Public Health Commission chair highlights cancer as Alameda County’s top cause, urges closer alignment with supervisors

The Alameda County Health Committee heard an annual update from the Public Health Commission on Monday, with the commission’s chair urging closer alignment with supervisors and the department to address health equity and priority initiatives.

"So my name is Mitzi de la Pena Medina. I am the chair of the Public Health Commission, and I am from District 5," Mitzi de la Pena Medina said, outlining the commission’s mission to advance health equity, build community capacity and recommend policy and systems changes.

The commission described recent bylaw changes that reorganized its work into standing and new committees — a "health equity in all policies" committee, a nominations committee, a steering (leadership) committee and a new strategic initiatives committee to shepherd short-term, ad hoc efforts on topics such as housing, mental health and access to care. The chair said the changes aim to create stronger alignment among the commission, the Alameda County Health Department and the Board of Supervisors.

Vice chair Sally Miss Kelly emphasized the commission’s upcoming focus on social determinants of cancer care, noting that "cancer [is] the top all cause mortality for Alameda County" and describing a recent October event held for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a planned series of community-facing panels. She said partners at City of Hope Research Institute and the American Cancer Society participated in the commission’s pilot SDOH (social determinants of health) campaign.

Commissioners and supervisors discussed operational supports for commissioners, including expanded orientation and training on the Brown Act and Robert’s Rules, centralized staff or county-counsel support, and nonmonetary access supports such as language interpretation, transportation and meeting stipends where appropriate. Commissioners said vacancies in some district and at-large seats remain, and that mentorship and professional development are priorities to help newer commissioners participate effectively.

Supervisors and commission members also raised questions about oversight of Measure A, C and W funds and how results-based accountability (RBA) is applied. The commission’s vice chair said some commissioners are unclear whether RBA is being implemented beyond financial monitoring; county staff clarified that RBA is a countywide framework applied at contract and program level (to measure who benefits and how), while the Measure A/C/W "look-back" function is primarily a finance-focused review to verify that funds were spent in accordance with ordinance or ballot language.

On data needs, commission members urged enhanced district-level data collection and analysis to guide priorities and programs; commissioners noted geographic differences in cancer types and mortality and offered to meet with supervisors to explore collaboration and targeted responses. County staff said a deeper data dive into homicide and other mortality indicators will be presented at a joint health and public protection committee and that the annual mortality and morbidity report provides a fuller breakdown.

Commissioners described how ad hoc strategic groups are expected to do focused research and either produce actionable recommendations for the Board of Supervisors or be sunsetted if duplicative. One ad hoc group, after research, determined it overlapped with existing work and was discontinued.

No public comment was received on the item. The committee thanked the Public Health Commission for the update and requested follow-up meetings to continue collaboration on language access, commissioner training and targeted initiatives.

The Health Committee adjourned with plans to continue oversight and coordination; commissioners invited supervisors’ staff to future meetings to strengthen alignment.