In an effort to address racial disparities in health outcomes in the county, Clark County Public Health has created a few new job positions in support of a declaration that racism exists in public health.
During the Clark County Board of Health July 26 meeting, the board — made up of the Clark County Council — received an update on the county health department’s “Anti-Racist Transformation work.”
The work is a follow-up to the board declaring racism a public health crisis in December 2020, said Alan Melnick, Clark County Public Health director and county health officer.
Melnick said disparities in health outcomes between BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) populations and white populations are significant.
“That’s true nationally, but it’s also true in Clark County,” Melnick said.
Information at the time of the resolution’s approval stated the discrepancy of life expectancy among white and nonwhite populations in Clark County is as much as 15 years. Numbers of people without insurance are also greater in communities of color.
The October 2020 information also noted COVID-19 disproportionately affected Hispanic communities, with a confirmed case rate nearly three times that of white populations in the county at the time.
The declaration tasked the health department to look at internal policies that might affect decisions and actions based on race. It also required policy change recommendations and more community outreach.
Since that declaration, updates to the board on the health department’s efforts have been few. The board had not been briefed on the department’s work since last October, the only time since the declaration was made. Then, Clark County Public Health presented the framework it had established for addressing the health crisis, Melnick said.
As of July, the health department has made progress on the community health assessment and improvement-planning process, however, Melnick said. That work includes addressing racial disparities in public health.
More central to the work on public health racism, Clark County Public Health hired Roxanne Wolfe as deputy director in December to help, as well as a senior policy analyst, Melnick said. The department is also looking at hiring a racial equity contractor and a racial equity director to provide support. The racial equity director position will be funded through the state’s Foundational Public Health Services program, Melnick said. The department is seeking funds to support equity programs through that same funding mechanism.
Other work Clark County Public Health has been doing includes piloting a contract process for community engagement activities and creating a strategic plan to hold the department’s efforts accountable. The department has also purchased a membership to the National Alliance on Racial Equity, providing access to resources and forums with other government agencies in the alliance.
As a related point to other county work, Melnick mentioned his department will be providing a “health equity lens” to Clark County Community Planning as the county’s periodic review of its comprehensive growth management plan moves forward.
