About Tuesday's Meeting with FDOH......

Channel 3 News interviewed me yesterday about this past Tuesday Afternoon's conference call with the Escambia Health Department, the County, and numerous community organizations.

I called in and listened in for a while to the call, and there were lots of good questions from many of the attendees.  And at the time I listened in- I was not aware that the media had been prevented from attending.

But this was not our call to make; it wasn't the county's decision.

Nor was it the call of the Director of the Local Health Department.

He was tasked with giving a community briefing, which he did.

And any questions from media directed at him would have had to have been routed through Tallahassee.  In my conversation Wednesday with Dr. Lanza, he mentioned the protocols he has to follow in dealing with the media.  He can answer questions from community groups, locally elected officials, and healthcare entities---but any queries from media must go through the Governor's PIO in Tallahassee, and that is where answers back to the media would come from.

During my interview with Chorus Nylander of Channel 3 yesterday, I clearly articulated this in an effort to help him understand that nobody was purposely excluding him, Channel 3, or the Media--it is just that strictly defined information dissemination protocols have to be followed by the local health department--they have a chain of command and they strictly adhere to the protocols.

That part of my conversation didn't make it onto the newscast, unfortunately......

They did, however, mention the fact that the county would be facilitating a briefing from Dr. Lanza at 9:00 Thursday morning as the first portion of the monthly committee of the whole meeting.

That meeting happens later this morning, and it is my understanding that representatives from the School Board, Sheriff's Office, ECUA, and the City of Pensacola Mayor will all be in attendance.