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Record of Proceedings

Denver City Council Health and Safety Committee Meeting - November 4, 2026

Council Committees — Wednesday, November 4, 2026
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateWednesday, November 4, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

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.

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

0:22

Energy feels a little down, is because there was a lot of people staying up beyond their bed times last night watching television.

0:28

So congratulations to all the candidates.

0:31

Uh that one across the state and looking forward to working with folks as a city council with any of the new folks that are coming in.

0:39

My name is Daryl Watson.

0:40

I'm honored to serve as the chair of the Health and Safety Committee.

0:42

I'm also honored to serve all the residents of Define District 9.

0:46

We have one Action Pack Action on the agenda this morning, 26, 1622, the Denver Health Operating Agreement.

0:54

But before we jump into that, why don't we have council introductions?

0:57

Start on the right.

Speaker 3

1:05

Thank you very much.

1:09

The birthday boy.

1:12

Representing South Denver District.

1:15

That's awesome.

Speaker 4

1:16

Good morning, Serena Gonzalez Gutierrez at large.

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

1:20

All right, one mic check for anyone that's online.

Unassigned speaker

1:25

I'm

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

1:25

hearing footsteps, but not seeing anyone online.

1:28

So we'll pause, we'll pause, we'll pause.

Speaker 5

1:31

I know.

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

1:32

We have lots of stuff we're talking about.

1:34

And whoa!

Speaker 6

1:35

We

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

1:35

have another council member.

Unassigned speaker

1:36

No, it's it all out.

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

1:37

We're just doing introductions, uh president.

Speaker 7

1:41

Hi, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4.

Daryl Watson · Speaker 2Inferred

1:45

And with that, we'll kick it over to our team for the um uh presentation of the Denver Health Operating Agreement.

1:52

Please introduce yourselves.

1:53

And if there are folks that you want to introduce before you kick off the um the presentation, please do so.

1:58

Floor is yours.

Speaker 8

1:59

Thank you so much.

2:00

Uh Megan Freezo, I'm with the Department of Public Health and Environment.

2:03

Um, and uh back for uh annual operating agreement with Denver Health.

2:09

Uh thank you all for having us on this day when there was a lot of late nights last night.

2:14

Happy birthday, Councilman Cashman.

2:16

Um appreciate the time on the agenda today.

2:19

I'll hand it over to Donna and

Speaker 7

2:21

there.

2:21

I'm

Speaker 8

2:22

Donna Lynn, the CEO of Denver Health.

2:24

Good to see everybody.

2:25

Great.

2:26

We have lots of folks in the audience here uh to help us out if we need to phone a friend today.

2:31

So thank you all for being here.

2:32

Um as you all know, the operating agreement is a really big agreement across many, many agencies in the city.

2:38

Takes a whole kind of uh sea of folks to uh achieve it every year.

2:44

So thanks to everyone here and online um and in the background that's helped us get her today.

2:49

All right.

2:49

Um quick uh agenda.

2:52

We'll talk a little bit about the background, the negotiating schedule, and the structure of the agreement.

2:56

A lot of this is stuff you all have seen in previous years, or we did uh several pre-briefings before today, so many of you have seen this.

3:05

Uh we'll talk about the changes to the 2027 contract language, uh, talk about the budget uh changes and implications for 2027, just briefly touch on reporting and have sounds like plenty of time for questions today.

3:19

All right, as you all know um and recall, the operating agreement uh dates way back into the late 90s.

3:28

Um, and uh you all have heard this uh for several years now, but in 1996-97 time frame.

3:34

Um the Denver Health and Hospital Authority was created by state statute and uh was the former Denver General Hospital.

3:44

Uh the operating agreement was created back in the late 90s and has uh is still stands today in relation to that.

3:51

It has shifted and changed it over changed over the years.

3:54

Um and 2018 was the last time the entirety of the base agreement.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Health Policy█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Public Safety████████████████████25%
Public Transportation██████7%
Procedural█████6%
Pending Litigation█████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Denver City Council Health and Safety Committee Meeting - November 4, 2026

The Health and Safety Committee of the Denver City Council met on November 4, 2026, at 10:30 AM (Mountain Time) in Room 391 of the City & County Building. Chair Darrell Watson presided with six members present (Flynn, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Torres, Watson, Romero Campbell, Kashmann) and Vice Chair Amanda Sandoval absent. The primary action item was the approval of the annual Denver Health and Hospital Authority operating agreement (Bill 26-1622) for $48,796,698. The meeting included a detailed presentation, extensive discussion of budgetary challenges, and a consent calendar item.

Consent Calendar

  • 26-1653: Amends a contract with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, Inc., adding $60,000 for a new total of $985,500 and extending the end date to December 31, 2026, for out-of-school time programs citywide. Approved by consent (no roll call).

Discussion Items

  • Denver Health Operating Agreement (26-1622): Meggan Parezo (DDPHE) and Donna Lynne (CEO, Denver Health) presented the 2027 agreement. Key points:
    • Total proposed budget: $48,796,698 for 12 months, ending December 31, 2027. This is down from ~$70 million in prior years because the jail medical services contract (~$25-26 million) was removed as a separate contract.
    • The agreement includes 33 service sections (7 core, 13 non-core, 12 city-provided services). Three sections were removed: Rocky Mountain Poison Drug Center and Treatment on Demand (funding eliminated due to city budget cuts; services continue via state/grant funding) and jail medical (separated).
    • Language changes in three sections: MI payment/patient care (metric updates), EMS (Denver Dynamic Response Model pilot), and airport EMS (additional coverage). Minor changes to Public Health Clinical Services.
    • Denver CARES is funded at $1 for 2027, maintaining a position but effectively unfunded. The city and Denver Health agreed to a $2+ million package including $1.2 million in operating agreement expansions and $1.4 million from CASER (capital funds) for energy system modifications, intended to offset Denver Health's internal costs. Ongoing data analysis will inform 2028 decisions.
    • Budget expansions: $336,000 restoration for EMS service patrol (to 78% of full funding), full restoration for Southwest Clinic, $35,000 for sexual assault nurse examiners, 2% merit increase, and expansions for DEN paramedics and Inglewood EMS.
    • HR1 (federal Medicaid cuts): Denver Health estimated loss of up to 20,000 Medicaid patients and $65 million in impact over time. Already, 3,200 legal immigrants lost coverage on October 1, 2026. Work requirements (80 hours/month) and twice-yearly recertification begin January 1, 2027.
    • DERP (Denver Employee Retirement Plan) lawsuit: Denver Health has an unfunded liability; DERP filed suit over interpretation of payment agreement. Denver Health offered mediation; DERP declined. Councilmember Flynn expressed concern about cross-subsidization, but Lynne clarified liabilities are separate and noted 1,000+ Denver Health employees earn minimum wage.
  • Councilmember Positions:
    • Councilmember Flynn: Expressed appreciation for Denver Health services and leadership, but acknowledged budget constraints. Inquired about DERP lawsuit.
    • Councilmember Torres: Asked about data reporting frequency and possibility of a multi-year operating agreement. Noted need for better understanding of Denver CARES value.
    • Councilmember Kashmann: Strongly advocated for fully funding Denver CARES and STAR program, arguing underfunding leads to higher costs elsewhere (police handling eligible calls). Called the current approach "insane."
    • Council President Romero Campbell: Stressed the human and financial costs of not funding Denver CARES, asked for a timeline for resolving Denver CARES funding. Lynne set a goal of 5 months (by April 2027) to have a plan ready for 2028 negotiations.
    • Councilmember Gonzales-Gutierrez: Emphasized need for data on Denver CARES usage and alignment with community health assessment. Also raised concerns about Denver Health staff working conditions and dignity.
    • Pro Tem Torres: Thanked staff for data improvements, noted Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) celebration on Friday, and asked about Denver Health's involvement—confirmed two representatives on steering committee.

Key Outcomes

  • Bill 26-1622 (Denver Health Operating Agreement) was approved for filing by a vote of 6-0 (Aye: Flynn, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Torres, Watson, Romero Campbell, Kashmann; Nay: 0; Absent: Sandoval). The motion was made by Councilmember Flynn and seconded by Council President Romero Campbell.
  • Consent item 26-1653 (Boys & Girls Clubs contract) was approved by consent.
  • Next steps: The operating agreement will proceed to full City Council. Denver Health and DDPHE will continue working on Denver CARES data analysis and funding strategy for 2028, with a target to finalize a plan within five months.

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. Energy feels a little down, is because there was a lot of people staying up beyond their bed times last night watching television. So congratulations to all the candidates. Uh that one across the state and looking forward to working with folks as a city council with any of the new folks that are coming in. My name is Daryl Watson. I'm honored to serve as the chair of the Health and Safety Committee. I'm also honored to serve all the residents of Define District 9. We have one Action Pack Action on the agenda this morning, 26, 1622, the Denver Health Operating Agreement. But before we jump into that, why don't we have council introductions? Start on the right. Thank you very much. The birthday boy. Representing South Denver District. That's awesome. Good morning, Serena Gonzalez Gutierrez at large. All right, one mic check for anyone that's online. I'm hearing footsteps, but not seeing anyone online. So we'll pause, we'll pause, we'll pause. I know. We have lots of stuff we're talking about. And whoa! We have another council member. No, it's it all out. We're just doing introductions, uh president. Hi, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. And with that, we'll kick it over to our team for the um uh presentation of the Denver Health Operating Agreement. Please introduce yourselves. And if there are folks that you want to introduce before you kick off the um the presentation, please do so. Floor is yours. Thank you so much. Uh Megan Freezo, I'm with the Department of Public Health and Environment. Um, and uh back for uh annual operating agreement with Denver Health. Uh thank you all for having us on this day when there was a lot of late nights last night. Happy birthday, Councilman Cashman. Um appreciate the time on the agenda today. I'll hand it over to Donna and there. I'm Donna Lynn, the CEO of Denver Health. Good to see everybody. Great. We have lots of folks in the audience here uh to help us out if we need to phone a friend today. So thank you all for being here. Um as you all know, the operating agreement is a really big agreement across many, many agencies in the city. Takes a whole kind of uh sea of folks to uh achieve it every year. So thanks to everyone here and online um and in the background that's helped us get her today. All right.

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