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Health department backs newborn home visits and opioid pregnancy measures, raises concerns about texting program and hospital signage authority
Summary
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene told the City Council it supports the intent of bills to expand newborn home visiting and to address opioid use disorder in pregnancy, but warned an automated texting program for child health reminders could be harmful if it replaces individualized care and noted workforce limits for scaling services.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene told the City Council Committee on Health that it supports the intent of multiple bills aimed at maternal and child health — including Intro. 1146 to expand newborn home visiting, and Intro. 1284 on safe pregnancy and opioid treatment — while expressing concerns about execution, authority and workforce capacity.
Council Member Julie Gutierrez and Council Member Selvena Brooks‑Powers opened the hearing with proposals to create an automated text‑messaging system for parenting reminders (Intro. 1001) and to scale newborn home visiting to reach 75 percent of neighborhoods designated by the task force on racial inclusion and equity within three years, and 100 percent within five years (Intro. 1146).
Dr. Zahira McNatt, DOHMH deputy commissioner for the Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness, said the department supports the goals of the bills but cautioned that an automated texting program delivering developmental and vaccination guidance could cause unintended stress if the messages are not tailored to each child’s medical home. "Developmental health information should come from the child's medical home, their pediatrician," she told the committee, and DOHMH recommended partnering with clinicians and other agencies rather than having the department operate a generalized automated messaging system.
On newborn home visiting, DOHMH said the program already covers more than 75 percent of the neighborhoods targeted by the bill and that the department’s long‑term aim is full coverage; however, officials cited workforce constraints, including roughly 59 vacancies for home visitors and shortages of staff fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, as barriers to rapid expansion.
Regarding opioid‑related measures, DOHMH said it supports education for providers on treating opioid use disorder during and after pregnancy, and noted naloxone (an opioid reversal medication) is already available at neighborhood health centers. The department highlighted a December 2024 Health Advisory Network letter warning clinicians that opioid overdose had become a leading cause of pregnancy‑associated death in New York City and said it is working with hospitals and state partners on guidance and care coordination.
DOHMH also commented on bills addressing transgender patients: it supports the intent of Intro. 628 (hospital signage about transgender rights and services) and Intro. 629 (a report on hospital training) but told the committee that New York City hospitals are regulated by the New York State Department of Health, and the city health department does not have authority to require hospitals to post signage or compel training disclosures.
Committee members pressed DOHMH on specifics — from how the newborn home visiting program measures outcomes to what would be required to staff rapid expansion — and agency officials pledged to continue working with council staff and community partners to address the operational questions raised in testimony.
