are any questions from the commissioners about the things on the report at this moment. Under the validation and do you know what they were citing . It is related for complaints. That is a great question and the governing body was not related to the complaint. What happens when the complaint validation survey is initiated is they address the complaints and also have a workbook with certain things they have to look through. One of the things was contracts and did not have all the required pieces to demonstrate in the meeting inches to the j. C. C. I feel very strongly it was a paper work issue and they acknowledged that during the survey. As part of the process we are looking at how to review were sorry. Your conference is ending now. Please hang up. Are the people still online . We are still here. I am still on the line. Still here. And what were doing with that is the way that we look at the Quality Metrics in each contract and we will have them presented to pip. Pips will report the metrics to the m. E. C. And bring it to you as an overview in our minutes. That way we wont miss the contract. It was purely an administrative miss, but it is still important to make sure the contracts are monitored by the governing body. Thank you. Any other questions . Moderator, is there any Public Comment on this item . No. No Public Comment. So commissioners, shall we move on to the next . Item 12 is zuckerberg San Francisco general Hospital Medical staff report. And several action items on this. Again, for the members of the public and those on the commission who usually are not on the joint committee, this is kind of business that is usually done at that committee. I am not sure if she is visually present or just audio. My intent was to be visually present as well. I dont know if anyone can see me. This is the first time and i can see all of you. We cannot. What number lets see. I dont think its vital that you see me as long as you can hear me. The other thing is that there is this delay when i am actually on the video. So it is my audio is via the phone so i can be simultaneous with the proceedings. Sure. I do not have power point slides and i do not think i have to have a visual if you are okay with me not having a visual. Please proceed, doctor. So thank you so much. Good evening. I have several items for you to review. And dr. Chow, thank you for your comments and your questions. I wanted to clarify that we changed the actual state of the privileges and have major revisions and do not change the dates at the title of the actual privileges or the sps. That was one question i know that you had. We have a revision to the privileges and the orthopedics privileges. And we have the p. A. Practice agreement and preamble. And there is one provision that addresses the idea of home visits and this is something that has come up recently. And we have recent Clinical Services have done home visits throughout the years. They have not always been cleared out clearly in the spelled out cloorly in the privilege. We wanted to be more specific and deliberate about that. But in addition with the covid situation, it does bring up a specific situation and we have had some of our patients who are pregnant and towards to end of the gestation and third trimester and needing patient care who have been in quarantine for covid and physically unable to come for visits. Both our nurse practice tigsers sorry, our certified nurse mid wives in the Ob Department as well as our faculty gynecologists have requested privileges to do home visits when those situations awe rise. So we discussed that at the credentials committee. I also discussed it with our contact with the City Attorneys Office and the Exec Committee approved those privileges and standardized procedures. Any questions about that . Commissioners . Looks like commissioner green does. Yes. Two things. One is does this include the townhouse visits . In other words, i was trying to find whether tele health is part of the previous privileges or whether it needs to be delineated. We are doing that extensively and i wondered what other options and you have a robust system at the hospital. I was wondering if that includes that. That is a great question. We have not we are actually all doing tele health right now. So we are we have not gone back to all of the privileges and specifically called out that tele health is a privilege. It seems to fall within the general privileges to me, but i think if we actually were to add that, we would need to add it to all the privileges and i dont know in that is necessary. And sterilization and i am sure has been banned and whether that is on the list or not, i am not sure, but it isnt been done. Just a little point. Thank you. I will take that off. That was again, this is not a major revision and we dont have to go back and go back to and any over questions about the procedures . If not, i will move on to the orthopedic privileges list. And the privileges list is a minor revision and we have specifically addresses when we have a podiatrist and orthopedics and the different skills that they and tasks they take on. And specifically asks orthotics and oversee and that is that definition to that privilege. It was actually in red and it is. When we are in the regular routine of thing, we plan on doing major revisions for the standardized items and these are the minor revisions to make sure we are crossing our ts and dotting the is in the case of the orthotics. Moving on. I know that this create some confusion and the p. A. Practice agreement and preamble are documents that the state licensing board for p. A. S have recommended that institutions adopt so that we know that we are following the guidelines for supervision and scope of service for p. A. S. And so i think there was a question that came up about the fact that there is these are what we adopted as a template for all of the services to use so that when they are using a standardized language and template for the p. A. Privileges in each of the departments. They continue to have state your department here and these are the templates that the credentialing Committee Approved and n. E. C. Approved for the Clinical Services to now use in their own sites when they have a p. A. Actually, we dont have p. A. S in many of our clinicals, but we wanted to have a standardized approach to the documentation for their oversight in their department when those departments did decide to hire them. Along the type of supervision and they have and updated in our own policy and procedures. As a template, these are like when you go to the standardized templates, and you take out the ones that arent pertaining to that particular person, is that it . Right. When we actually have if there is a clinical site, for example so if you look at the practice agreement, i think, the last page. It has a site where you can indicate all the p. A. S that are working in that practice site. We are recommending that a Clinical Service site has p. A. S working in that service site adopt this and lift the p. A. S and currently active members of the med staff in their service. And kind of having a blanket and with the inpatient unit. Commissioner on the standard procedure template and you can modify that in order to work on what the p. A. Is. Yes. Commissioner that is fine. Then we wouldnt recommend they do it per person but per that clinical unit. Commissioner okay. Any questions about those . I think we can move on, thank you. I believe we need to vote to approve all of those. Yes. We need a motion to approve all the protocols and policies that were just discussed. I so move to approve all the protocols. And is aekd please. Second. Great. I will do a role call vote. [role call vote] that item is passed. So those of you who were on the line from the public and in case you would like to make Public Comment, the line has been disconnected and reconnected. So you have to call in again. And i am going to say the number which is on the screen right now. To call in in case you would like to make comment for the next item. 8883634734 and 2241350 and press pound once you get in. Moderators, are there any questions or any Public Comments on this item . Okay. So i think we can move on to item 13 which is other business. Anything, commissioners . Item 14 is a consideration of a closed session. Is there a motion to move into closed session . So moved. Second. So commissioners, i will do a role call vote. [role call vote [ commissioner, and folks who are on line, here is whats going to happen. I will end this meeting and this is the d. P. H. Staff and will not be moving into closed session unless they have been authorized to do so. And first folks who go into closed session are the commissioners and is sfg staff because it is it is a credentialing matter. Once we are done with that t laguna honda folk cans sign on. For right now, i will end the call and go to the next either in your calendar or in the emails i sent you with another link to go to the next session. All right. Thank you, all, for joining us memb a we need a motion whether to disclose or not to disclose. I will do a role call. [role call vote] thank you. And then the last thing you all can do is adjourn. Is there a motion to adjourn . No, i want to keep going. I am ready to put my mask on and get out of here. Please adjourn. All right. Thank you, all, so much for your patience and for this long meeting. I will be in touch with you tomorrow. Thank you, mark. role call . Directors, you have a quorum. There will be no such announcement with sound devices today. Item 4, approval of the minutes from april 7th regular meeting. Very good, Board Members. Weve been supplied with the minutes and i will ask first, is there anyone from the public who wishes to comment on our april 7th minutes . For members of the public who are watching this meeting via sfg tv from april 7th, please call 888 8086929 and then code 9961164 and then finally 10. Mr. Moderator, yo if you would let us know if there are members of the public who wish to address the board. Operator to summon each question press 1 and then 0. It looks like no members of the public dialing in at thisman. This minute. So we will close Public Comment. Well close Public Comment on item 4 and ill entertain a motion to approve the minutes. So moved. I heard two and would you please call the role. role call . Mr. Chair, you have a unanimous vote. Very good. On communications, well provide overview as to why were doing things this way and ill be more brief than i was last time, but due to the covid19 Health Emergency and given the Public Health recommendations issued by the department of Public Health and given that the governor has lifted it, this is being held with all members and staff Via Teleconference to ensure the safety of the board of directors, staff and members the public. In our published notice, we ask the public to participate remotely by writing the board or leaving a voice mail messag mes. We have received and appreciate these comments and i will tell you they have been circulated to all Board Members both in voicemail and email form. Going forward, unless and until these restrictions are lifted, we would ask write mtaboard at sfmta. Com or call us and if assuming we will have more meetings this way, we would ask that you do so in advance of the meetings. There will be gaps or dead air as we refine this process today. So we would ask for your understanding and that folks show respect and let other people speak when it is their turn. If you are not speaking, i would ask that you mute your telephone lines so that we or mute your microphones so we do not have background noise. This is the second time we were doing this and i want to extend great thanks to our board secretary, roberta boomer, warren lamb, art wong, and tom loftess, as well as the board of supervisors. There was a lot to put together to do this and its really, really appreciated. Its been seamless for us Board Members. Roberta. Thank you. So for members of the public who are online, please be aware that this meeting is televised by sfg tv and be aware that is a time lag, so if members of the public have called in, and theyre watching the meeting, please know there is a discrepancy but seeing what you are seeing on sfg tv and what you are hearing. For members of the public who wish to make Public Comment on items on the agenda, the phone number to use is 888 8086929. The i. D. Number to use is 9961164. Hold on just a second. I just lost where i was. Please make sure that you are in a quiet location and that you turn off any tvs or radios and if youre livestreaming the meeting, that you mute the sound. This will reduce any reverbations so the board can hear you. We urge you when the item is called, if you wish to comment on a particular item, please dial the phone at the time that the item is called. This will allow you to be in the cue so we can take your comment when the chair aske asks for the phone lines to be open. The audio prompt will say callers are entering the question and answer time, but this is the Public Comment period. You will be cued up in the order in which you pressed 10 and there will be an automated voice that will tell you when it is your time to speak. So when your microphone has been unmuted, you will hear us ask you to state your name and make your comments. I will start your int two minuts when you begin talking. When your time is up, i will say thank you, next caller, please and at that point, the moderator will put you back on mute. I will repeat these instructions later on during the meeting. As im aware, that some members may have joined the meeting late and may not have heard them. So mr. Chair, moving on the agenda item 6, new and Unfinished Business. One piece of business is the announce of our april 7th, 2020 closed session and so miss boomer, if i could ask you to handle that, please. The mta board of directors met in closed session on april 7 to discuss anticipated litigation. The board of directors took no action. Mr. Chair, it would be appropriate for either a motion to disclose or not disclose the information discussed. Ok, and do we need Public Comment on such item . Yes. So lets see if theres Public Comment on the announcement of our april 7th, 2 2020 closed session. Operator to summon each question, press 1 and 0. For members who are watching and wish to address the board on the announcement, please dial 10 and moderator, please let us know if there are any callers on the line. Moderator confirms there are no callers on the line. Ok, with that, we will close Public Comment. I move to disclose. Im sorry, actually, someone this is the moderator and someone joined and dropped off. Never mind. Thank you. So that will close Public Comment and i heard a motion from director borden and is there a second not to disclose. Miss boomer, please call the role. role call didn and this is oe motion not to disclose the session. Mr. Chair, the motion to not disclose is unanimous. Wonderful, thank you. Any other new or Unfinished Business by Board Members . I think we have i do, director heieke. Anyone else besides director borden . So as many may not know today is dr. Heinekes very last meeting which is very sad. The chair has been on the board since i arrived in 2014 and has been a great, strong leader for transit in this city and we have been so fortunate to work with him and to see his knowledge and i dont know if everyone realizes, his knowledge goes back far to the Taxi Commission and hes been a great resource on taxi issues. He has been tremendous in helping us lead us through those sort of issues. Even before the Taxi Commission, though, the director was a servant of the city having formally been on the Human Rights Commission which i found quite surprising to know. He has a distinction of being the longest serving director since the mta was established in 2000 and so joining in 2008 with and the time with the Taxi Commission before that. Hes been so critical, as you all know, we just celebrated when we were able to be together, the carfree Market Street and malcolm has been a true leader on this issue and it was just so fitting to have him be about that on that momentous day and even throw out new streets with his quite a extreme seat when we think how easy it was to make the decision when the decision was in flux for so long. So thank you to him for that leadership. Hes also been actsly doinged dn improving the subway and improving the approach. There was the key portal specifically and we all know that the west portal crossover is really the heineke crossover which we will be honoring in his name with a proclamation and a plaque coming at a time when we all can be together in the future. But more than anything, i just want to thank him for his leadership, his guidance, his friendship and sharing his knowledge and his wisdom and being patient with some of us as weve come along to learn the new things as being more intimately involved with this and i want to thank him for his contributions. I dont know how he balances being a highpowered attorney, having been chair of the Bar Association and being chair here. He is such an amazing leader for this agency and so many others and im proud to call him a colleague and a friend. And then really looking forward to the day we can officially name the heineke crossover and the port yachal station. Thank you for everything and wish you well as you move on to your next endeavor. Well, thank you very much. I want to say something, too. Please, art, go ahead. I think im the only one who knows malcolm anyone currently on this call because malcolm began as a fellow in the California State Senate and served with the distinction and followed gavin newsom. Now here malcolm followed this, as well. Im grateful that malcolm welcomed me with open arms and gave me a good addition and understanding of the transit issues in sanfrancisco whe san i came on the board and ill always be grateful for that counsel and advice. I look forward to seeing that plaque, that tremendous asset that youve helped to protect and hopefully dedicate, as well. So thank you so much for your service and youre the embodiment of why term limits are ridiculous. [ laughter ] im glad i could be a help in your political statement. Working with you is a true pleasure and i consider you a friend. I see other people lighting up. Steve, you wanted to say something. All yours. Yes, i do. Youll have to sit there and take it. [ laughter ] ok. I just want to dwell on one word that i think epitomizes your service that ive seen just from my brief tenure on the board and thats courtesy. And your unfailing courtesy to your colleagues, to the staff of the agency, to the public, even when some of us may not have deserved it. I think this is a real halmark of how you conduct yourself and god knows courtesy is something our society could use a little bit more of. My only regret, and i do have a regret in terms of our own relationship on the board is that i was never able to contrive for you a 33 deadlock vote and put you on the hot seat to break the tie. [ laughter ] and so i guess i owe you that one. Fair enough, fair enough. Christina, thanthank you very m. I appreciate it. Christina. Thank you so many years of your Public Service. Ive been on the board since 2012 and ive enjoyed serving alongside you and im very thankful for your ability as the chair of the board to move discussions forward. Youre able to find consensus and when theres not consensus, you know how to move on to the next step in a constructive way and im thankful for the fact youve pushed carfree Market Street while still being really respectful of staffs expertise and skill. So thank you again for everything youve done for this agency. Well, thank you. Its been a pleasure to work with you. Amanda. Malcolm, i have delighted in the sense of humor you bring to meetings and i want to say theres nobody ive met for as much passion for turning around trains for turning around a pocket. I also hope you appreciate how apt it is that today mayor breed announced 13 miles of slow streets on what happens on your last day of service. If you think thats a coincidence, maybe you have another thing coming. [ laughter ] i want to thank you again for your service and please dont be a stranger. Thank you so much, amanda. Cheryl, the last word. Thank you. Malcolm, im going to miss you so much and i know that not everyone in the city realizes how fantastic your service on the board has been and what a huge impact youve had on Public Transportation and Street Safety and the subway and everything. Its been a pleasure to serve with you and all i have to say, malcolm, you truly are one of the good ones. Well, thank you very much for that. I will keep my remarks brief here today because we will, as has been announced have a ceremony at west portal and maybe when we have a meeting in person, i can come in and say goodbye to all of you in person. When i took over as chair, i was focused on expanding service, particularly that in the subway. As i leave this chair, the subway is shut down and the bus service has been cut. I wont take a total cause and effect on that from my being chair, but seriously, these have been very difficult times in having the group of you as colleagues and roberta and now jeff, as well as julie and tom and everyone on the staff has been truly remarkable and a real blessing for me. You know, ill save my further remarks for the ceremony to come, but just know that this has been a great joy for me because of you guys. Thank you. Director tumlin. Actually, before we get to the directors report or if director tumlin wanted to say a few words here. Ill conclude with my words. Go ahead. Very good. Is there any other new or Unfinished Business by Board Members. That takes us to item 7. Directors report. Director tumlin, how has your month been. Actually, i had to check my math three times when i was thinking about when our last board of directors meeting was, since weve gotten about, i dont know, 18 months worth of work done in the last two weeks. I was trying to figure out what i had covered in the last directors report and realized that weve been very busy. So my directors report will try to cover a lot of material as briefly as i possibly can. So first of all, i would like to start off with some gratitude, particularly to mayor breed who has made it very clear in her statements to the Department Heads and also in the press that the frontline workers at the sfta, our transit operators, line supervisors, the people out there in the field everyday providing us essential service to 100,000 people in San Francisco every single day should be considered in the same light as we do our police officers, our firefighters and other essential workers and mayor london breed has made sure that our frontline workers have access to the same personal protective equipment, masks and gloves and Hand Sanitizer and cleanser and also access to hotel rooms and other services that are necessary to acknowledge the tough job that our workforce has. Im really grateful to dr. Grant kolfax at the department of Public Health and they have been instrumental in helping us to do the scenario planning to get prepared for any scenario and, in fact, get prepared for the inedge abilitthetheinevit artge. We are happy to report that as far as we know, they are all doing well. Weve done dozens of interviews that our contact tracers have done and we also have 41 staff people in selfisolation as a result of the potential exposure. So far, the good news is that of each of the covid positive cases weve had, none appears to have been transmitted from one sfmta employee to another. This is a much better position than the dire situation that our counterparts are experiencing from detroit to maryland to new york and others. So we will continue to work hard to follow the dphs guidance to the t in order to do the best that we can to protect our workforce, rooted in the latest available science. Well also recognise that while on the one hand we need to follow the science in order to help protect the health of our workers, we also need to recogniserecognise this is a teg time and we need to respect the emotional reality of our workforce. Ive been spending a lot of time in the field talking to our workforce in helping to provide emotional support where its needed because we are, in fact, emotional beings. So there was a lot going on with covid and its all covid all of the time and a lot of information has needed to go out and im doing a series of twotofour minute videos a couple of times a week on not only what is happening with the agency wittheagency but celebrak the crews are doing from the paratransit workers who are helping out in countless ways, clerks and middle managers who are working as Disaster Service workers to do additional car cleaning, to make sure that not only do we clean all of our vehicles everyday, but we also clean the vehicles three times a day so each of the operators gets into a clean vehicle at the beginning of their shift. Weve been working on our external messaging, our coms team has been working, getting the message out that muni is only for essential trips. Its for essential workers getting to work and its for people in San Francisco who have to get to essential goods and Services Like food and pharmaceuticals. We are not getting out the message that thanks to the mayors most recent health directive, not only is wearing a mask required when out there in the public, but also required while riding muni. Wearing a mask for any other Face Covering, is not about protecting your own health but protecting the health of others around you, including our operators. Face coverings are about keeping your sneeze or your cough or your heavy breathing, whatever it is to yourself and not spreading the disease because one of the remarkable characteristics of covid19 is the fact that it can be spread while you are still asymptomatic. So wear a Face Covering in order to protect others. Weve also having been doing a ton of communication in the work we implemented before our last meeting which was stripping muni down to its bare essential core network, the 17 lines that served the majority of our passengers that is connected to essential services, particularly the hospitals and focusing the muni service wer where it was nd most with the fewest choices. That has involved a huge amount of engagement with the community. Were happy to report that starting on april 25th, this saturday, we will bring back four lines that we had previously cut or portions of four of those lines. That includes the fulton from downtown, serving st. Marys hospital and essential services in the tenderloin and the Western Addition and bart street to gerry. We have a lot of Community Engagement because it serves a lot of hospital workers from the peninsula as well as on gerry street and that was great to get that feedback. Were restoring a portion of the 12 pacific along pacific avenue between battery street and vanesse and a large concentration of Senior Citizens living in that corridor that didnt have any eastwest Transit Service. This was also something we saw in the data, as well as from Community Engagement. Were restoring a portion of the 54 felton which is the First Community Service Route to be restored and it connects a whole series of neighborhoods from Hunters Point to bayview and the portal district and silver terrace, the Crocker Amazon to the balboa station and were also now engaging with the online neighborhood about potentially trying to extend it into the omi, as well. So this is some good news and it has come about because all of the efforts of the dph and the mayor and a half a dozen City Departments at the Operation Center have helped us to stabilize the availability of our operators, but also our mechanics and thanks to the Disaster Service workers, were able to have sufficient people to keep our cars clean so that means were able to deliver more service. Another program we implemented this week is a new Ambassador Program. Its something weve been hearing from a lot of our passengers and writers about is that as were trying to as the Police Department and the social services have been trying to address crowding on the streets and social distancing with the naked neighborhoods lie tenderloin, people who had no where else to go were seeking up refuge on the muni bu buses ande started an Ambassador Program to make sure muni is used for essential trips and essential workers and that people who need social services can be directed to social services and that people who dont have face masks can be given them or given information about where to get them. And also to encourage people to space themselves out at the bus stops and to provide information about what are the essential Transit Services available and to otherwise provide critical information to our passengers. So far, the results of this have been positive and one of the things we have learned from is the phenomenal success of our muni ambassador transit program, focused on the school trips in the southern neighborhoods. By engaging with people and meeting people as equals rather than as an agent of enforcement, weve been able to promote civil behaviour by San Francisco middle school kids. So were hoping that the same approach can work for adults downtown and well provide you with more detail about those results at our next board meeting. Another key program that we elemented this week is the essential trip card program. Again, this is the program that in a normal situation would have taken us 18 months to develop and implement. We did this in a week and this is to help deal with the fact that so much of San Francisco no longer has Transit Service within immediate proximity and many seniors living in hilly neighborhoods or neighborhoods that have suffered from a loss of Transit Services at this time. So in order to provide an alternative for those folks and to support the people who work in our beleaguered taxi industry, we decided to use some of the limited resources in order to develop a subsidized taxi fare program for people over 65 can get a debit card valuvalid on any taxi service. 410 people signed up and super easy to get by calls 311 or go to sfmta. Com etc. In addition to providing real financial benefits to the taxi cab industry, weve helped the taxi cab industry by providing taxi cab drivers with personal protective equipment, cleaning equipment and by using our taxi inspectors to ensure the taxi operators are actually cleaning vehicles in between runs. Providing a comfortable level of health as were offering on ouri buses. Because we cant stop announcing new programs that would normally take 18 months to dro develop, e announced this morning, through the Mayors Office, our new slowstreets program. Many of you, perhaps have been following, the success of cities around the world and we in San Francisco have been inspired by the phenomenal work the city of oakland has been doing the last couple of weeks on their slow streets program, which is designed to serve several functions. S fofor us, one of the most important is addressing the parts of the city that have lost the most muni service and that have the los loss access, in orr to provide safe corridors for people to walk or bike in order to be able to make their last mile connection to transit or to get to essential services or open spaces. So the proposal, which we hope to start implementing at the end of this week, is to identify the low volume residential streets where we can limit through automobile traffic in order to make those streets feel safer for walking and biking and in order to allow particularly pedestrians to spread out more so they can walk or jog while maintaining six feet of social distance. The first phase of work was developed mainly around places that had lost muni service, that needed additional access to services and where there were major gaps in the both transit and bikeway networks. So well be rolling that out this friday and well probably be able to implement about two streets per week and well be learning as we go along and collecting input about how to make adjustments to our initial set of streets, as well as where should we expand to. So well look forward to providing you with Additional Information on that, as well as hearing any input you may have about the program and how it is going and where we should expand to. I should emphasize, as well, unlike the chronicle story today which got the message completely wrong, were not closing my streets to cars. All of the streets will still be open to cars. Were not eliminating any parking spaces. Everyone will have access to their driveways. Were limiting throughtraffic and slowing pedestrians down so. The big news since everything is accelerated in the time of covid, caltrans is moving forward on their u. S. 101 project. This involves taking the entire freeway deck basically at the 280 interchange around alamani street and replacing that entire deck. They are shifting that forward to start on april 25th, this weekend. Theyre taking out 800 feet of the freeway in both directions and doing it now because traffic volumes have so light. This is a fantastic opportunity, both for caltrans in the the city to do a lot of work when it has the least amount of work and it will allow them to do the work much faster. So you can get a lot of detail on that project by searching caltrans u. S. 101 and we are coordinating with them closely to make sure, again, that the traffic impacts on surface streets are minimal. A couple other interesting Little Details also that were working on, as some of you know, two weeks ago, the great highway had to be closed because we faced heavy winds and the sanddunes had blown across the street. Working with public works after they removed the stand, we agreed that we dont need to reopen great highways. Highway. Keeping the great highway closed to car traffic helps us to maintain social distance on this critical recreational commute route. Were watching it closely to make sure that it doesnt become too much of a destination, which is a concern that the department of Public Health has. So hopefully through some management, we can allow that to be retained as a useful state for exercise and commuting and not a place for product parties which would require that we reopen the street to cars, which is the last thing we want to do. Were also working with the giants, both the ballpark and Mission Rock Development to create Additional Space on the third street bridge between the ballpark and the Terry Francois boulevard. Right now the sidewalk is less than three feet wide and no traffic in the roadway to bridge. We want to take the most eastern lane on a temporary basis to be able to provide a safe space spore pedestrians a cyclists to get across the bridge and it also makes it possible to open up Terry Francois street and illinois street as a potential expansion opportunity for our slow streets program. And with that, i think i also want to take the time to thank director heineke well, perhaps thank and curse him, maybe, for being part of the reason why i ended up taking this job and why despite this job having completely changed into something far different than way thought i was taking, director heine conscience es work has inspired me to realize that i didnt take this job just to able to do a bunch of cool stuff. Theres no better time to do Public Service right now in San Francisco, the city that i love most in all of the world. My job, though, i get paid well for. Its always rather baffled me why all of you serve. Your work on our board of directors is completely unpaid and completely without any thanks. Theres no real benefit, aside from the benefit that you get understanding that you are making a substantive difference in this small unmanageable city. And director heineke epitomizes that to Public Service. Your dedication to this agency for as long as you have served is phenomenal and you will remain an inspiration to me, a kind of north star, if you will, for the kind of service that i want to provide this agency in my particular way. So thank you so much and i will look forward once its allowed again to not only enjoin the ceremony at west portal station in naming the crossover after you but enjoying several drinks at the club around the corner. [ laughter ] thank you so much. Mr. Chair, it seems like your microphone is not cooperating right now. And director hemminger has a question and maybe director borden can manage the meeting while we work on the chairs microphone. No problem. Director hemminger. The guy has not even left the building and weve turned the mic off. Thats really rough. [ laughter ] i had nothing to do with it. Yeah, youre al hake, huh. I had a question about the slow streets proposal, and that is, why no love for the rich mon district. Richmond district . It was used with key inputs and the most important is where have we cut the most Transit Service . If you overlay the proposal on our core muni service map, youll see a direct correspondence and the biggest gaps are where we have emphasized the slowstreets investment. We wanted to make sure that in the first step, that one, we respected the limitations we have in material is were working on sources additional materials and so we wanted to make sure that we did enough investment that people could truly spread out. Were actually worried about doing too little investment, attracting too much attention and therefore, crowding. So the sunset district which had faced the deepest muni surface cuts is also one of the easier neighborhoods to actually make a significant difference and create a real network. We also, like hollowway street was a key consideration for us, as well, given the big gas in the oli, even after we brought some service back. So the Richmond District by comparison has much better access to Retail Services and to open place than almost any neighborhood in San Francisco. Its also been a place that has suffered the least muni service cuts. The same is true for districts 2 and 3 and south of market where most muni Service Remains and where there is easier access to essential services nearby. And so im hoping that if we can make phase 1 successful, that we can start expanding this citywide, but well want to do that with input from all of you, as well as members from the board of supervisors and many communitybased organizations and its something that we did not have the luxury of doing in order to respond to the crit cal needeneeds, a week and a half ar we have done such dire service cuts. Sorry for my mic failing that. I wanted ti see several mics ard and what i might do is see if we have Public Comment on director tumlins report. So miss boomer, can you see if theres Public Comment on item number 7, please. For members watching this meeting and wish to address the board on this topic, please call 888 8086929 and then the code is 9961164. For those of you who are on the phone already who wish to address the board under general Public Comment, which are items only raised and discussed by director tumlin, presence 10 and moderator, please let us know if there are people on the line. Your conference is now in question and answer mode. Press 10. You iyou have three questions remaining. When its your turn to speak, the system will prompt you automatically. Moderator, please take the next caller and we will set a toominute time limit and i will give each caller two minutes and a 30second warning. First caller, please. Hello . Caller with phone number ending in 7186, its your turn to speak. Lets move to the next speaker. Speaker, weve had no response and if you want to rejoin, please dial 10 to rejoin the cue. Operator you have three questions remaining. Ok, next speaker, please. Question hi there. Hello. Thanks to the secretary and the department of technology for making this possible. Somehow im more nervous doing this than i would be if i were standing in front of you. Go you give us your name . My name is jed holtzman, i moved here in 1999 and i work on climate policy. I want to thank the director for the whov huge list and great w. Were really glad to have you in the city. I think theres some learning there when all of this settles down on the needs for the termination times when such amazing work can get done at a breakneck pace. I was originally planning the last week, plus the comment on the desperate need to open the streets, whether because of joggers, couples, families, kids, dogs, as someone with Outstanding Health problems, i have really found any time ive gone outside to be really just dodging selfish humans all of the time, it doesnt make me feel great about living in San Francisco. Now that this plan has been announced, its fantastic and includes my street and thats great. I really am also concerned about crowding, as well. And thats the whole reason for me to open the street in the first place. So i would hope there would be some light enforcement, where possible, rather than leaving to everything for a freeforall and shut it down if people are irresponsible. 30 seconds. Question the stay at home order is until may 3rd and i understand thats to be extended but even to midjune, it seems like two streets a week, the program wouldnt get ramped up to full until almost this is hopefully, fingers crossed, getting to be over. And so, this has been well over a month for folk and the need has built up. I would encourage quicker action to slow the streets and allow for more personal space. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, mr. Holtzman and thank you tor commenting. Miss boomer, would you unable the