City of Austin Council Message Board

Dear Colleagues,

As I mentioned during this Monday’s Public Safety Committee meeting, I am interested in pursuing the creation of a Chief Medical Officer position (CMO) and transitioning the “Office of the Medical Director” to the “Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO)”. The creation of this office offers us the opportunity to take an innovative and proactive approach to public health in service to all Austinites.
This idea merges the role of the Local Health Authority and the EMS Medical Director, combining those statutory duties within one position (CMO). The overall approach to clinical activity within the City of Austin would be under the purview of one person – the Chief Medical Officer.

While EMS is primarily charged with emergency response, they and AFD are frequently engaged in basic health services. A Chief Medical Officer would be able to strategically align our proactive and emergency health practices, catching minor ailments before they become emergencies and making the entire system more efficient. A CMO model also could position us well to leverage anticipated changes to reimbursement models to improve public health in Austin.

Other governmental entities, such as Houston, have taken this approach and seen success. I believe Austin has a unique opportunity this fiscal year to incorporate the lessons we’re learning as a result of COVID-19 to transform public health in Austin.

I am posting here to highlight the idea as a priority of mine for the FY21 budget, and I encourage colleagues interested in making the Chief Medical Officer role a reality to reach out to my office.

Regards,
Alison Alter
District 10

Thank you CM Alter

I believe the creation of the Chief Medical Office role is critically important and transformative for our city. This is an important change that will help more effectively shift the city's focus to health both through proactive programs and as a response to emergencies. I also think this office can play a role in our responses to people experiencing homelessness, which would benefit from more of a shift to proactive health care responses.

The city has been moving to more proactive approaches to community health, by expanding our community health paramedics role. A CMO office is important to support continuing this innovative work.

I look forward to supporting this initiative.

Best
Ann Kitchen
City Council D5

Looking forward to learning more about this proposal! I'm also very interested in the role Central Health and the Counties play, since there are some separation of roles related to which jurisdiction is responsible for covering the costs of building and managing our community health systems.

- Jimmy

Agree with all comments here - CM Alter’s proposal to establish an office of Chief Medical Officer; its transformative and critical importance, as CM Kitchen points out; and the desire to learn more about intersections with existing systems, as CM Flannigan urges.

Thanks, CM Alter, for offering this initiative. I look forward to additional dialog and supporting your proposal.

Best to all,

Leslie