OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Health and Safety Committee 2025-11-05: Denver Health Operating Agreement & 2Q Update

Council CommitteesWednesday, November 5, 2025
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateWednesday, November 5, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:19:24
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council.

0:09

Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now.

0:18

Good morning.

0:19

This is the uh 11-5 health and safety committee meeting.

0:22

My name is Daryl Watson.

0:23

I'm honored to serve all of the residents of the fine district nine, and I'm also honored to be the committee chair for this health and safety committee.

0:30

We have one action item uh this morning.

0:33

It's the Denver Health Operating Agreement with the City and County of Denver.

0:37

And before we roll into the presentation, uh why don't we do introductions around the table?

0:42

First, let's let me check to see if anyone's online.

0:45

No virtual participation.

0:46

So we'll start on all right.

0:48

Thank you.

0:49

Kevin Flame, Southwest Denver's district two.

0:52

Amanda Sawyer, District 5.

0:54

Good morning, Sadana Gonzalez, one of your council members at large.

0:58

Uh good morning, Paul Cashman.

1:00

Denver District 6.

1:02

Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3.

1:05

We look forward every year for Megan's and Donna's uh presentation on the operating agreement.

1:10

So we'll turn it over to Megan Parrizzo and Donna Lynn, CEO of Denver Health, for your introductions and to take charge of the presentation.

1:19

Great.

1:19

Thank you all.

1:20

Uh my name is Megan Prezzo.

1:22

I'm with the Department of Public Health and Environment.

1:24

We are the holder of the operating agreement contract with Denver Health, and very happy to be here.

1:29

Thank you all for having us back every year.

1:32

And I'm Donna Lynn, the CEO of Denver Health.

1:34

Happy to be working jointly with DDPHE and many of the other city agencies that provide services to Denver Health and back.

1:44

And I think we're also going to be talking a little bit about 2Q at your request to get into more specificity around how Denver Health is spending that money in calendar 2025.

1:55

And a little bit of a preview of next year.

1:59

All right.

2:00

Thank you so much.

2:01

I would be remiss if I didn't thank all the folks in this room, and beyond our partners at Denver Health, Donna and team, lots of uh hard work goes into this every year, and our other uh departments across the city and within DDPHE that work so hard to get this agreement in place.

2:17

It's a heavy lift every year, and so very much appreciate all the work that goes into it, including our partners in City Attorney's Office and Finance and otherwise.

2:25

So thank you all for having us.

2:27

This will look relatively familiar as similar years.

2:30

Um we've added a few details but generally the same presentation as you all are familiar with.

2:37

Uh we've already handled introductions, obviously.

2:40

Uh, we will do an overview of the operating agreement, uh, talk about a few high high-level kind of understanding of the structure of it, talk about the changes.

2:48

There are very few, but kind of the nuanced uh changes of the uh language this year, uh, talk about the budget for 2026, um, and answer any questions you all have.

2:59

So uh I believe you all received a copy of the agreement ahead of time this year.

3:03

We worked hard to make sure that happened.

3:04

I know that hasn't always happened in previous years, so I want to make sure, and I see some head nods, so that's great.

3:09

Okay, jumping in.

3:12

Um, this is a new slide this year because with the addition of 2Q and sort of the complexity of the Denver Health landscape across the city, we thought it would be helpful to sort of give a little bit of lay of the land about Denver Health Funds within DDPHE.

3:26

This isn't the entirety of the operating agreement or across the whole city, but for the 2025 uh DDPG budget, we thought it would just be helpful to let you all know the green slivers here are what DDPHE has in place with Denver Health.

3:40

The sort of light green towards the top up here is the operating agreement portion that is DDPHE specific.

3:47

So that's $38 million out of the entirety of the operating agreement.

3:51

This larger dark green sliver is the 2Q sales tax, which was originally estimated.

3:57

Well, not originally, it's been estimated at various numbers, but 64 is generally 64 million is generally where we're estimating today.

4:05

And then this thinner light green sliver, um, we have several other sometimes dozens, depending on the day, week, month, or year of contracts with Denver Health for various services, as you might imagine.

4:17

And uh there's a list of folks of uh other services here, and so that totals roughly five million on any given day that goes up or down depending on kind of the services, depending on our grant funding and and the work we're doing with Denver Health.

4:30

But just wanted to give a lay of the land because I think it's getting more complex over time, and wanted everyone to see that.

4:36

Uh, this is also in relation to DDPHE's operating agreement or operating funds.

4:40

So, this blue slice here is everything that DDPHE uses to operate our work.

4:46

Um, and then these peach color other kind of pass-through sales tax revenue caring for Denver and Healthy Foods.

4:51

So, thought that was uh helpful mostly in relation to 2Q and how that fits into DDPHE's budget.

4:58

Okay.

4:58

Specific to the operating agreement, you all have seen and heard this uh multiple times, but um way back in 1997, um the under uh state statute uh the hospital separated from the city and county of Denver, which was the original kind of intention uh behind developing an operating agreement with Denver Health and an agreement to talk about the services that the hospital provided to residents of the city and county of Denver.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Fiscal Sustainability██████████████████████████████30%
Public Health Policy█████████████████████████████29%
Contracts And Procurement█████████████████17%
Technology and Innovation███████7%
Procedural██████6%
Personnel Matters█████5%
Mental Health Awareness███3%
Public Safety1%
Workforce Development1%
Summary of Proceedings

Health and Safety Committee Meeting – November 5, 2025

The Health and Safety Committee of Denver City Council met on November 5, 2025, to consider the annual Denver Health Operating Agreement with the City and County of Denver for 2026 and to receive an update on Denver Health's spending from the 2Q sales tax. Chair Daryl Watson (District 9) presided. Council members present included Kevin Flynn, Amanda Sawyer, Paul Cashman, Jamie Torres, and At-Large member Seraphin Gonzalez. Council President Pro Tem Jamie Romero Campbell participated online. The operating agreement was the only action item; the committee voted to advance it to the full council.

Consent Calendar

  • Nine consent items were listed; none were pulled, and they were approved unanimously without discussion.

Discussion Items

  • Denver Health Operating Agreement (2026): Megan Parrizzo from the Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) and Donna Lynn, CEO of Denver Health, presented the annual operating agreement. Key points included:
    • The 2026 budgeted amount is $69 million, down from $74 million in 2025, reflecting a $5 million reduction requested by the city as part of broader budget cuts.
    • Denver Health agreed to maintain all services without reductions in 2026 by absorbing the $5 million cut internally, but stated this is a one‑year measure and cannot be sustained in 2027.
    • Budget cuts affected seven service areas: Emergency Services Patrol ($558,000 reduction), Denver CARES (cut to $1, signaling intent to fund in 2027), Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center (fully cut), Treatment on Demand (fully cut), Southwest Clinic (Penya Clinic) capital support ($250,000 cut), and removal of a line item for jail medical services (non‑budget cleanup). The Park Hill Clinic capital loan repayment ends in 2025.
    • The $30.8 million medically indigent (MI) payment remained unchanged.
    • Council members expressed strong concern about cuts to addiction recovery and Denver CARES, and stressed the need to restore funding in 2027. Several members noted the city's overall budget stress and urged the mayor's office to avoid pressuring community partners.
    • Donna Lynn highlighted upcoming financial pressures: no increase in Medicaid proposed by the governor, potential federal subsidy cuts leading to 10 million uninsured nationally, and federal legislation (HR 1) that could cut Medicaid further. She warned of a “crisis looming” in 2027.
  • 2Q Sales Tax Spending Update: Donna Lynn and Stephanie Seiner presented how Denver Health is using the 2Q sales tax revenue (estimated at $64 million in 2025) across five mandated categories: emergency/trauma care, primary care, pediatric care, mental health, and substance use. Examples include:
    • Investing in surgical robots and a hybrid operating room.
    • Expanding radiology services to the Lowry and West Side clinics.
    • Adding a pediatric neurology nurse practitioner to reduce wait times.
    • Opening 12 new inpatient medical–psychiatric beds (IMAP) and expanding school‑based clinics, including a future clinic at the Sandoval campus.
    • Spending approximately $14 million on mental health services.
    • Council members asked about the reconciliation process if sales tax collections fall short; staff indicated a true‑up invoice system similar to the Caring for Denver fund. Council also discussed the need for transparent annual reporting on 2Q expenditures.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote on Operating Agreement: A motion to approve the Denver Health Operating Agreement was made by Councilwoman Sawyer, seconded by Councilman Flynn, and passed committee unanimously. The agreement will proceed to the full City Council for final approval.
  • Directives and Next Steps:
    • The committee requested an interim update on the status of budget negotiations for the 2027 operating agreement, to be coordinated through the council president's office.
    • Council members emphasized that the $5 million reduction is viewed as a one‑time measure and that they expect restoration of funding in 2027.
    • Denver Health committed to maintaining all services despite the cut and to continue discussions with the city about malpractice costs and indirect support for jail health care.
    • A formal report on 2Q expenditures will be provided to council and made publicly available, with input from a third‑party consultant.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council. Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now. Good morning. This is the uh 11-5 health and safety committee meeting. My name is Daryl Watson. I'm honored to serve all of the residents of the fine district nine, and I'm also honored to be the committee chair for this health and safety committee. We have one action item uh this morning. It's the Denver Health Operating Agreement with the City and County of Denver. And before we roll into the presentation, uh why don't we do introductions around the table? First, let's let me check to see if anyone's online. No virtual participation. So we'll start on all right. Thank you. Kevin Flame, Southwest Denver's district two. Amanda Sawyer, District 5. Good morning, Sadana Gonzalez, one of your council members at large. Uh good morning, Paul Cashman. Denver District 6. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. We look forward every year for Megan's and Donna's uh presentation on the operating agreement. So we'll turn it over to Megan Parrizzo and Donna Lynn, CEO of Denver Health, for your introductions and to take charge of the presentation. Great. Thank you all. Uh my name is Megan Prezzo. I'm with the Department of Public Health and Environment. We are the holder of the operating agreement contract with Denver Health, and very happy to be here. Thank you all for having us back every year. And I'm Donna Lynn, the CEO of Denver Health. Happy to be working jointly with DDPHE and many of the other city agencies that provide services to Denver Health and back. And I think we're also going to be talking a little bit about 2Q at your request to get into more specificity around how Denver Health is spending that money in calendar 2025. And a little bit of a preview of next year. All right. Thank you so much. I would be remiss if I didn't thank all the folks in this room, and beyond our partners at Denver Health, Donna and team, lots of uh hard work goes into this every year, and our other uh departments across the city and within DDPHE that work so hard to get this agreement in place. It's a heavy lift every year, and so very much appreciate all the work that goes into it, including our partners in City Attorney's Office and Finance and otherwise. So thank you all for having us. This will look relatively familiar as similar years. Um we've added a few details but generally the same presentation as you all are familiar with. Uh we've already handled introductions, obviously. Uh, we will do an overview of the operating agreement, uh, talk about a few high high-level kind of understanding of the structure of it, talk about the changes. There are very few, but kind of the nuanced uh changes of the uh language this year, uh, talk about the budget for 2026, um, and answer any questions you all have. So uh I believe you all received a copy of the agreement ahead of time this year. We worked hard to make sure that happened. I know that hasn't always happened in previous years, so I want to make sure, and I see some head nods, so that's great. Okay, jumping in. Um, this is a new slide this year because with the addition of 2Q and sort of the complexity of the Denver Health landscape across the city, we thought it would be helpful to sort of give a little bit of lay of the land about Denver Health Funds within DDPHE. This isn't the entirety of the operating agreement or across the whole city, but for the 2025 uh DDPG budget, we thought it would just be helpful to let you all know the green slivers here are what DDPHE has in place with Denver Health. The sort of light green towards the top up here is the operating agreement portion that is DDPHE specific. So that's $38 million out of the entirety of the operating agreement. This larger dark green sliver is the 2Q sales tax, which was originally estimated.

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