Special Meeting of the Commission on Seniors August 12th, 2020 Commission on Seniors to be held August 12th, 2020 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (August 11th, 2020 by Noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the August 12th Commission on Seniors Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison at Halana.Kaleel@austintexas.gov or 512-972-5019 no later than noon, (the day before the meeting). The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to Halana.Kaleel@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. •If this meeting is broadcast live, residents may watch the meeting here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch- atxn-live COMMISSION ON SENIORS AUGUST 12TH, 2020 AT 1:00 PM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Janee Briesemeister, Chair Peter Varteressian, Vice-Chair Erica Garcia-Pittman Martin Kareithi Jacqueline Angel Patricia Bordie Karen Grampp Adam Hauser Natalie Cagle Billy Jackson Fred Lugo Emily De Maria Nicola AGENDA CALL TO ORDER There may be discussion and action on any of the following items: Amy Temperley Sally Van Sickle Diana Spain I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE COMMISSION ON SENIORS JULY 8TH, 2020 MEETING. II. ANNOUNCEMENTS III. NEW BUSINESS care facilities. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Presentation: Community Climate Plan 2020 Revision, Celine Rendon, Community Engagement Specialist, Office of Sustainability, City of Austin. B. Resolution on transparency of reporting COVID-19 cases at nursing homes and long-term C. Update on the Re-imagining Public Safety Task Force, Janee Briesmeister. A. Update and review Commission Work Plan – Standing Item B. Updates and review from Working Groups – Standing Item i. Age Friendly Action Plan Implementation Working Group ii. Transportation, Housing …
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Seniors Recommendation Number: (20201112-03B): Transparency of Reporting COVID-19 in Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities WHEREAS, more than 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Texas are of residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities; and WHEREAS, on May 7 the Austin City Council passed Resolution 20200507-59 to combat the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, including the testing, deployment of “Strike Teams” to facilities with clusters and ensuring all facilities have sufficient PPE and testing equipment; and WHEREAS, despite these efforts Austin Public Health Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott stated on July 14: “Our nursing home defenses have been penetrated, and we are seeing numbers like we were seeing early on in this outbreak,” he said. “This provides us evidence that we have to do better at reducing the community transmission, and two — we have to have additional resources to do more aggressive testing and containment.” In addition, KXAN reports that Texas leads the nation with the most nursing homes reporting staffing shortages in each key metric tracked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and WHEREAS, according to AARP Texas State Director Tina Tran: AARP has been collecting personal accounts from people across the country who have loved ones in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. We’ve heard from family members who have been kept in the dark about the well-being and care of their loved one. Others have been deeply concerned by the shortage of staffing and adequate personal protective equipment. And tragically, some have lost loved ones who were never even tested for COVID-19; and WHEREAS, the Austin-Travis County COVID-19 website does limited reporting on resident and staff COVID cases and deaths in nursing homes and long term care facilities, includes these cases under the heading “clusters” rather than on the Dashboard, and does not identify facilities by name. Dr. Escott has stated that there is a legal opinion preventing the city from identifying each facility, despite HHSC and CMS doing so; and WHEREAS, both the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) (https://hhs.texas.gov/services/health/coronavirus-covid-19 ) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (https://data.cms.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-Nursing-Home-Data/bkwz-xpvg/) identify the names of nursing homes and long term care facilities in their reporting of COVID-19 data; and WHEREAS, KXAN uses Texas HHSC data to identify Austin-area nursing homes and long-term care facilities with COVID outbreaks. https://www.kxan.com/investigations/kxan-continues- …
COMMISSION ON SENIOR REGULAR MEETING MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12TH, 2020 The Commission on Seniors convened a Regular Meeting via Videoconferencing. Board Members in Attendance: Chair, Janee Briesemeister, Vice Chair, Peter Varteressian, Adam Hauser, Amy Temperley, Billy Jackson, Diana Spain, Erica Garcia-Pittman, Fred Lugo, Jacqueline Angel, Karen Grampp, Martin Kareithi, Natalie Cagle, Patricia Bordie, and Sally Van Sickle. Board Members not in Attendance: Emily De Maria Nicola Staff in Attendance: Tabitha Taylor, Age Friendly Plan Program Coordinator, Austin Public Health and Halana Kaleel, Public Health Educator II, Austin Public Health Presenters: Chair, Janee Briesemeister called the Board Meeting to order at 1:02pm. The Commission introduced themselves. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE COMMISSION ON SENIORS JULY 8TH, 2020 MEETING. A. The minutes for the July 8th, 2020 Meeting were approved on Commissioner Grampp motion, Commissioner Cagle second on a 14-0 vote. Commissioner De Maria Nicola was absent. II. ANNOUNCEMENTS Psychiatry. III. NEW BUSINESS A. Commissioner Pittman-Garcia introduced guest Dr. Li who is studying Geriatric B. Commissioner Lugo discussed strategies sent out for caregiver support. This information was shared with the Chair, additional information will be sent out to the rest of the Commission after the meeting. A. Presentation: Community Climate Plan 2020 Revision, Celine Rendon, Community Engagement Specialist, Office of Sustainability, City of Austin. i. Presentation was given by Celine Rendon and Zach Baumer. IV. OLD BUSINESS ii. The Community Climate Plan will be released for public comment soon and invited the Commissioners to provide feedback. B. Resolution on transparency of reporting COVID-19 cases at nursing homes and long- term care facilities. i. Commissioners reviewed and discussed the draft resolution. ii. Edits were made regarding typos and grammar. iii. The Resolution on transparency of reporting COVID-19 cases at nursing homes and long-term care facilities was adopted, Commissioner Temperley motion, Vice Chair Varteressian motion on a 14-0 vote. Commissioner De Maria Nicola was absent. C. Update on the Re-imagining Public Safety Task Force, Janee Briesmeister. i. Chair Briesmeister asked the Commissioners if they would like to be part of the discussions of the Re-Imagining Public Safety Taskforce. ii. Commissioners Temperly and Spain are interested in representing the Commission on Seniors and being part of these conversations. A. Commission Work Plan – Standing Item i. No discussion currently. B. Updates from Working Groups – Standing Item i. Age Friendly Action Plan Implementation Working Group ii. Transportation, Housing and Outdoor Spaces …
