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Nurses and community advocates urge Board to pause Maternal Child Adolescent Health staffing changes
Summary
Multiple frontline nursing managers and community advocates told the board the Department of Public Health's proposed reassignments and cuts to Maternal Child Adolescent Health (MCAH) risk program continuity and urged the supervisors to pause changes and include stakeholders in planning.
Several frontline health workers and community advocates asked the Board of Supervisors to pause proposed staffing changes in the Department of Public Health’s Maternal Child Adolescent Health (MCAH) programs, saying proposed reassignments would undermine services to vulnerable families.
Mark Leach, representing Teamsters and nurse managers, told the board that DPH had decided to reassign nursing leadership without adequate meet-and-confer and without talking to employees. He said permanent civil-service nursing staff who rose through MCAH programs are now being reassigned to unrelated nursing roles and that the city was treating the change as a budget-driven decision. "We are asking for respect. We are asking each of you for a conversation," Leach said, urging supervisor oversight and a committee hearing.
Several MCAH nurse managers reinforced that message. Meg Buckwalter, who manages two home-visiting teams, said proposed changes had been presented without correct stakeholders and with inaccurate information, and that state budget requirements left unspent funds that could preserve staff. Nurse manager Michelle Salas said the data and narrative about preterm births used to justify cuts were incomplete and wrong; she urged the board to pause and examine the numbers before a vote. "Home visiting is not overhead. It is intervention," Salas said, noting the programs identify postpartum depression, connect families to services and reduce long-term costs.
Why it matters: MCAH programs serve pregnant people, newborns and families that public-health leaders say are highly vulnerable. Staff and managers said removing program leadership threatens continuity and could increase emergency care needs and long-term costs.
What’s next: Speakers asked the board to bring the correct stakeholders into discussions, pause the proposed reassignments, and consider state reporting and funding implications before finalizing changes. The transcript does not show a formal board response or immediate action to pause.
