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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 052407MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 24, 2007 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne MilesCassell 1 May 24, 2007 ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT: To enhance the quality of life, promote the health, and preserve the environment for all people in the Orange County community. THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MET ON May 24, 2007 at the Government Services Center, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Matt Vizithum, Chair; Tim Carey; Moses Carey, Jr.; Anissa Vines; DeWana Anderson; Jim Stefanadis; Ernie Dobson; BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Sharon Freeland, meeting conflict; Jessica Lee, out of town; Chris Harlan, out of town; Sharon Van Horn STAFF PRESENT: Rosemary Summers, Health Director; Wayne Sherman, Personal Health Services Division Director; Tom Konsler, Environmental Health Services Division Director; Donna King, Health Promotion and Education Services Division Director; Angela Cooke, Dental Health Services Division Director; Anne Miles Cassell, Administrative Assistant; Elvira Mebane, Central Administrative Services GUESTS PRESENT: India Ornelas, UNC Chapel Hill; Willie Lambert, Rhonda Lambert, Yolanda Whitted, Michael Beasley, Man for Health I. Man for Health Project Presentation UNC, United Voices of Efland, and OCHD have partnered for the past 3 years in the implementation of a CDC funded grant to assess the impact of men helping men around the issue of prostate cancer. Men as Navigators (MAN) for Health used a lay health model approach to train motivated African-American men from the Efland-Cedar grove-Hillsborough community to work with other men to improve awareness of the increased incidence and risk of prostate cancer and encourage men to utilize preventive PSA screening to determine their status. The male health advisers, known as Navigators, worked with up to 10 male friends or acquaintances in the community to share information and gather data on health behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge to determine if interventions had any impact on health. India Ornelas, UNC Program Assistant with the MAN for Health Project, presented the results of the community-based participatory research for Orange County men. The study found that the initial good health habits declined by the end of 6 months for various reasons. Matt Vizithum asked whether lack of insurance was a factor in the decline. Ms. Ornelas replied that not enough information was available at this stage and she would be able to answer that question when the study is completed in 6 months. Willie Lambert and Michael Beasley, two of the Navigators, discussed the benefits and challenges of participating in a research study on men’s health. Their initial goal was to hold monthly meetings and share information and educate other men in the community to make informed health related decisions. Work schedules and family obligations were a challenge. They learned that women play a key role in health outcomes for the men in their lives and that Navigators need additional training and education on multiple common illnesses prevalent in the community, not just cancer. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 24, 2007 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne MilesCassell 2 May 24, 2007 II. Welcome and Introductions Matt Vizithum called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. III. Approval of May 24, 2007 Agenda Two items were added to the agenda, V.H. Primary Care Grant, and V.I. OWASA letter. The motion to approve the Agenda of May 24, 2007 as amended was made by Moses Carey, seconded by Chris Harlan, and carried without dissent. III. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda None IV. Action Items on CONSENT Agenda A. Minutes approval of April 25, 2007 meeting. Motion to approve the minutes of April 25, 2007 was made by Ernie Dodson, seconded by Anissa Vines, and carried without dissent. V. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. Proposed Well Fee Adjustment The County Manager and the Budget staff are recommending that the fee for the Well Permits be raised another $30 to absorb a higher percentage of the annual costs of providing this service. The higher fee of $430 will be considered by Commissioners as part of their budget deliberations. If staff resources are not approved, this higher fee would not go into effect. The fee would only be increased to cover the cost of the water bottles, a $100 land sampling increase. The fee of $430 is only for the construction of a new well, whether it is a new construction or a replacement well. There is no charge for consultation on a well repair. Motion to approve the well fee adjustment as proposed and forward it to the Board of Commissioners for approval was made by Anissa Vines, seconded by Tim Carey, and carried without dissent. B. Board Policy Manual The Board has a number of practices and procedures that it follows for certain work that falls under the Board’s purview, however not all of those items are in an easily retrievable format. A Board Policy Manual would assist the Board in accessing procedures easily. This would also ensure that all Board accreditation activities are covered in a central MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 24, 2007 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne MilesCassell 3 May 24, 2007 location. It was proposed that the staff work on pulling this together over the summer for review by the Board at the September Board meeting. A draft outline of the manual was provided for the Board’s review. There may be additional policies that would need to be considered for Board adoption as well. Tim Carey and Matt Vizithum suggested that staff keep the manual in outline form and as brief as possible. C. Joint BOCC/BOH Meeting Request Each year the Board of Health has had a joint meeting with the Board of Commissioners to discuss areas of mutual interest. The last meeting the Board had with Commissioners was to discuss the Health Department’s Strategic Plan for 2006-2011. Board members discussed requesting a meeting in October. This joint meeting is a good tool to open dialogue on important issues. A request will be made to schedule a joint meeting in the late fall to enable the Board of Commissioners to consider items of mutual importance at their annual retreat. Anissa Vines suggested adding Child Abuse and Prevention to the list of topics to be discussed. Other topics include: • Facility limitations for clinical services • Update on strategic plan progress • Upcoming accreditation briefing (spring 2008) • Community assessment priorities • Emerging technology needs The Board will discuss this further at a future meeting. D. Summer Meeting Schedule Board members were polled as to availability during the summer to determine whether a quorum would be present at the June or July meetings and discussed whether to hold meetings as scheduled, to alter the scheduled meeting dates, or to cancel one or more meetings. The operating procedures and state law specifies that the Board must meet at least quarterly. A significant number of Board members indicated they would be out of town and would miss the July meeting. Therefore, a quorum could not be assured for the July meeting. Motion to cancel the July 26, 2007 Board of Health meeting was made by Ernie Dodson, seconded by Jim Stefanadis, and carried without dissent. E. Dental Fee Adjustment MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 24, 2007 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne MilesCassell 4 May 24, 2007 Dental Medicaid rate changes that were effective January 1, 2007 were just published on the Medicaid website. The Fee and Eligibility Policy allows review of current Health Department rates based on Medicaid adjustments. This rate change is due to a change in the definition of the service provided. The current charge for D2390, resin-based composite crown, anterior is $82. The new Medicaid rate is $156 and staff recommended revising the fee for this service to $156, effective for the 2007-2008 budget year. Motion to approve and forward the proposed fee adjustment to the Board of Commissioners was made by Tim Carey, seconded by Jim Stefanadis and carried without dissent. F. Committee Reports The two Board standing committees meet monthly or as needed. Clinical and Community Programs: Angela Cooke reported that recruitment of a dentist for the clinic has been difficult due to the competitive private practice salaries of dentists. Therefore, the department is in the process of acquiring BOCC approval for the department to contract with the UNC School of Dentistry for provision of dental clinical services by an assigned faculty member. Pending approval by the BOCC the position should be staffed in July. In the absence of a full time dentist the department has been contracting with a variety of individual providers on a per day basis. Wayne Sherman reported that the contracts for Medical Director and Pharmacist were submitted for renewal with 3 ½ percent increases for the fiscal year. Environmental Health and Quality Assurance: There was no meeting this month. G. Informational Items 1. Water Resources Program Proposal A five year phased implementation plan was proposed jointly by the Health Department and ERCD to establish the essential elements of a comprehensive water resources program for Orange County. The County Manager has recommended the BOCC review the results of the work group and consider the Water Resources Program proposal. The Manager recommended this be funded in entirety but not in a piecemeal fashion. The Board of Health members expressed concern that this proposal should not take budget priority over mandated work. 2. Supplemental Budget Information on Programs Information was provided to the Board on the Medical Reserve Corps/CERT Program, the Families in Focus Intensive Home Visiting Program, and Primary MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 24, 2007 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne MilesCassell 5 May 24, 2007 Care at Southern Human Services Center. Each of these programs will require supplemental county funds in order to sustain the program. The Manager pulled them from the “regular” budget for the Commissioners to make individual decisions on program support. These three programs are not mandated programs but all have proven results or a proven community need. The manager believes they are worthy programs but could not fit them into a continuation budget that was requested by the Commissioners. She did include the three new positions for environmental health that respond to a mandated program. This supplemental information will be considered by the Commissioners during their work sessions. 4. Steinbeck Award to Tom Konsler Rosemary Summers announced that Tom Konsler, Environmental Health Services Division Director was awarded the Steinbeck Award by the Annual On-Site Conference Committee in April. Tom received the award in recognition of his improvement of science behind rules and practice, improvement of implementation of technology, program effectiveness, public education, and improvement of system installations quality. 5. County Manager’s Recommended Budget Rosemary Summers reported that the County Manager has sent her Budget Message for FY 07-08 to the Commissioners. The County Manager has made a recommendation for three new environmental health staff positions. The recommended positions within the Health Department are Environmental Health Specialist – Food and Lodging, Environmental Health Specialist – Well Construction Program; and Environmental Health Technician – Well/Water/Air Quality. H. Community Health Care Grant Wayne Sherman reported that the grant funding provided the means to start up and continue a primary care program in the Hillsborough office and more recently at Southern Human Services Center. At both locations Primary Care has experienced continued growth and the department has been able to provide services to the uninsured, underserved and medically indigent. Continued receipt of funding through Community Health Grants is needed to sustain our current service level and continued growth and expansion of primary care services. Hillsborough is eligible for Year 3 competitive funding and SHSC is eligible for Year 2 continuation funding. The grant application to renew funding must be submitted by Mary 29, 2007. Motion to submit the application for continued funding through the Community Health Grant was made by Tim Carrey, seconded by Anissa Vines and carried without dissent. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 24, 2007 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne MilesCassell 6 May 24, 2007 I. OWASA Letter It was brought to the Board’s attention that Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) has begun testing the drinking water in several new buildings to evaluate whether there is a link between newly installed plumbing and the potential for lead contamination. The testing follows the University’s recent finding of lead contamination in the drinking water in three new buildings and one recently renovated building. OWASA will test for lead in water, at no charge, from new buildings that are less than two years old including homes, businesses and public buildings. In light of OWASA’s proactive stand and commitment to ensuring safe drinking water it was recommended by consensus that the Chair send a letter of appreciation to OWASA. J. Tracking Form Board members were advised to note several updates to the form. VI. Board Comments/Announcements Rosemary Summers drew the Board’s attention to a recent issue of “Pipeline”, a publication of the National Environmental Services Center. The entire issue focused on the issue of pharmaceutical disposal and the effects on the watershed. This is an issue the Board has looked at as recently as last year. VII. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Anissa Vines, seconded by Ernie Dodson, and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on June 28, 2007 at the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 7:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary L. Summers, MPH, DrPH Health Director Secretary to the Board