Council committee holds hearing on four Boston Public Health Commission board nominations; no confirmation votes recorded
March 11, 2025 | Boston City, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
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Chairperson Murphy convened the Boston City Council Committee on Public Health, Homelessness, and Recovery for a public hearing on four mayoral nominations to the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) board of health: the reappointment of Gual Valdez (Docket 0353) and Philemon Laptis (Docket 0354), and the appointments of Greg (Gregory) Wilmot (Docket 0577) and Sandro Galea (Docket 0578). The committee heard opening statements from the nominees and testimony from BPHC leadership but did not record a confirmation vote during the hearing.
The nominations are part of the mayor’s request to fill or reappoint members to the seven‑member board that oversees the city’s health department. Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, introduced the four candidates and outlined the board’s statutory role under the Boston Public Health Act of 1995 (the city’s enabling act) — appointing the executive director, approving the commission’s budget and adopting health regulations. PJ McCann, deputy director for policy and planning at BPHC, joined Ojikutu at the table.
Why it matters: The BPHC board advises and, in certain cases, exercises regulatory authority that affects citywide public‑health policy, including emergency declarations, vaccination guidance and regulations on tobacco and other public‑health matters. Committee members used the hearing to press nominees on issues likely to arise before the board: strategies to rebuild public trust in vaccination, standards for declaring public‑health emergencies, and how the commission should approach substance‑use response and treatment in neighborhoods affected by open‑air drug activity.
Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health and an academic epidemiologist, told the committee he would bring academic expertise in social determinants of health and public communications. On vaccination and community trust, Galea said, “I actually think that anybody who thinks that we are going to overcome the trust deficit that has led to undervaccination in Boston isn't thinking about it hard enough,” and described trust‑building as a long‑term effort. He also said that another large outbreak would “be a real strain for everybody” and emphasized surveillance and close coordination with state and federal partners before recommending specific interventions.
Gual (Wale) Valdez, who identified himself as a long‑time South End resident and the CEO of a community health center serving Mattapan, described direct, neighborhood‑level work on vaccination outreach, home visits for asthma management, and a trauma‑response program that deploys staff after violent incidents. “We are not done yet,” Valdez said of vaccination outreach in Mattapan, noting partnerships with clergy and community organizations to build trust. Valdez also described how his dual perspective as a health‑center executive and a current board member informs governance questions and urged equitable distribution of commission funding.
Philemon “Philly” Laptis, a lifelong Bowdoin‑Grove resident and chief people officer at Community Care Cooperative, summarized his prior board service (a board member since 2019) and work directing human‑resources, equity and patient‑family engagement efforts for a large network of community primary‑care providers. Laptis said he values decisions that have direct impact on neighborhoods where he lives and works.
Gregory Wilmot, president and CEO of East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, described operational experience across primary care, emergency services and senior care programs (including PACE). He said he planned to bring strategic‑planning and performance‑management skills to board deliberations and highlighted the need to reengage seniors and restore services disrupted during the pandemic.
Council members used the Q&A to press nominees on a range of topics. Council President Ed Flynn asked about asthma hotspots and BPHC’s home‑visit asthma program; Galea and BPHC staff noted the commission’s Boston Asthma Home Visit Collaborative and clinical outreach to schools and childcare providers. Councilor Frank Baker focused extended questioning on the city’s response to concentrated substance‑use activity around Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard (often discussed as “Mass and Cass”), urging openness to a broader set of interventions including longer‑term treatment placements and involuntary civil‑commitment tools in severe cases; Valdez, Wilmot and BPHC staff described the commission’s mix of harm‑reduction services, treatment placements and housing interventions and said treatment placements and residential programs remain part of the city’s response.
Committee members also discussed the commission’s emergency‑order authority and recent pandemic‑era actions. BPHC staff said the board and executive director have statutory authority to act under the enabling act and that, in practice, the commission has monitored metrics such as community percent positivity and hospitalizations when evaluating whether to recommend or issue orders. Galea and BPHC staff emphasized a cautious, evidence‑based approach to declaring emergencies and noted that decisions about city employment vaccine mandates were city policy decisions coordinated with the mayor’s office.
No recorded confirmation votes: The committee introduced the four dockets into the record, confirmed corrected name spellings on the record, and allowed each nominee to give testimony and answer questions; the hearing concluded with no roll‑call confirmation votes recorded on any docket. No members of the public signed up for public testimony.
Background details from the hearing record: Docket 0353 was read as a reappointment of Gual Valdez to a term expiring 2025‑01‑15; Docket 0354 as the reappointment of Philemon Laptis to a term expiring 2025‑01‑15; Docket 0577 as the appointment of Greg (Gregory) Wilmot to a term expiring 2025‑01‑15; and Docket 0578 as the appointment of Sandro Galea to a term expiring 2024‑01‑06. BPHC’s enabling statute (the Boston Public Health Act of 1995, Chapter 147) was cited during the presentation of duties and authority.
What’s next: The hearing record is part of the committee’s review of the nominees. The transcript does not show committee confirmation votes; next steps (scheduling of a vote or further committee action) were not specified on the record.
The nominations are part of the mayor’s request to fill or reappoint members to the seven‑member board that oversees the city’s health department. Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, introduced the four candidates and outlined the board’s statutory role under the Boston Public Health Act of 1995 (the city’s enabling act) — appointing the executive director, approving the commission’s budget and adopting health regulations. PJ McCann, deputy director for policy and planning at BPHC, joined Ojikutu at the table.
Why it matters: The BPHC board advises and, in certain cases, exercises regulatory authority that affects citywide public‑health policy, including emergency declarations, vaccination guidance and regulations on tobacco and other public‑health matters. Committee members used the hearing to press nominees on issues likely to arise before the board: strategies to rebuild public trust in vaccination, standards for declaring public‑health emergencies, and how the commission should approach substance‑use response and treatment in neighborhoods affected by open‑air drug activity.
Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health and an academic epidemiologist, told the committee he would bring academic expertise in social determinants of health and public communications. On vaccination and community trust, Galea said, “I actually think that anybody who thinks that we are going to overcome the trust deficit that has led to undervaccination in Boston isn't thinking about it hard enough,” and described trust‑building as a long‑term effort. He also said that another large outbreak would “be a real strain for everybody” and emphasized surveillance and close coordination with state and federal partners before recommending specific interventions.
Gual (Wale) Valdez, who identified himself as a long‑time South End resident and the CEO of a community health center serving Mattapan, described direct, neighborhood‑level work on vaccination outreach, home visits for asthma management, and a trauma‑response program that deploys staff after violent incidents. “We are not done yet,” Valdez said of vaccination outreach in Mattapan, noting partnerships with clergy and community organizations to build trust. Valdez also described how his dual perspective as a health‑center executive and a current board member informs governance questions and urged equitable distribution of commission funding.
Philemon “Philly” Laptis, a lifelong Bowdoin‑Grove resident and chief people officer at Community Care Cooperative, summarized his prior board service (a board member since 2019) and work directing human‑resources, equity and patient‑family engagement efforts for a large network of community primary‑care providers. Laptis said he values decisions that have direct impact on neighborhoods where he lives and works.
Gregory Wilmot, president and CEO of East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, described operational experience across primary care, emergency services and senior care programs (including PACE). He said he planned to bring strategic‑planning and performance‑management skills to board deliberations and highlighted the need to reengage seniors and restore services disrupted during the pandemic.
Council members used the Q&A to press nominees on a range of topics. Council President Ed Flynn asked about asthma hotspots and BPHC’s home‑visit asthma program; Galea and BPHC staff noted the commission’s Boston Asthma Home Visit Collaborative and clinical outreach to schools and childcare providers. Councilor Frank Baker focused extended questioning on the city’s response to concentrated substance‑use activity around Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard (often discussed as “Mass and Cass”), urging openness to a broader set of interventions including longer‑term treatment placements and involuntary civil‑commitment tools in severe cases; Valdez, Wilmot and BPHC staff described the commission’s mix of harm‑reduction services, treatment placements and housing interventions and said treatment placements and residential programs remain part of the city’s response.
Committee members also discussed the commission’s emergency‑order authority and recent pandemic‑era actions. BPHC staff said the board and executive director have statutory authority to act under the enabling act and that, in practice, the commission has monitored metrics such as community percent positivity and hospitalizations when evaluating whether to recommend or issue orders. Galea and BPHC staff emphasized a cautious, evidence‑based approach to declaring emergencies and noted that decisions about city employment vaccine mandates were city policy decisions coordinated with the mayor’s office.
No recorded confirmation votes: The committee introduced the four dockets into the record, confirmed corrected name spellings on the record, and allowed each nominee to give testimony and answer questions; the hearing concluded with no roll‑call confirmation votes recorded on any docket. No members of the public signed up for public testimony.
Background details from the hearing record: Docket 0353 was read as a reappointment of Gual Valdez to a term expiring 2025‑01‑15; Docket 0354 as the reappointment of Philemon Laptis to a term expiring 2025‑01‑15; Docket 0577 as the appointment of Greg (Gregory) Wilmot to a term expiring 2025‑01‑15; and Docket 0578 as the appointment of Sandro Galea to a term expiring 2024‑01‑06. BPHC’s enabling statute (the Boston Public Health Act of 1995, Chapter 147) was cited during the presentation of duties and authority.
What’s next: The hearing record is part of the committee’s review of the nominees. The transcript does not show committee confirmation votes; next steps (scheduling of a vote or further committee action) were not specified on the record.
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