SLIDE 1
Healthy Regulation
A Comparative Study of Health Regulatory Activity in Regional and National Jurisdictions June 2019 Kate Noble and Matt Rezac
SLIDE 2 Inform the Council’s discernment re: optimal health regulation A few concerns prompted this study
- The potential for over-regulation of Minneapolis businesses
- The right size of Minneapolis Environmental Health (MEH)
- The gap between expenses and revenues (recovery ratios) attributable to MEH
Why we’re here
SLIDE 3
Regulation Document Review Review of MEH Records Stakeholder Interviews Informational Meetings Inspection Ride-Alongs
Methods …it didn’t take long to discover…
SLIDE 4 Problem Solution
Changes occur through relationships
Reactive
Tactical
- 3. Structures that restrict &
bias behavior Strategic
- 4. Core values and mindsets
that anchor behavior Systemic
SLIDE 5
Key finding: MEH inspection levels on par with other jurisdictions
Routine inspections 12-18-24 months: the minimum level required
▪ Jurisdictions outside of Minnesota inspect up to 4X as often
Re-inspections 36% of routine inspections yield a re-inspection in Minneapolis 39% is the average across jurisdictions
SLIDE 6 Key finding: MEH staffing on par with other jurisdictions
- St. Paul (total)
- St. Cloud
Brooklyn Park Minneapolis Hennepin County Denver Bloomington & Richfield Kansas City
Inspections per FPL inspectors (2018)
Kansas City
Bloomington & Richfield
Denver Hennepin County Minneapolis Brooklyn Park
- St. Cloud
- St. Paul (MDA + MDH)
SLIDE 7 Key finding: Minneapolis calls violations at high rate; most are non-critical violations
Total violations Violations per inspection % of violations that are non-critical
Minneapolis 21,139 4.4 79% Denver 13,996 0.99 26% Seattle and King County 9127 0.36 76%
6510 3.9 64%
5225
64% Brooklyn Park 2071
58%
1285 4.8 63%
959 1.5 50%
SLIDE 8
On average, it takes as long to input data as it does to complete an inspection, about 90 minutes for each. Others do more in half the time.
Key finding: Mismatch between ELMS configuration and health regulatory data requirements
SLIDE 9
…longer, more detailed, less integrated and less user-friendly than many other jurisdictions “I never compare our fees to Minneapolis because I can't read their fee schedule – I have to call their staff and ask. I have worked in this field for 50 years! I can’t figure out the square footage at all.”
Key finding: the Minneapolis business licensing fee schedule is…
SLIDE 10 Key finding: short term event inspections used as a work-around
Short term event inspections Routine inspections Percentage of routine that are special events
Kansas City 1477 2829 52% Minneapolis 703 3532 20% Hennepin County 637 4700 14% Bloomington & Richfield 301 1524 20%
271 1322 20% Brooklyn Park 42 335 13%
42 467 9% Denver 23 8313 <1%
SLIDE 11
Must navigate city and state departments who do not always coordinate or communicate accurately Frustration = unapproved plans that halt business activity
Key finding: plan review can be burdensome for business owners
SLIDE 12 Problem Solution
Changes occur through relationships
Reactive
Tactical
- 3. Structures that restrict &
bias behavior Strategic
- 4. Core values and mindsets
that anchor behavior Systemic
SLIDE 13
Maintain most MEH inspections practices Improve license and fee structure and streamline administration Address ELMS and health regulation data incongruencies Address regulatory pain points
▪ Short term event inspections ▪ Plan review
Recommendations
SLIDE 14
Questions?
SLIDE 15 Business owner interviewees (Interviews conducted by the Minneapolis Small Business Team)
- Tommy Beevas, Pimento Jamaican Kitchen
- Robert Grace, Be Graceful Café
- Maria Gutierrez, La Mexicana and La Guadalupana
- Claudia Hernandez, Hamburguesas el Gordo
- Julian Ocampo, Los Ocampo
- Saed Wadi, World Street Kitchen, MilkJam, Lil’ Jam, Grand Catch
- Toom Nguyen, Lotus Vietnamese
- Abdirahman Kahin, Afro Deli
- Bre Waters, Bartmann Group
A special thanks to everyone who helped out!
SLIDE 16 City Staff
- Al Hanson, Development Coordinator III, Minneapolis CPED
- Dan Huff, Minneapolis Environmental Health Department Director
- Ryan Krick, Minneapolis Environmental Health Department Supervisor
- Cindy Weckwerth, Minneapolis Environmental Health Department Supervisor
- Linda Roberts, Interim Manager, Minneapolis Business Licensing
One-on-one meetings and health inspections ride-alongs
- Kathy Loudon, Senior Health Inspector
Mohamed Yusuf, Health Inspector II
- Kenya Urena-Muro, Health Inspector II
William Kass, Senior health inspector
- Dane Huber, Health Inspector II
- Kevin Keopraseuth, Health Inspector II
- Graham Miller, Health Inspector II
- Leslie Foreman, Community Engagement Coordinator
- Mary Vang, Administrative Analyst
A special thanks to everyone who helped out!
SLIDE 17 Interviewees from other jurisdictions
- Greg Abel, Retail Food Specialist, Food and Drug Administration
- Kim Carlton, Partnership and Workforce Development Unit Supervisor, Food, Pools, and
Lodging Services Section, MN Department of Health
- Jae Douglas, Environmental Health Director, Multnomah County Health Department
- Duane Hudson, Supervisor, Environmental Health, Hennepin County
- Naser Jouhari, Senior Public Health Manager, Kansas City, Missouri
- Danica Lee, Division Director--Public Health Investigations, Denver Department of Public
Health and Environment
- Jeff Luedeman, Food and Feed Safety Program Manager, MDA
- Jeff Martin, Environmental Health Supervisor, Multnomah County Health Department
- Lynn Moore, Environmental Health Manager, City of Bloomington
- Jason Newby, Code Enforcement and Public Health Management, City of Brooklyn Park
- Matt O'Brien, Health Director, City of St. Cloud
- Wendy Spanier, South Fields Operations Supervisor, MDH (St. Paul)
A special thanks to everyone who helped out!
