San Antonio Community Health Committee Meeting, April 7, 2026
San Antonio Community Health Committee Meeting, April 7, 2026
The Community Health Committee of the San Antonio City Council met on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 10:02 AM. The meeting included public comments, a presentation on the Healthy Bexar Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), an update on trauma-informed care, and a report on immigrant demographic and economic contributions. The meeting adjourned at 11:39 AM.
Consent Calendar
- The committee approved the minutes of the previous meeting unanimously with no corrections.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Frederick Courtois (Executive Director, San Antonio Nexus Connection) expressed full support for the Fast Track Cities Initiative and the city's investment in community health first responders through microgrants. He emphasized the need for continued data collection and policy improvements to sustain community health infrastructure.
- Jack Finger expressed opposition to immigration in San Antonio, citing statistics: immigrants accounted for 21% of metro population growth from 2018-2023, 90% of asylum seekers fail to appear for hearings, and 23% of Bexar County jail inmates are undocumented. He argued that immigrants burden hospitals and schools without paying their fair share.
- Mary Fisk (CEO, Ecumenical Center) expressed gratitude for the partnership with the city on trauma-informed care certification, noting the center developed three levels of certification and interest from other cities.
- Elizabeth Lutz and Dr. Ursalazar (Bexar County Health Collaborative) provided written comments on the community health needs assessment and improvement plan, emphasizing cross-sector partnerships and shared stewardship.
Discussion Items
- Healthy Bexar Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP): Dr. Claude Jacob (Metro Health director) and Dr. Wu presented the CHIP, a community-centered roadmap for health improvement with four priority areas: behavioral health, food insecurity, housing stability, and prenatal care. Metrics include reducing food insecurity and increasing prenatal care. The plan is updated every three to six years, with the next release in 2029. A dashboard will be available by fall 2026 to track progress. Councilmembers discussed the importance of driving to metrics, leveraging city funds strategically, and the need for long-term trends. Dr. Jacob noted that the Center for Policy and Health Improvement coordinates cross-sector efforts with funding from opioid settlement dollars, the health collaborative, and Medicaid 1115 waiver.
- Trauma-Informed Care Update: Jesse Higgins (Chief Mental Health Officer, Metro Health) presented on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) data for Bexar County: one in five adults experienced sexual abuse as a child, and one in three experienced three or more ACEs. The trauma-informed care certification program, developed with the Ecumenical Center, has certified six city departments (including police and fire, the first in the country for their fields) with 14 departments in the pipeline. Principles include safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment. Councilmembers discussed the need to compare ACEs data with peer counties and explore best practices, as well as measuring satisfaction and retention.
- Impact of Immigrants on San Antonio’s Growth and Economy: Dr. Jennifer Matha (Director, Compliance Opportunity and Access) and Chelsea Kramer (American Immigration Council) presented data from the 2023 American Community Survey. Key findings: 344,000 immigrants (12.7% of metro population) contributed 21.6% of population growth, generated $12.6 billion in income, $9.6 billion in spending power, and nearly $3 billion in taxes. Immigrants are 78.2% working age, overrepresented in construction, manufacturing, hospitality, and professional services, and 72.5% more likely to be entrepreneurs. Over 60% own homes. Refugees from Afghanistan (64%) and other countries arrived between 2021-2024. Councilmembers discussed the economic contributions and the need for an immigrant inclusion plan to address barriers to services.
Key Outcomes
- The committee received the presentations and reports without formal votes. Metro Health will release an annual CHIP report by end of April 2026 and a public dashboard by fall 2026.
- The Office of Compliance Opportunity and Access will continue developing an immigrant inclusion plan using the report data.
- The committee directed staff to explore comparative ACEs data with peer counties and best practices for reducing adverse childhood experiences.
- No further action was taken on items discussed.
Meeting Transcript
All right. The time is now 10.02 a.m. on this Tuesday, uh, April 7, 2026, and the community health committee will now be called to order. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Castillo. Councilmember Aldarete Gavito. Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez. Councilmember White. Chair Galban. Sir, we have a quorum. Thank you so much. Uh, first things first. Uh, any corrections to the minutes? If not, can I get motion to approve? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Moving along. All right. Heading to public comment. We have three folks stand up to speak. Um, number first one, we'll have three minutes with all three minutes. Um, we have first up Frederick uh Kurtois. Apologies I mispronounce your name. Thank you. Morning. Yep. Good morning. My name is uh Frederick Courtois. I'm the executive director for uh San Antonio Nexus Connection. Our mission is to promote, develop, and pilot sustainable street outreach modalities in substance use and community health in general. I am a social worker here in San Antonio with over 20 years of experience in outreach here in San Antonio abroad and in Mexico. I am here today because our work in HIV prevention and substance use has been shaped for seven years by San Antonio's commitment to the Fast Track Cities Initiative. That commitment is more necessary now than ever. San Antonio was the first city in Texas to join, and it decided then to lead the state in that effort. I've had the honor of presenting some of San Antonio's work at three Fast Track Cities International Conferences. Over the past few years, Metro Health has done something quite remarkable through small grants and sustained relationship building. It has grown a network of what I see as community health first responders across this city. Um before the crisis becomes a 911 call, who build the kind of trust that clinics cannot manufacture in the midst of a crisis. That network is real. It exists because COSA chose to invest in it through microgrants that seemed overtly ambitious at the time. San Antonio Nexus Connection was among those recipients, and it is at a point of and it is a point of pride that Sansi never interrupted its services throughout the COVID-19 epidemic. That network is now aligned with the community health improvement plan and its behavioral health priorities, setting the foundation for a larger vision. There is no community health improvement plan without first revisiting the policies that improve or prevent health. At present, with federal public health infrastructure under pressure, that insight has become the argument for why San Antonio cannot wait for anyone else to lead. Together, we have started developing a way to collect more precise data, democratize it so it serves the people who generate it, and build the professional infrastructure this workforce has never had. So San Antonio emerges as a model for communities seeking to improve health among the most invisible of its residents. At a time I have 15 seconds to go. At a time of political and funding vacuum.
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