Los Alamos County Health Council Meeting - February 5, 2026
Los Alamos County Health Council Meeting - February 5, 2026
The meeting, held from 12:00 PM to approximately 1:38 PM, focused on a comprehensive overview of the Social Services Division and the Health Council's roles, funding, and initiatives. New members were introduced, and extensive discussion centered on streamlining meeting structure, establishing working groups, and aligning the work plan with the comprehensive health plan and budget. No formal votes were taken.
Discussion Items
- Social Services and Health Council Overview (Presenter: Jessica Strong): Jessica Strong, Social Services Manager, presented "SSD & LACHC Overview" covering the Social Services Division's org chart, services (health care assistance, case coordination, outreach, contracts), facilities oversight, and the Health Council's mission as an advisory body to the County Council. She detailed funding sources: the NMDOH contract (recently amended to approximately $105,000) and over $800,000 in opioid settlement funds allocated over five years for prevention, treatment, and post-treatment support. She also described regional collaborations (Region One Behavioral Health Initiative) and initiatives such as the comprehensive health plan, suicide prevention training (110 people trained in first six months), harm reduction (Narcan distribution, gun locks, potential vending machines), and a closed-loop software (Unite Us).
- Resource Database and Information Sharing: Members discussed the lack of a centralized community resource database and the challenge of staying informed about county-wide events. Council Liaison Melanee Hand noted that quarterly luncheons allow board chairs and liaisons to share summaries, and suggested the health council could use its work plan to request improved communication.
- Meeting Structure and Working Groups: Multiple members (including Tyler, Jyl, and Barbara) expressed frustration with the current informational meeting format, which left insufficient time for substantive work and decision-making. They advocated for a shift to action-oriented meetings with working groups focused on top priorities from the comprehensive health plan (e.g., housing, suicide prevention, harm reduction). Jessica Strong and Councilor Hand supported the idea, noting that the work plan can be used to propose meeting structure changes (e.g., separate evening speaker series) and that members should bring specific project ideas and working group preferences to the March 2026 meeting.
- Opioid Settlement Fund Usage: Tyler asked if funds could cover long-term medications (e.g., Vivitrol) or transportation to treatment. Jessica Strong explained that anti-donation clauses prevent direct payments to individuals, but the county is exploring contracting with mobile medical providers to bring services to Los Alamos.
- Senior Center Facilities Oversight: A member questioned why Social Services oversees senior center facilities. Jessica Strong explained it is a historical arrangement; the division handles contracts for programs and submits maintenance tickets to public works.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes Approval Deferred: Approval of the January 8, 2026 meeting minutes was postponed to the March 5, 2026 meeting pending corrections regarding a discussion on members' terms.
- Next Steps for March Meeting: Members agreed to come to the March meeting prepared to propose specific action items, working group topics, and suggestions for meeting structure changes. Councilor Hand advised that the work plan should be updated to reflect these desires and will be reviewed by the county council's work plan review committee. The work plan is tied to the budget, so proposed changes must be included.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for March 5, 2026, with an anticipated presentation from Stephanie Gonzalez on aging initiatives, plus continued discussion on working groups and action planning.
Meeting Transcript
In the room of health council members, because we also um Heather is at the roundhouse today. Her daughter is um uh participating on the the house floor for the activities today. So whatever amount you can join us is great. Leah just texted, she actually isn't gonna be able to join us because she's not feeling well. Where I was going with all of this. We will go around and do introductions because February's meetings are always with the new county counselor who has been assigned as liaison. Um I think Joe, you are currently our and Letitia maybe and Joyce. As our longest standing, um, we uh every year for those who are new, um, the county councillors get a one-year appointment to each of the boards and commissions. I think you all cover two, unless you're the chair. Is that right? You cover two boards and commissions. New boards and commissions, and then about eight different other things. Committees, etc. at large. There's a whole list of those. So let's go around and do very brief introductions. We'll start with in the room, then we'll jump to online, we'll let you introduce yourself, and then we flipped the order of the agenda. So we'll do the minutes and the updates at the end. Because we have postponed the social services and health council 101 since November. Um and Lisa was like, we've got to get this information to everyone given that so many folks are new, and um kind of getting a broad, you know, an overview of all of the things is important. So I'll go through my presentation, we'll have time for discussion and questions, and then at the back end of the agenda, we'll do approval of the minutes, um, hearing from our county council liaison, staff update. We don't have a chair update because Lisa isn't here. Um if our vice chair wants to say anything, you're welcome to put an update in. Um so let's just do quick introductions. Jill, can I start with you and we'll work this way? Oh, okay. Uh Jilda Haven, I'm a commercial rule study broker with callers, and I'm the crazy person that's working on the CB Fox rebirth sooner rather than later. So yes. Uh and I'm always been passionate about this group, and I'm really passionate about engaging young people, so that's my not day job. Hi, Smith. Elizabeth Hibanez, I am currently uh lease administrator for LANL, but up until a month ago, I worked for the National Park Service. So this is kind of new for me. And I'm also a new member of the Health Council, so still getting my feet under me and um sat in on some months of meetings before I joined the council and just incredibly impressed with the group and the opportunity to be able to have. Hi, I'm Marna Riedel, and I currently manage the primary care clinic for Christmas St. Vincent here in town. And I recently got nominated for vice chair. Figure out what that entails. You just make it up. I'm Barbara Phelps. I was nominated in October. And uh so I'm relatively new to the committee. I also serve on the Christmas Foundation board and very involved with helping Christus um open a facility here in town. And I'm excited beyond belief of all of the behavioral health and so forth is going on in the bigger region. And that's why I joined this board. It's you came to the listening sessions for the comprehensive health plan over a year ago. Like you've been involved for a while. So before we jump to the health council members online, I'll just go very quickly. I'm Jessica Strong. I am social services manager for the county of Los Alamos. Um and the de facto um staff liaison to the health council.
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