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The board of the Georgia Department of Public Health is set to meet next week for the first time in six months.
The nine-member board is scheduled to convene from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday online. The board has not resumed in-person meetings since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Four main items are on the agenda. Commissioner Kathleen Toomey will provide an introduction, followed by an update from state epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek. Drenzek’s updates often include information on infectious diseases like Covid and influenza.
Melanie Morris, an audiologist who is the child health deputy director for the Department of Public Health, will give a presentation on cCMV, congenital cytomegalovirus infection, which is passed from mother to infant and can cause hearing loss in babies and young children.
A new Department of Public Health regulation about cCMV screening took effect in October. It requires infants born in Georgia who do not pass hearing screenings to be screened for cCMV.
Deputy Commissioner Chris Rustin and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Director Leah Hoffacker are slated to provide updates on the response to Hurricane Helene.
The hurricane resulted in at least 30 deaths in the state and a declaration of emergency in all 159 Georgia counties.
The public can watch the meeting here via Zoom. There is no public comment period.
The board is scheduled to meet monthly but has only held three meetings this year, most recently in May, canceling five meetings since then. The October meeting was canceled as the state grappled with public health crises including the BioLab chemical plant fire that polluted air over the metro Atlanta area for nearly three weeks.
The lack of meetings has drawn criticism from health and open government advocates.
The board oversees and sets general policy for the Georgia Department of Public Health and its $800 million-plus annual budget.
Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.
