Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Council Member Mealy questions DOHMH on syringe service programs and worker safety
1:04:27
ยท
4 min
Council Member Darlene Mealy engages in a detailed discussion with Rebecca Linn-Walton from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) about syringe service programs (SSPs), focusing on their operation, community involvement, and worker safety. The conversation touches on the placement of syringe kiosks, cleanup efforts, and concerns about potential health risks for workers handling syringes.
- Mealy raises concerns about the decision-making process for placing syringe kiosks and the level of community involvement.
- The discussion highlights the collaboration between various city departments, including Parks and Sanitation, in managing SSPs and syringe cleanup.
- Mealy expresses particular concern about the safety and compensation of parks department staff involved in syringe cleanup, suggesting they should receive hazard pay for this task.
Darlene Mealy
1:04:27
Hi.
1:04:27
Great question, my colleague.
1:04:31
These vendors, they're from the city.
1:04:34
Right?
1:04:35
So the city purchased them and then they sit out and they have the authorization to move them around?
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:04:44
Oh, so the SSPs, are our syringe services programs, have been around since the nineties and both the state the state regulates them.
1:04:51
It's a lot like a hospital is how I think about it.
1:04:53
Like the state regulates the hospital and the city also has funding and oversight of them as well.
1:04:59
And so they operate many kiosks.
1:05:02
They partner with parks.
Darlene Mealy
1:05:03
But you said they have the oversight.
1:05:05
So who make the decision where these vendors
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:05:10
That's where the partnership is so important because we're meeting with parks and they can because they have their workers right there, they can tell us, hey, your outreach team needs to do another walk through in this park each day or so the park staff let me follow-up with parks and make sure I'm getting right who actually fixes which kiosks because some of them are fixed by the SSPs, some of them are fixed by parks, but that's why we're all meeting on a regular basis to make sure that they are up and running.
Darlene Mealy
1:05:38
Is the community involved in this?
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:05:39
Oh, the nonprofits are all community benefits organizations.
1:05:43
They're all CBOs that are many of them were started by community members who were noticing the huge impact of HIV on their communities and wanted to start their own services.
1:05:54
So then they worked with the state, become licensed, and that's how these organizations
Darlene Mealy
1:05:57
So could we Kinda I wanna know who makes the decisions to move them to different areas.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:06:04
I'll follow-up.
Darlene Mealy
1:06:06
Okay.
1:06:06
Because it's important because some people may not want it in their park.
1:06:11
Mhmm.
1:06:11
So what kind of outreach have have you seen any resistance?
Linda Lee
1:06:18
Wait.
1:06:18
Sorry.
1:06:19
Can I ask a clarifying question?
1:06:20
Do you mean the kiosks or the actual services Okay.
1:06:23
The kiosks she's talking about.
1:06:24
That's why I was like, think there's a Oh, thank you.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:06:27
Thank you so much.
1:06:27
So no we're not seeing pushback from the communities because
Linda Lee
1:06:30
Not at
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:06:30
all.
1:06:31
When when there continues to be a problem with syringes, we hear complaints that the kiosks are not working and so that's why we then send our outreach teams to do cleanup to get people engaged in services.
Darlene Mealy
1:06:43
So how was the cleanup?
1:06:46
What kind of training they have in regards to these needles?
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:06:49
Yeah.
Darlene Mealy
1:06:50
And I'm sorry, I had to take another meeting.
1:06:55
You say that y'all have training to pick up these sharp needles.
1:07:00
If something go wrong, what's the outcome of it?
1:07:06
If someone get pricked with a HIV needle while they are in training picking up these syringes.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:07:15
Yeah, then people get immediate access to medication if there's pricks.
1:07:18
But what we're finding from
Darlene Mealy
1:07:20
Who is that on?
1:07:21
Is that on the parks department
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:07:25
or the vendor?
1:07:27
No, no.
1:07:27
They get in touch with their local hospital.
1:07:29
So we have this there are federal regulations for what to how to safely pick up or I think it's CDC regulations for how to pick up safe syringes.
1:07:39
We do trainings with people.
1:07:40
We find very, very few people even ever get injured.
1:07:44
And then every, just like all OSHA safety at a workplace, if you are potentially going to be exposed to any substances.
1:07:52
I know I've taken tons of trainings about who to call, what number to call, and how to get immediate access to free medication so that I don't get an infection.
Darlene Mealy
1:08:01
So these are not city employees because I heard it was training.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:08:05
There's a combination.
1:08:06
So there are parks department staff who are doing this.
1:08:09
There are sanitation staff and there's community Parks
Darlene Mealy
1:08:12
department staff is picking up waste.
1:08:16
Well, not waste, but syringes, and they are not getting paid the proper salary anyway.
1:08:23
And now the parks department has put that task on them to train to pick up syringes.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:08:29
As a health department employee, definitely don't want to speak for the parks department so can absolutely have them follow-up with any questions that come up.
Darlene Mealy
1:08:37
Do you feel parks department staff is not really making that much money?
1:08:44
Are they getting hazardous pay?
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:08:46
I definitely can't speak to any of them.
1:08:48
I'm so sorry.
1:08:49
I just don't work for the parks department.
Darlene Mealy
1:08:51
That is so important because that's not fair to the trainees and it should be a price just a hazard taking up hazardous material.
1:09:04
That should be the law.
Linda Lee
1:09:06
And that's something we can follow-up with all the city agencies that are involved in that.
Darlene Mealy
1:09:10
Please do.
1:09:10
Thank you.
Linda Lee
1:09:14
Okay.
1:09:16
Council member Felice.
1:09:17
Thank