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Health Commission reviews 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, will vote on supporting resolution May 21
Summary
The San Francisco Health Commission heard a detailed presentation of the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), which highlights stark racial disparities in premature death and identifies homelessness, trauma, behavioral health and food insecurity as top priorities. Commissioners asked staff to incorporate social determinants and implementation steps into the resolution to be voted May 21.
The San Francisco Health Commission heard a comprehensive presentation of the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment and will consider a resolution supporting the CHNA at its May 21 meeting.
Dr. Tomas Aragon, director of the Population Health Division and San Francisco’s health officer, introduced the assessment as a citywide, community-driven product developed with the San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership (SFHIP). "The report really, really connects the dots with a focus on racial equity and poverty," he said.
Epidemiologist Michelle Kean led the data presentation, noting the CHNA incorporates more than 170 data elements on disease, death and social determinants. She outlined the leading causes of death — principally cardiovascular disease and cancer — but said years of life lost and premature mortality reveal sharper disparities: "On average, Asians in San Francisco expect to live the longest at 87, while Black/African American and Pacific Islanders live 11 to 15 years less," Kean said. The CHNA also flags substance use, youth binge drinking and widespread mental-health needs concentrated in neighborhoods such as the Tenderloin and SoMa.
Commissioners pressed staff to make the CHNA’s next step — the implementation plan — explicit. Commissioner comments repeatedly asked that social determinants be integrated into strategies rather than treated as separate issues. Former Commissioner Grama Guy urged the department to fold incarceration, housing instability and other upstream drivers into the implementation plan so the next three-year assessment does not repeat the same priorities without measurable action.
Aragon and Kean identified possible near-term investments, including evidence-based nurse-family partnership programs and targeted food-security efforts for pregnant people. They also acknowledged a missing "asset assessment" that would better map current city and community programs and support an actionable strategic plan.
Commissioners requested edits to the draft resolution that will accompany the CHNA, including language changes and incorporation of today’s comments; staff agreed to circulate a revised version for the May 21 vote.
What happens next: The Commission will consider formal adoption of the resolution supporting the CHNA at the May 21 meeting; staff said an implementation plan and further written materials will follow.
