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St. Louis health department rolls out Summer in the City campaign and expands cooling, testing and outreach
Summary
The St. Louis Department of Health previewed its summer outreach, including a multilingual "Summer in the City" guide, short videos, targeted cooling stations and referrals to Cool Down Saint Louis, while reporting increased HIV testing and expanded TB clinic staffing.
The St. Louis Department of Health on Thursday described its summer public-health outreach, highlighting a renewed "Summer in the City" campaign, new short videos and expanded field services aimed at protecting residents during extreme heat.
"This publication is designed to be handed out at all community-facing organizations...whether they're vulnerable or not, stay safe during the extreme heat," said Erin Ford, public information supervisor, who described printed booklets and PDF versions of the guide available for libraries, federally qualified health centers, churches and other partners.
Shontay Flulan, health services manager, said the department is coordinating cooling-station locations with aldermen and using a city heat map to prioritize placements in hotter neighborhoods and areas of community interest. On distribution of air conditioners through Cool Down Saint Louis, Flulan said the program focuses on seniors, people with disabilities who are homebound, medically needy people and some low-income families; a key eligibility requirement is that there be no working air conditioner in the home.
"The air conditioner distribution is specifically for seniors, people that have disabilities and are homebound, those that are medically needy," Flulan said, adding that referrals can begin at cooldownsaintlouis.org and that the program accepts phone applications for seniors.
Tyler Poslowski, public information officer, said the department has broadened digital outreach by embedding Epi Minute videos, posting campaign materials across platforms and keeping web content current so residents can find heat-safety tips, testing information and other resources.
The department also reported operational gains during the quarter: its TB clinic is fully staffed with a nurse dedicated to latent TB infection (LTBI) and perinatal hepatitis care, and a community health worker has joined the clinic to support outreach and case management. A new partnership to provide HIV testing for people experiencing homelessness led to a 28% increase in testing this quarter, the department said. The Show Me Healthy Women program served 120 women in the first half of 2026, exceeding its annual goal of 50.
The department said it stood up an incident command structure for an early June extreme-heat event and deployed misting stations at large public gatherings, including a marathon and a Cardinals home opener, coordinating with city emergency management and other agencies.
The presentation concluded with an offer to share campaign assets with board members and partner organizations for local distribution. Board members were told to direct questions to the commissioner or to Shontay Flulan for program referrals and further details.
Next steps: campaign materials, video assets and the Summer in the City booklet are available on the health department website and by request; the department will provide a confirmed Cool Down Saint Louis phone contact to board members.
