At its meeting of Aug. 26, the Health and Safety Commission discussed plans for its annual Day of Wellness on Sept. 22. The event will take place at the Roxbury Park Community Center, where over 30 health and wellness providers will host yoga, mental health workshops and fitness classes for all ages.
The commission also welcomed Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, a former Beverly Hills Unified School District student and Obstetrician-Gynecologist, to lead a presentation on the biology of menopause and hormone health at the meeting. Her presentation included statistics that showed that women often face discrimination at later stages of their lives due to symptoms of menopause and misdiagnoses.
According to her presentation, one in three women report their symptoms being dismissed by a healthcare provider. One in 10 women report discrimination at work.
To combat this, Gilberg-Lenz recommended implementing informational posters in public restrooms to increase awareness and discussion without requiring anyone to self-identify as a person going through menopause. But apart from women supporting women, she urged men to help break down the barriers that isolate them. She also agreed to work with the Health and Safety Commission in the future to find ways to increase conversation and support of menopause throughout the community.
In a report from the Beverly Hills Fire Department Human Services Division, Chris Paulson shared the progress he and his team made during the month of July. A previously mentioned resident of the city’s long-term housing, who has been trying to make a name for himself in the fine art community, has started leading an art therapy group that focuses on the fundamentals of painting. Paulson’s team also located the family of one of their residents and helped him visit his adult children and his grandchildren. By the end of July, all five beds at the People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) shelter were occupied, and the department helped transport a homeless man whose health was visibly deteriorating to a hospital where he is receiving medical care.
Paulson also noted that Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in July for state agencies to clean up homeless encampments throughout California after the Supreme Court ruled that it is not unconstitutional to criminalize homeless encampments in certain parts of the city at certain times of the day. “The city of Beverly Hills is very much compliant,” said Paulson. “We have approached homelessness with a very humane approach and provided tons of outreach.”
