Health Agency | Public Health

The San Luis Obispo Health Commission was created by action of the Board of Supervisors in 1994 and was formed to be an advisory entity to the Board and to the Health Agency on matters related to the healthcare delivery system in San Luis Obispo County. The mission statement of the Commission, revised in bylaws 7/17/07, was “to work with, and on behalf of, the residents of the County to preserve and improve the quality of health for all people within the community.” In the ensuing nearly thirty years, the structure and activities of the Commission have changed considerably. The Commission’s original work related to healthcare delivery via the San Luis Obispo County General Hospital and Family Care Clinics that concluded as the General Hospital shuttered its doors in 2003 and the clinics ceased County operation in 2004. Without this focus, the Commission’s meetings became a forum where the Public Health Department provided updates about their work and, along with partner organizations, provided presentations related to areas of health and wellbeing that are of interest to the members of the Commission. Over the past approximately fifteen years of the tenure of the current Public Health Director, the Commission has engaged a few times in public discourse related to a health concern or healthcare delivery issue. Examples of such meeting themes have included discussion of the designation of a hospital trauma specialty center, implementation of Smart Meters, recommendations to support tobacco prevention initiatives, opinions related to the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, and land application of biosolids. The original purpose for the Commission, wherein members would continue deliberations and advice to the Board related to healthcare access concerns and decision-making, had largely ceased to be part of its work. The last Commission meeting was held June 2021.

The Commission consisted of 11 volunteer appointees, of which six were consumer representatives, three were direct providers (physicians, nurses and dentists), and two were indirect providers (medical office managers and hospital administrators). 

2021-2022 Membership:

Chairperson: Mary Jean Sage

Direct Providers: Jean Raymond, MS, RN; Lynn Enns, RN (1 vacancy)

Indirect Providers: Susan Warren; Mary Jean Sage

Consumers: Robert Campbell, MD; Amy Kleinman; Tamar Sekayan; Candace Winstead; Thomas O'Malley (1 vacancy)

View past meeting agendas and minutes or video broadcasts.

To request archived meeting minutes, please contact the Health Commission Clerk at: (805) 781-1563.

View the March 7, 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting item, requesting the sunsetting of the Health Commission.

Public Health launched a widespread community health improvement planning initiative called SLO Health Counts (SHC). Begun in 2017, SHC is now chartered with a Mission and Vision, respectively, of “SLO Health Counts is a community-wide initiative that works to equitably improve health for those who live, work, and play in San Luis Obispo County” and, “A healthy, equitable, and thriving community.”

For more information: SLO Health Counts