The Alameda County Board of Supervisors held a special joint meeting of the Health and Public Protection Committee on Thursday, April 23, 2026, to receive updates on three key initiatives at Santa Rita Jail: the procurement of a new comprehensive medical services contract, a quality assurance baseline report from Actura Health, and the implementation of the Epic electronic health records system. The meeting was chaired by Supervisor Marquez, with Supervisors Miley and Town present. The discussion emphasized cross-agency coordination, accountability, and the county's commitment to improving health care for individuals in custody.
Now we're ready, yeah. Recording in progress. Okay, good morning, everyone. I'm gonna call the meeting to order for Alameda County Board of Supervisors special meeting. This is a joint health and public protection committee meeting for Thursday, April 23rd. Apologize for the delay, but one of our colleagues had another committee meeting this morning, so thank you for working so hard on behalf of the county. Can we please start with a roll call? Supervisor Miley. Supervisor Town. Present and Supervisor Marquez. Present Liverpool. Thank you so much. Um, before I continue, can we please make sure that the audio and video is coming in clearly? Those online, if you could raise your hand, if you could hear us. Director Gasway, could you confirm since you're able to unmute? Joint health and public protection committee meeting for Thursday, April 23rd. Apologize for the delay, but one of our colleagues had another committee meeting. I guess we're good. We're good. Okay. Um, if the clerk could please share the announcement how the community can engage in public comment on the items that we're going to hear today. For all participants, please state your name for the record prior to your presentation. If you wish to speak on an item not on the agenda, please wait until Supervisor Marquez calls for public input on non-agendized items. Only matters within the committee's jurisdiction may be addressed. To notify the clerk you wish to speak for in-person participants, please fill out a speaker card and hand it to the clerk, me. For online participants, please use the raise hand function when we are on the item that you wish to comment on. For dialed in participants, please dial star nine to use the raise hand function. You can dial star nine again to lower your hand. The clerk will call your name when it is time for public comment. If you are in person, please come to the podium to speak. If you are online or dialed in, the clerk will call your name and allow you to unmute. That concludes the clerk instructions for public comment. Thank you. Okay, thank you so much. Um, so again, good morning and welcome everyone that's here in person as well as listening online or people that will be viewing the video in the future. Um, we've called this joint health and public protection committee meeting because access to timely cabbie. To timely quality health care at Santa Rita Jail is a fundamental responsibility and value for Alameda County. Today's discussion builds upon our joint committee meetings held on May 16th and September 29th in 2025, where we took a deeper look at the state of the jail's medical care services, quality assurance efforts, and the county's procurement process. Additionally, my office convened a listening session last July, where we heard directly from the community advocates, including those with lived experience with gaps in the care they received at Santa Rita Joe. We're able to share their direct experience with us and the need for greater accountability. Today's agenda items reflect the next phase of this work by bringing together procurement, quality assurance, and transformational system improvements, like the county's over 40 million investment in Epic Electronic Health Record implementation that the Board of Supervisors approved last month. These are not isolated efforts, they are interconnected pieces of a broader strategy to strengthen how care is delivered, monitored, and improved over time. It also reflects the county's commitment to the reimagine adult justice initiative that my office continues to advance in alignment in alignment with the vision set by the late public protection chair, Supervisor Richard Viet, and the Care First Jails Last Framework, also the result of Supervisor by his legacy, as well as the late Supervisor Wilma Chan to ensure that Alameda County public safety systems are grounded in cross agency coordination and accountability to ensure equitable access to care for some of our most vulnerable residents. To the community members and advocates who continue to engage with us, we are here not just to receive updates, but more so to understand how gaps are being addressed by county staff and leadership. This includes articulating how coordination efforts are improving and accountability measures being strengthened. Your engagement remains critical at the at this work because as this work moves forward. At the end of the day, we do this work even when it's hard because the responsibility is greater than administering a contract or managing an operation. It is about ensuring that individuals in the county's custody, many of whom are among the most at risk patients countywide, receive the care and ongoing support required for their acute health care needs and stabilizing them so they can have a chance to successfully return to the community. With that, we will begin with the first item. And this is an informational item.