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St. Louis Department of Health outlines summer heat response, expanded outreach and testing gains
Summary
The Department of Health told the board that an early June heat event prompted a health incident command and deployment of cooling resources; outreach testing rose 28% after a new partnership, the TB clinic was restaffed, and the department launched a Narcan tracker and other linkage-to-care tools.
The St. Louis Department of Health reported on second-quarter operations to the Board of Health and Hospitals, describing an early extreme-heat response, expanded outreach testing, and operational changes across clinical and inspection services.
Commissioner Ewari said the department "stood up our health incident command" in June after heat indices topped 100 degrees and deployed misting stations at large events, including FIFA practice rounds and a Cardinals home game, to provide timely information and on-site cooling for residents. "We worked alongside several departments including city emergency management and the department of human services," Ewari said.
The department told the board it has increased community testing for HIV, STIs and TB through outreach events and a new partnership with a statewide network. "You can see that our testing numbers have increased by 28 percent this quarter because of this partnership," Ewari said, noting that the outreach effort included targeted services for people experiencing homelessness and linkage-to-care work.
Ewari reported the tuberculosis clinic is now fully staffed with a nurse focused on latent TB infection and perinatal TB care and a community health worker assigned to outreach and clinical support. The board also heard that the Show Me Healthy Women program served 120 women in the first half of 2026, exceeding its stated annual goal of 50 and that those participants are being case-managed.
On behavioral health, the department has prioritized outreach to people experiencing homelessness and implemented a new tracker for Narcan distribution and linkage-to-care outcomes that will feed into mayoral city-stat reporting. "This tool will help us continue to track our metrics for Narcan use and outcomes," Ewari said.
Operationally, the food-and-beverage inspection team completed 600 temporary-vendor inspections in the quarter but reported a decline in on-time completion rates to 79% from 97% in the first quarter. Ewari attributed the decline to a long-standing inspector's retirement and field connectivity problems and said IT is addressing the issues.
Board members asked about recent cyclospora cases tied to fresh produce; Shontay Flulan, the department's health services manager, said the department is "working closely with St. Louis County, as well as the state to monitor and to investigate these cases" and will share confirmed information when available.
The department emphasized that many of its outreach assets are available for partner use, including a summer-in-the-city booklet, videos and web content, and asked board members to share materials with local organizations.
The board took no policy votes tied to the report; it received the update and moved on to other agenda items. The board is scheduled to meet again on Aug. 20.
