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Record of Proceedings

Ramsey County Board Workshop on Community Health Improvement Plan and Assessment - July 28, 2026

Board of Commissioners & Authorities — Tuesday, July 28, 2026

BodyRamsey County, Minnesota

SessionBoard of Commissioners & Authorities

DateTuesday, July 28, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:27:51

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Yes, I agree.

0:02

Yes, okay.

0:04

I will officially call our afternoon board workshop to order.

0:09

Today's workshop will be a presentation on the community health improvement plan and the community health assessment.

0:16

Again, this is a courtesy reminder that this board workshop for it, and it is live streamed on the Zoom webinar.

0:24

There will be no votes taken during this workshop.

0:27

So with that said, let's do an introduction of the folks at the table and in the audience, and then I will just say a few things while wrapping us for this, or um level setting us and then just handing it over to you all to walk us through.

0:43

So I'm my chang, Ramsey County Commissioner for District Six.

0:48

Yes, Mark Markford, Commissioner District Three.

0:50

Amy Karen, St.

0:51

Paul Ramsey County Public Health Director.

0:54

Patrice Small Planning Manager, St.

0:58

Paul Public Health.

1:00

Bella Green, planning specialist at St.

1:02

Paul Ramsey County Public Health.

1:04

And they're Abdicker County Manager, Health and Wellness Service Team.

1:07

Ren Becker County Manager.

1:09

Green Murray and Commissioner District 4.

1:11

Tara Jevinsing, Commissioner District 1.

1:13

Mary John McGuire, Commissioner District 2.

1:19

Christy Hobbs Planning County Manager's Open.

1:39

Matt Frayman, Government Relations Buddhist.

1:42

I'm also in the Planning Specialist with St.

1:44

Paul's public health.

1:50

I'm a neighboring provider's rates.

2:01

Perfect.

2:04

Did we get everyone?

2:06

Okay.

2:07

And then I just heard a question about the St.

2:09

Paul Ramsey.

2:12

Yes.

2:12

I will let uh director um Amy Karen address that in a bit.

2:17

But just over the last year, St.

2:21

Paul, Ramsey County Public Health has been leading a community health improvement process.

2:27

The results of that process are a new community health assessment and community health improvement plan.

2:33

These are typically five-year plans that all local health departments are required to develop and implement as a part of place statute.

2:40

Development of these plans incorporates the voices and recommendations of community members and partners in Ramsey County.

2:48

And the plans describe how the health department and community will work together to improve the health of the population.

2:54

So today public health staff and leadership will be sharing the priorities that came out of the community health improvement process and the initiatives and projects that will be implemented to improve community health.

3:06

So with that said, I will hand it off to Deputy County Manager Abdid to kick us off and maybe touch on state health.

3:19

Thank you, Chair, Commissioners, Manager Director.

3:24

Good afternoon.

3:25

Thank you for having us today.

3:34

I'll say Ramsey County first.

3:36

Yeah, St.

3:37

Paul.

3:38

But I just wanted to kind of start by saying that the health planning is a core function of public health.

3:45

It helps us identify community health needs, address disparities, and align resources where they can have the greatest impact.

3:53

Ramsey County City of St.

3:55

Paul.

3:57

This work is grounded in community engagement and equity, ensuring our priorities reflect the voices of residents, partners, and staff.

4:04

Today's workshop provides an overview of the community health improvement process, which begins with the community health assessment and results in community health improvements plan that has been established in shared priorities with measurable goals and coordinated action through health help comes across the Ramsey County.

4:23

The roadmap that you see on the slide illustrates that process and highlights where we are today, the completion of the community health improvement plan.

4:33

The plan and the infographics summarizing the community engagement and data collection are included in the uh workshop uh materials that you have been uh provided.

4:44

With that, I will turn it over to Amy and the team who's gonna walk through the community health including process and key findings that inform the plan and also address the name why City of St.

5:00

Paul is before Ramsey County.

5:01

Yeah, right.

5:04

Thank you, Disa.

5:07

So um to um uh commissioners, uh County Manager Becker.

5:12

I um with that question, I'm not sure I'd have to have to look at our joint farmers agreement that we have.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Community Engagement████████████████████████████████████36%

Public Health████████████████████████24%

Public Engagement███████████████████19%

Mental Health Awareness████████████████16%

Fiscal Sustainability██2%

Transportation Safety██2%

Public Safety█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Ramsey County Board Workshop on Community Health Improvement Plan and Assessment - July 28, 2026

This workshop, held on July 28, 2026 (10:15 UTC), featured a presentation by St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health on the Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). No votes were taken. The CHIP identifies four community health priorities: mental health and well-being, health care access, healthy living and chronic conditions, and basic needs (including economic conditions, food access, and housing stability). These were derived from extensive community engagement conducted in September–October 2025.

Discussion Items

Presentation Overview: Public Health Director Amy Karen, Planning Manager Patrice Small, Planning Specialist Bella Green, and others presented the CHA and CHIP process. The CHA is a data compendium covering 13 health topics. The CHIP is a five-year plan developed using the MAP framework (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships). Community engagement included a survey (656 respondents; 179 in-person, 47 online – note: these numbers are inconsistent in the transcript) and 9 community conversations (341 attendees). The top concerns were mental health, healthcare access, basic needs, and healthy living.
Priorities and Strategies: The four priorities are divided into two groups: mental health/well-being and healthcare access will have coordinated action teams; healthy living/chronic conditions and basic needs will focus on relationship building and information sharing with existing collaboratives.
Commissioner Questions and Discussion:
- Commissioners inquired about the department's name (St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health) and the possibility of rebranding to reflect countywide service. County Manager noted this could be revisited when the Joint Powers Agreement is updated.
- Discussion about mandate vs. discretion: Commissioners asked which activities are prescribed by state statute and which are locally determined. Public Health explained the foundational public health responsibilities framework from MDH.
- Concerns about community engagement geography: Commissioners noted that most engagement took place in St. Paul; suggested using suburban libraries and collaboratives for future engagement to capture suburban voices.
- Impact of external events (government shutdown, Operation Metro Surge) on the process: acknowledged that these events influenced community concerns, especially around food access and basic needs.
- Commissioners emphasized the need for internal coordination across county departments and sharing of data to avoid duplication and to leverage the CHA/CHIP as a countywide resource.
- Commissioners questioned the five-year timeline for some objectives; some felt certain actions could be started sooner. Public Health staff clarified that the timeline is a planning horizon but work can begin immediately.
Internal Alignment: County Manager suggested mapping existing county work (e.g., Project Bridge, ADC mental health support) to the CHIP objectives to show alignment and prioritize budget decisions.
Asset Mapping and Data Sharing: Public Health conducted asset mapping with partners. Commissioners encouraged making data accessible internally (e.g., via LMS) and externally to community partners and funders.

Key Outcomes

No votes taken (workshop only).
Next Steps:
- Launch of Community Health Improvement Collaborative on August 17, 2026 (hybrid meeting at the Environmental Center).
- Public Health to share the CHA and CHIP widely, including with city councils, collaboratives, and community organizations.
- County Manager to work with Public Health on a broad roll-out strategy, possibly with a cover letter from county leadership.
- Update the QR code for the collaborative sign-up (current QR code leads to a different form).
- Commissioners requested a follow-up to see how existing county programs align with CHIP objectives.

Meeting Transcript

Yes, I agree. Yes, okay. I will officially call our afternoon board workshop to order. Today's workshop will be a presentation on the community health improvement plan and the community health assessment. Again, this is a courtesy reminder that this board workshop for it, and it is live streamed on the Zoom webinar. There will be no votes taken during this workshop. So with that said, let's do an introduction of the folks at the table and in the audience, and then I will just say a few things while wrapping us for this, or um level setting us and then just handing it over to you all to walk us through. So I'm my chang, Ramsey County Commissioner for District Six. Yes, Mark Markford, Commissioner District Three. Amy Karen, St. Paul Ramsey County Public Health Director. Patrice Small Planning Manager, St. Paul Public Health. Bella Green, planning specialist at St. Paul Ramsey County Public Health. And they're Abdicker County Manager, Health and Wellness Service Team. Ren Becker County Manager. Green Murray and Commissioner District 4. Tara Jevinsing, Commissioner District 1. Mary John McGuire, Commissioner District 2. Christy Hobbs Planning County Manager's Open. Matt Frayman, Government Relations Buddhist. I'm also in the Planning Specialist with St. Paul's public health. I'm a neighboring provider's rates. Perfect. Did we get everyone? Okay. And then I just heard a question about the St. Paul Ramsey. Yes. I will let uh director um Amy Karen address that in a bit. But just over the last year, St. Paul, Ramsey County Public Health has been leading a community health improvement process. The results of that process are a new community health assessment and community health improvement plan. These are typically five-year plans that all local health departments are required to develop and implement as a part of place statute. Development of these plans incorporates the voices and recommendations of community members and partners in Ramsey County. And the plans describe how the health department and community will work together to improve the health of the population. So today public health staff and leadership will be sharing the priorities that came out of the community health improvement process and the initiatives and projects that will be implemented to improve community health. So with that said, I will hand it off to Deputy County Manager Abdid to kick us off and maybe touch on state health. Thank you, Chair, Commissioners, Manager Director. Good afternoon. Thank you for having us today. I'll say Ramsey County first. Yeah, St. Paul. But I just wanted to kind of start by saying that the health planning is a core function of public health. It helps us identify community health needs, address disparities, and align resources where they can have the greatest impact. Ramsey County City of St. Paul.

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