2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
KATHERINE MUNTER
President
CAROLENE MARKS
Vice President
ANDREA EVANS
Commissioner
KAY GULBENGAY
Commissioner
DORKA KEEHN
Commissioner
JING XU LEE
Commissioner
ANDREA SHORTER
Commissioner
EMILY MURASE, PhD
Executive Director
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COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
Members Present Staff Present
Commissioner Andrea Evans Executive Director Emily Murase, PhD Commissioner Kay Gulbengay Administrative Analyst Laura Commissioner Dorka Keehn Policy Analyst Kim-Shree Maufas
Commissioner Jing Xu Lee Commission Secretary Cynthia Vasquez
Vice President Carolene Marks
President Katherine Munter
Commissioner Andrea Shorter
I. CALL TO ORDER/AGENDA CHANGES
President Munter called the meeting to order at 5:15 pm and welcomed all present.
Action: Approved amended agenda. m/s/c/ (Marks/Shorter/Unanimous)
No public comment.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Action: Approved draft minutes from September 26, 2007. m/s/c/ (Shorter/Gulbengay/Unanimous).
No public comment.
III. EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REPORT DISCUSSION
A. Executive Directors Report
Dr. Murase referred Commissioners to her written report and stated that the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) will be holding a meeting on November 8 to announce 6 new probation officers that will be dedicated to the Girls Unit. Commissioner Shorter requested sending a letter of support to the JPD expressing the optimism and support for the Girls Unit, after the November 8 meeting. Dr. Murase also encouraged Commissioners to participate in the Combined Charities Campaign. For the past several years, Department staff has achieved 100% participation in the city-wide program. She informed the Commission that the Mayor will be holding his State of the City Address on Monday, October 29 at 1:30 pm.
She concluded by stating that, on October 22, the Department presented to the Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee about ongoing issues regarding domestic violence in San Francisco, at the request of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice.
IV. CONSENT AGENDA
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Agenda and are considered to be routine by the Commission on the Status of Women. They will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate item. Members of the public may speak on each item listed on the Consent Agenda.
A. Resolution Celebrating the Life of Seiko Ota Murase
B. Resolution Congratulating Catholic Charities CYO on the Occasion of its 100th Anniversary
C. Resolution Congratulating the Chicana Latina Foundation on the Occasion of its 30th Anniversary
D. Resolution Congratulating the Women's Intercultural Network on the Occasion of its 12th Anniversary
E. Resolution Honoring Childhood Matters and Nuestros Niños on the Occasion of their Anniversary
F. Resolution in Recognition of Julia Bruckner of UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center
G. Resolution in Recognition of Carlina Hansen of the San Francisco Women's Community
Health Clinic
Action: To approve the Consent Agenda. m/s/c (Shorter/Evans/Unanimous)
Commissioners expressed their condolences to Dr. Murase and offered continued support in her time of loss.
Rona Renner, Radio Host of Childhood Matters, thanked the Commission for its support and for honoring programs that help families in San Francisco and throughout the Bay
Area.
V. REPORTS
A. Health
Commissioner Marks reported that she met with Deputy Health Director Barbara Garcia, Heath Commissioner Roma Guy, and Department staff to discuss reinstating a women’s health coordinator position, which was eliminated from the Department of Public Heath (DPH) budget, to be located either at DPH or at the Department. DPH staff will survey what work is being done and what services are currently being provided at DPH and look at the job description for the women’s health position that was once located at DPH. There will be a follow-up meeting on November 8 to discuss the findings and continue discussion.
No public comment.
B. Justice and Courage
In the interest of time, Commissioner Dorka Keehn announced that the Justice and Courage Oversight Panels is beginning new member recruitment for additional Panel members and will be sending out invitation letters shortly. In the interest of time, she directed Commissioners to the Executive Director's report for details.
No public comment.
C. Violence Against Women Prevention and Intervention (VAW) Grants Program
Commissioner Katherine Munter reported that she will be working closely with the Department in putting together information for the upcoming request for proposal process that will govern the next 3-year grant funding cycle.
No public comment.
D. Family Violence Council
Commissioner Andrea Evans reported that the Family Violence Council had a successful meeting on October 2 which was attended by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The Mayor discussed various issues related to family violence with the Council members. In the interest of time, she referred Commissioners to the Executive Director’s Report for details.
No public comment.
E. Girls Committee
Commissioner Shorter reported that the Girls Committee is recruiting members for the 2 vacant seats and welcomed any recommendations on candidates from Commissioners. On October 16, Commissioner Shorter, Committee Member Dawn Liu and Policy Analyst Kim-Shree Maufas met with District Attorney Kamala Harris and discussed various issues that affect women and girls in San Francisco.
The Girls Committee continues working with Assembly Member Mark Leno's Office on the Girls Health Conference that will take place on November 16 at the Milton Marks Conference Center in the State Building at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
Commissioner Shorter reported that the Girls Committee will participate in training on parliamentary procedures from members of the Youth Council. Commissioner Gulbengay encouraged the Girl’s Committee members to engage members of the Board of Supervisors in training or mentoring.
No public comment.
F. Language Access
Commissioner Lee reported the Department will be holding a press conference with the City Administrator's Office of Language Services on October 30 to announce the launch of a mobile language access program for victims of domestic violence. Commissioner Keehn will represent the Commission at this landmark event. With the support of AT&T and Language Line Services, law enforcement staff will have immediate access to interpreters via mobile phones. This is a first step in addressing the language access gap identified in the Domestic Violence Victim Safety Accountability Audit.
No public comment.
G. CEDAW
Executive Director Murase reported that Commissioner Gulbengay has agreed to provide Commission leadership on CEDAW. In the interest of time she referred Commissioners to the Executive Director’s report for details.
No Public Comment.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
A. African American Breast Cancer Town Hall
Commissioner Marks reported that the October 4 Town Hall on resources for breast cancer service providers to the African American community meeting was a great success, with over 50 service providers participating and she thanked Policy Analyst Kim-Shree Maufas and staff for their support. Commissioner Marks would like to follow-up with service providers to facilitate African American women access to no-cost health services.
B. San Francisco General Hospital/Avon Breast Health Program
Dawn Surratt, RN, Program Manager for the Avon Comprehensive Breast Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital explained that, since 2001, Avon has been granting funds to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) to provide services to women.
Ms. Surratt explained that the SFGH/Avon Breast Health Program address the following areas:
· Imaging
· Pathology
· Breast Surgery
· Radiation Oncology
· Medical Oncology
· Chemo Infusion Clinic
· Physical & Occupational Therapy
· Metastatic Clinic
· Patient Navigators
· Clinical Trials Accrual
· Cancer Risk Assessment
· Community Organization Referrals
· Behavioral Research
· Case Management by Social Workers
The specific services at the Avon Comprehensive Breast Center include:
• Digital Mammography
• Ultrasound
• Ductography
• Ultrasound-guided Biopsy
• Stereotactic Biopsy
• Localization Procedures
• Nurse Practitioner Evaluation & Abnormal Follow-Up
• Patient Navigation
To be eligible for a mammogram screening the following criteria must be met:
· At least 40 years of age
· At least 1 year since your prior mammogram
· If you’ve had a mammogram before, then previous images for comparison may be requested
· No active breast problems
· Any breast mass or nipple discharge must have a diagnostic work-up
· Not pregnant
· No history of breast cancer
· A referring clinic or provider
· Not born a man or male-to female transgender
· Biological men with breast problems must have a diagnostic work-up, not "screening"
The fees for the services provided are paid through MediCal, MediCare, San Francisco Health Plan, Healthy San Francisco, or other public programs.
The Avon/SFGH Mammovan:
• Goes out 2 to 3times a week
• Screens a maximum of 30 to 40 women per day
• Does not allow walk-ins
• Screening clients must be able to stand independently because of equipment used for screenings
• The GE digital has a “C” cup limit
If women have larger than a C cup size, they will be referred to a clinic within the San Francisco that can provide a screening.
For agencies or organizations to host the mammovan, they must be part of the SF Community Health Network or San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, which are located at 27 sites across the city.
They must also be able to pre-screen patients to meet eligibility requirements (clinical and payment sources), provide language interpreting, guarantee at least 28 patients for a full 8-hour day and have a formal agreement to schedule with the SFGH Radiology Department. Once those requirements are met, a woman will have a mammogram and results from the screenings will be sent to a referring provider or if follow-up is needed, she must come to breast cancer screening office.
If results are normal, then a woman is encouraged to have an annual mammogram screening. If the results are normal but there may be some questions, then either another screening a needle biopsy will be conducted. If the results are possibly cancerous, more lab tests will need to be done, a tissue biopsy may be taken and a referral to a 3M breast clinic will be made. 3M clinics are collaborations between medical oncology and surgery to improve patient care and outcomes.
Judith A. Luce, MD, Medical Oncology Director explained that in order to serve the needs of San Francisco, more mammographers as well as new equipment for the mammovan are needed. Currently, there is only 1 full-time employee (FTE) dedicated to reviewing pelvic MRIs and mammograms. There are only 1.6 FTE conducting 7,000 annual screenings. Dr. Luce explained that equipment costs are extremely high as they become obsolete in a matter of years. SFGH currently has a fellowship program, but there is a nation-wide shortage of mammographers. Salaries for mammographers are very high and can only be easily met by private hospitals. Dr. Luce explained that with the success of Healthy San Francisco, more women are being screened than before.
The Commissioners thanked Ms. Surratt and Dr. Luce for their informative presentation and expressed their hope to work closely with them in outreaching to future patients.
C. Healthy San Francisco
Tangerine Brigham, Director of Healthy San Francisco (HSF), explained that the HSF program provides health care for uninsured San Francisco residents, regardless of employment, immigration status, or pre-existing conditions. HSF makes significant improvements for clients by:
· Ensuring that uninsured residents receive a designated primary care medical home
· Streamlining the eligibility and enrollment process
· Making information on services and the costs clearer and more accessible
· Providing uninsured residents with an organized health care delivery system
· Issuing program participants an HSF identification card to make access to services easier
To be eligible for the HSF program you must be:
· Uninsured
· A San Francisco Resident
· At or below 500% of the Federal Poverty Level
· Between the ages of 18-64
· Must apply for and be found ineligible for coverage in other publicly-funded health insurance
HSF benefits include:
· Primary care
· Specialty care
· Hospital stays at SFGH
· Emergency care at SFGH
· Pharmacy
· Mental Health
· Substance Abuse
HSF benefits exclude:
· Emergency care not at SFGH
· Hospital care not at SFGH
· Cosmetic Services
· Infertility Treatment
· Organ Transplants
· Allergy Testing
· Dental, Vision
· Long-term Care
HSF providers include:
· 22 primary care clinics at 27 sites (i.e., medical homes)
v 14 within Department of Public Health
v 8 within San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium
· San Francisco General Hospital
· Community Behavioral Health Services.
Fees associated with HSF are as follows:
· Participants pay a participation fee to maintain enrollment in program
· Point-of-service fees when accessing services
· Participants also pay for cost of care delivered outside HSF provider network (within and outside of San Francisco)
· Recognizes that affordability impacts access –fees are tied to annual income and family size
· Provides a subsidy to eligible participants with incomes at or below 500% FPL
· Homeless persons, persons receiving General Assistance and those under 100% FPL pay no fees.
Eligibility process is a one stop application system:
· Web-based eligibility and enrollment system
· Screening for eligibility for Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, Healthy Kids & Young Adults, CHDP
· generates unique number for each participant -- single unduplicated count of uninsured
· One-e-App is available at all medical homes.
Once enrolled in the HSF participants will be eligible for service immediately and will be mailed a medical ID card, informational pamphlets on services available and access to a customer service line to answer any questions. HSF is a voluntary program that will take 18-24 months to rollout to all uninsured residents of San Francisco. HSF is looking forward to managing program expectations, evaluating the program, and evaluating the relationship between HSF and the Governor’s Health Care Reform. Ms. Brigham thanked the Commission for their support and expressed her gratitude to Commissioner Marks for her involvement on the Healthy San Francisco Advisory Board.
D. Southeast Health Center Presentation
Veronica Sheppard, Community Health Worker with the Southeast Health Community Center (SEHC), reported that this Community Center is located in and serves residents of the Bayview/Hunters Point (BVHP) area. 21.7% of residence in this area live below the poverty line and are more vulnerable to external factors that are detrimental to their health. Residents in this area also have higher rates of hospitalization in San Francisco for every disease and have poor health outcomes across a wide range of women’s health issues. Women in the BVHP have a higher incidence of breast cancer, higher rates of risk factors for breast cancer, lower rates of screenings, and are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage of the disease. In July 2006, the SEHC organized a Women’s Health Committee to conduct literature, chart reviews and interview women to better understand modifiable barriers and predictors for screenings.
The barriers to care found that women were:
· Concern about the pain
· Confusion about screening guidelines
· Inconvenience (no transportation)
· Embarrassment
· Lower perceived risk of cancer
· Too busy
· Scheduling difficulties
· Fear of the screening process
· Fear of potential cancer.
Predictors of screenings were:
· A better understanding of the screening process
· Increased belief that screenings matters
· Decreased perceived barriers
· Greater knowledge of guidelines.
In order to improve mammography rates in the Southeast sector the SEHC began scheduling flexible appointments, provided transportation to and from screenings for residence in the 94124 zip code area, incentives, and reminder calls. As a result, 90% of mammogram appointments are being kept. With the success of the Women’s Health Committee, new community partnerships are being formed as well as the following committees at the SEHC:
· Asthma Committee
· Diabetes Committee
· Women’s Clinic.
On the horizon, the SEHC hopes to increase cervical cancer screening, improve patient advocacy programs, and provide more outreach and secure permanent funding for the community health position.
Ms. Shepard suggested that Commissioners and community members write letters of support for SEHC, spread the word about the work being done at SEHC and provide donations for incentives given to those receiving screenings at SEHC. Commissioner Shorter urged Commissioners to get their bi-annual mammogram screenings when due and expressed strong support for Ms. Shepard's work.
VII. OLD BUSINESS
A. Strategic Plan
Dr. Murase explained that the grammatical changes requested at the September meeting had been made to the Strategic Plan. She stated that it is important for Commissioners to advocate for the needs of the Department. As the Department works with DPH in developing a health position, Commissioner Marks will be the liaison and will report back to the Commission.
Commissioners agreed that they should advocate aggressively and purposefully for more Department funding. Commissioner Keehn requested setting up annual or bi-annual meetings with members of the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to keep them updated on the work being done by the Department.
Action: To approve the 2007-2008 Strategic Plan. m/s/c (Keehn/Munter/Unanimous)
No public comment.
B. Needs Assessment
President Munter is working with Dr. Murase to provide a focused and definitive statement of the data received from the assessment. This will assist the Department in framing the request for proposals the Department will release in late December.
VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT
Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Consortium, thanked the Commission for its work. Ms. Upton volunteered to work with the Department and other objective collaborators in finding and filling the gaps found in the Needs Assessment.
IX. ADJOURN
Motion to adjourn in honor of Seiko Ota Murase. m/s/c (Shorter/Keehn/Unanimous).
Meeting adjourned at 7:40 pm.
The ringing of and use of cell phones, pagers, and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager or other similar sound-producing electronic devices.
Explanatory documents: For copies of explanatory documents listed in this agenda, and other related materials received by COSW, please contact the Department on the Status of Women at 25 Van Ness Ave, Suite 130, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone: 415-252-2570, fax: 415-252-2575. Also, to the extent possible, documents will be available on the COSW website at http://www.sfgov.org/cosw.
Know Your Rights under the Sunshine Ordinance(Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code)
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Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local legislative or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance [SF Campaign & Governmental Conduct Code § 2.100] to register and report lobbying activity. For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the San Francisco Ethics Commission at 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone: 415-252-3100, fax: 415-252-3112; web site: sfgov.org/ethics.
