Some Will County Board members want to hire an equity manager to ensure the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
The board’s diversity and inclusion committee and public health and safety committee together endorsed the proposal Tuesday, sending it to the county board for a possible vote March 18.
The equity manager, proposed by a coalition of community based organizations representing Latino and Black communities, would fall under the Will County executive’s office but work with the county health department. A job description will be available for review before the county board vote.
In recent weeks, the health department has come under fire for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine roll out. In a memo to county officials last week, a coalition of 12 community based organizations said the health department “failed in essential equity practices since the beginning of the pandemic” and pushed for change.
The memo also outlined a plan that included $1.7 million in funding for various proposals, including an equity manager.
“We have to meet this moment right now,” said Shawn West, director of the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic, one of the 12 organizations. “This moment calls for something more.”
“What we’re seeing right now is life or death and if we don’t get this right … it will reflect poorly on us all,” West said.
County board member Rachel Ventura, a Joliet Democrat who heads the public health and safety committee, reiterated concerns Tuesday about how the health department and Public Health Director Sue Olenek have handled the pandemic.
“The bottom line is that Sue Olenek has some big questions that she needs to answer,” Ventura said. “This is a monumental fail.”
Ventura and other board members expressed frustration about what they described as a lack of communication and planning.
“I do believe our planning and leadership has not been sufficient to meet this moment and I think it’s incumbent upon us to do whatever we can to improve our planning, our communication and our outreach to the community,” said board member Sherry Newquist, D-Steger. “I for one am getting tired of getting beat up by my constituents everyday because no one knows what’s going on.”
Olenek declined to comment following Tuesday’s meeting.
During the meeting, however, she outlined the various steps the health department has taken, pointing out they have are working with limited vaccine supply and are only in the seventh week of administering vaccines. Health officials said they have about 40 clinics scheduled in the next several weeks.
Olenek said that health department staff has been meeting with community organizations throughout the county and that the county’s Emergency Management Agency has been working to identify and secure sites for mass vaccination clinics. Olenek also recently penned a letter to state lawmakers inquiring about vaccine supply, noting that it continues to be an issue for Will County.
Olenek also defended her staff against attacks, saying they’ve been working very hard throughout the pandemic.
“I would really appreciate a better level of decorum,” Olenek said following Ventura’s comments. “When attacks are made at my department and my 300 people who work very hard every day … I think that’s a really poor message.
“I don’t think we need to lambaste anyone in a public meeting.”
The department’s director of vaccine, Cindy Jackson, said she continues to work with community organizations to develop plans for vaccine rollout, but said an equity manager would be a help.
“I do think it takes a particular focus on the health equity piece of this,” she said.
Some Republican members of the two committees expressed dismay over what they described as attacks against the health department. They also voted against a recommendation to move forward with an equity manager, saying they did not have enough information, including a job description.
“I wasn’t looking for a $70,000 job coming out of this committee and going to the county board without a full discussion,” board member Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, said, adding the committee’s agenda did not list anything about an equity manager.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant Tuesday said she was unable to attend the joint meeting due to other previously scheduled meetings. She said though she has not had any direct conversations with board members about an equity manager, she remains committed to addressing concerns raised by community based organizations.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter.