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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 072805MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 28, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 1 July 28, 2006 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 July 28, 2005 at the Government Services Center, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Alan Rimer, Chair; Jessica Lee, Vice-Chair; Sharon Freeland; Alice White; Tim Carey; Matt Vizithum; Jim Stefanadis; Moses Carey, Jr. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Sharon Van Horn; Chris Harlan STAFF PRESENT: Rosemary Summers, Health Director; Angela Cooke, Dental Health Services Division Director; Ron Holdway, Environmental Health Services Division Director; Donna King, Health Promotion and Education Division Director; Kathy Glassock, Personal Health Services Division; Anne Miles Cassell, Administrative Assistant; Albert Mills and Jane Andrews, Environmental Health Services GUESTS PRESENT: Joan Pellettier, CJCOG, Area Agency on Aging I. Welcome and Introductions Alan Rimer called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. and introduced guests present. Oath of Office for Jim Stefanadis. Melody Dees, Clerk of Court’s office, administered the oath of office to Jim Stefanadis, pharmacist representative to the Board of Health. II. Approval of July 28, 2005 Agenda Jessica Lee requested that item V.F. be added to the agenda, Board Vacancy to hear a report by the nominating committee. The motion to approve the Agenda of July 28, 2005 was made by Sharon Freeland, seconded by Tim Carey, 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 28, 2005 meeting. Motion to approve the minutes of April 28, 2005 was made by Alice White, seconded by Tim Carey, and carried without dissent. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 28, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 2 July 28, 2006 B. Verification of Actions of April 28, 2005 Meeting. Board of Health Operating Procedures defines a quorum of the Board as more than half the members of the Board, excluding any vacancies. The April 28 meeting had exactly 50% of the Board (excluding one vacancy) in attendance; therefore a quorum did not exist. The Board took the following actions in principal: • Approved March 24, 2005 minutes. • Forwarded the Pharmacist Renewal Agreement to Commissioners • Forwarded the Renewal for a Social Worker funded by Chapel Hill Training and Outreach, Inc. to Commissioners. • Forwarded the acceptance of additional funds in the amount of $15,435 for various purposes. • Forwarded recommendations to Board of Commissioners on renewed terms for Chris Harlan, Sharon Van Horn, and consideration of an appointment for James Stefanadis as the Pharmacy representative to the Board. • Adjourned the meeting. Motion to accept the actions taken by the members in attendance at the April 28, 2005 meeting of the Board of Health as documented in the minutes of the April 28, 2005 meeting of the Board of Health was made by Jessica Lee, seconded by Matt Vizithum, and carried without dissent. C. School Nurse Contracts: Renewals During the budget deliberations in FY2001-2002, the Board of Commissioners agreed to a four- year plan for achieving a goal of a full-time school nurse in every public school in both Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) and Orange County Schools (OCS). The total cost of the contracts is $505,289 and was authorized in the approved budget for FY 2005-2006, the final year of the four-year plan. The Orange County Schools will receive a total of $167,001 for three nurses and the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools will receive a total of $338,288 for six nurses. Motion to approve the renewal agreements and forward to the Board of Commissioners was made by Moses Carey, seconded by Matt Vizithum, and carried without dissent. D. Dental General Practice Resident Contract Renewal The Orange County Health Department annually contracts with UNC School of Dentistry for services of one full-time equivalent dental resident for four and one-half days per week. The residents provide services at both the Hillsborough and the Carrboro dental clinics. The total cost of the contract for July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 is $47,192. This amount was included in the 2005-06 dental budget. This contract cannot be fully executed until the state legislature passes their budget. Motion to approve the renewal of the contract with the UNC School of Dentistry for the General MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 28, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 3 July 28, 2006 Practice Resident for FY 2006 and forward to the Commissioners for approval was made by Jessica Lee, seconded by Moses Carey, and carried without dissent. E. Behavioral Health Counseling Contract: CHCCS (new) In the past year, Jennifer Sharpe, the Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the health department began providing behavioral counseling services to children and adolescents referred to her by school nurses in both school systems. The Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools have requested additional services to be provided primarily for students identified by student services teams in three middle schools in the system who are at-risk for or exhibiting behavioral issues. Due to prior commitments, the health department currently does not have the capacity to divert Ms. Sharpe’s resources to provide the level desired by the school system. CHCCS has identified a one-time source of funds through the Safe Schools money allocated to school systems to pay for these services. The Health Department will hire a part-time temporary licensed clinical social worker specifically to provide these services for the 05-06 academic year. The contractor will be supervised by the Family Home Visiting Supervisor. The maximum amount available is $15,000 for the year. It is anticipated that this will pay for slightly less than half time services for the school year. The Health Director discussed this project with the Social Services Director to determine whether this service should be provided through that department rather than the Health Department. It was mutually agreed that these services should be coordinated through the Health Department at this time. Motion to forward the agreement for Board of Commissioners approval subject to county attorney review was made by Tim Carey, seconded by Alice White, and carried without dissent. F. Acceptance of Medicaid Cost Settlement Funds The Cost Settlement is calculated by the Medicaid Division based on the average cost across the state in local health departments to provide a particular service. Health departments receive payment based on the provision of each service and their reported costs. Only the federal portion of Medicaid is eligible for the adjustment, therefore the reimbursement is calculated only on the federal share of Medicaid. Since Medicaid rates are not at a level to fully reimburse the departments, there is an adjustment made each year to more closely capture the full cost of providing services to the Medicaid population. Reimbursement of these funds usually occurs a year after the completion of an audit by the state of service costs for the FY. These funds are placed in a special account that allows the department to expend these funds for capital, furnishings or renovations in the program areas that they were earned in. The department generally uses these funds only for emergency purposes or for planned long-term purchases. In the past, these funds have been used to renovate the clinical space in Whitted and to purchase new equipment and furniture for that space. It is anticipated that this fund will be needed to manage the local costs for data conversion and other expenses as the state switches to a new system to replace the current HSIS data system. The Medicaid Cost Settlement for FY 03-04 services is a reimbursement of $190,805.22. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 28, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 4 July 28, 2006 Motion to approve the Cost Settlement money and forward their recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners for approval was made by Alice White, seconded by Sharon Freeland, and carried without dissent. V. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. Mill Creek Road Environmental Assessment Earlier this spring, Environmental Health staff met with a small number of residents from the Mill Creek Road area located in Cedar Grove Township. These residents voiced concerns at that time about well water problems in their neighborhood and what options were available for relief including well repairs, well replacements and the extension of public water lines. Subsequent to that meeting, one community member in attendance at a Board of County Commissioners meeting asked the board for a groundwater study as he stated that several community members had developed cancer as a result of the water. The BOCC members agreed to attend a community meeting to further discuss the matter with the residents and to authorize a study of the problems. That meeting occurred on June 29th. All five commissioners were in attendance as was Environmental Health staff, the Orange County Engineer and a Planning Department representative. Local media was also present. The commissioners committed to the community that the health department would spearhead a study of the water problems and other possible environmental exposures in the area and whether it is related to the disease incidence. They asked for a list of past cancer patients in the area and that has now been provided to health department staff. The county manager has committed to provide a plan of action to the BOCC at its first meeting in August and to meet that obligation, staff provided a draft for the Board’s review and input. Board members expressed concern about raising the community’s expectations that there would be a cancer cluster identified or a link between cancer and the water. Dr. Carey identified the difficulty in conducting such studies with reliability. The staff acknowledged that this would be difficult and that the intent was to keep the community informed at each step of the process. Examining the data that is available and helping to interpret that to the community is hoped to assist with understanding. Findings from the water study, even though they may be unrelated to cancer will also hopefully help individual well owners with possible improvements in their water quality. Rev. Freeland asked about the cost of the water samples and staff replied that the proposal was for the county to pay for those samples for this study. This is a practice that has been followed in the past with other communities that the Commissioner’s have authorized. B. Orange County/TJCOG Active Senior Project Summary Ellen Young, Health Promotion Coordinator, presented a report on the Active Seniors Project, highlighting recommendations to help promote walking and biking in the neighborhoods surrounding the new Southern Orange Senior Center on Homestead Road in Chapel Hill. It is a MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 28, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 5 July 28, 2006 result of an eight-month project that brought public health educators, land use planners, and senior services professionals together with senior citizens and other community members. The project team conducted five main tasks over an eight-month period, including: 1) receiving orientation and training from project staff; 2) reviewing existing plans for the project area; 3) conducting assessments of the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in the area; 4) identifying existing pedestrian and bicycle routes; and 5) developing recommendations for improving the pedestrian and bicycle network in order to help seniors and others be more physically active. In addition, the Project Team provided input on the site design of the Senior Center itself to help connect it with the surrounding pedestrian and bicycle network. This project was funded through a grant from PAN Community Grants Program, NC DHHS for $19,710. Partners in the grant were Orange County Health Department, Triangle J Council of Governments, and Orange County Department on Aging. C. Strategic Planning The Health Department has been working on elements of a strategic plan to cover the period 2005-2010. Based on input from the Board at the retreat in June, staff worked on revising the community focus areas portion of the strategic plan. The revised drafts were provided for Board review. The goal is to have a complete draft for review and approval by the Board at the September meeting. The goal would be to forward a complete copy to the Board of Commissioners for a possible joint meeting in October or early November. This would allow the staff to utilize the strategic plan for budget preparation beginning in December. The Board felt that the items in the packet were very strong and had no suggestions for improvements or change. It was agreed that if Board members had comments, they would forward them via email to the Health Director. D. Informational Items The approved 05-06 departmental budget was given to the Board for review. Significant cuts were made in dental operations for supplies and in operating capital. It is also unclear at this time, whether any additional capital items that were requested were funded as the county keeps that in a separate budget. Personal Health had several critical capital items that would support primary care and increased services in the chronic disease area. The county’s IT budget was severely curtailed by the Manager such that virtually no IT departmental requests will be fulfilled this budget year. One issue of concern is the needed software completion of the Accela system that Environmental Health has never been able to fully utilize for permitting purposes. The Manager has been directed to find another $800,000 to cut from the overall county budget and that has as yet not been identified. A legislative update was provided of legislation that the Board was interested in. Board MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 28, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 6 July 28, 2006 members were reminded that it is not too late to let legislators know of their continued support of a 75 cent cigarette tax and that Health and Wellness Trust Funds should be reserved first for tobacco prevention efforts. E. Tracking Form Review The Board reviewed upcoming work and agenda items. F. Board Vacancy Jessica Lee reported that no applications for the vacant position of Veterinarian representative have been received and recommended an active recruitment. Staff will prepare a letter to be mailed to all county veterinarians soliciting applications. Board members are encouraged to talk to vets that they know as well. VI. Board Comments/Announcements None VII. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Matt Vizithum, seconded by Jessica Lee, and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on August 25, 2005 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 7:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary L. Summers, MPH, DrPH Health Director Secretary to the Board