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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 012204MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH January 22, 2004 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 1 January 22, 2004 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 January 22, 2004 at the Century Center, Carrboro, North Carolina. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Alice White, Chair; Alan Rimer, Vice-Chair; Moses Carey, Jr.; Tim Carey; Chris Harlan; Jessica Lee; Sharon Van Horn; Matt Vizithum; Lee Werley; Kate Wilder. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: None HEALTH DEPARTMENT STAFF PRESENT: Rosemary Summers, Health Director; Letitia Burns, Central Administrative Services Division Director; Wayne Sherman, Personal Health Services Division Director; Donna King, Health Promotion and Education Services Division Director; Angela Cooke, Dental Health Services Division Director; Ron Holdway, Environmental Health Services Division Director; John Sauls, Animal Control Services Division Director; Anne Miles Cassell, Administrative Assistant; Maria Hitt, Healthy Carolinians Coordinator; Darryl Renfroe, Home Visiting Supervisor; Louise Echols, Public Health Educator; Ellen Young, Public Health Educator. GUESTS PRESENT: Healthy Carolinians Board members - Sheila Sholes-Ross, CIS of Orange County; Stephanie Willis, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools; Edwina Zagami, Chapel Hill Schools; Mercedes Walker, UNC School of Nursing; Linda Foxworth, OPC Area Program; Alice Pettitt, Cooperative Extension; Wendy Stewart, Orange County Schools; Robbie Roberts, UNC Hospitals; Amy Sommer, UNC Chapel Hill; Myra Austin, Orange County Department of Aging; Michele Rivest, Orange County Partnership for Young Children; Bev Foster, UNC Chapel Hill; Ned Brooks, UNC Chapel Hill; Julie Sweedler, UNC Hospitals; Connie Mullinix, Women’s Center; Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, Orange County Partnership for Young Children. Other guest present: Margaret Brown, Orange County Commissioner; Gwen Harvey, Orange County Manager’s Office; Jeff Casale, News of Orange County; Erin Gibson, Daily Tar Heel; I. Welcome and Introductions Alice White called the meeting to order at 7:23 P.M. following the 5:30 P.M. Healthy Carolinians Board reception and presentation of the Orange County Community Health Assessment and Action Plans by Maria Hitt, Bev Foster, Linda Foxworth, and Ned Brooks. Alice White thanked the participants for an excellent and thorough presentation. Board of Health members were given the opportunity for comment. The entire community assessment is posted on the Orange County Healthy Carolinians website. II. Approval of January 22, 2004 Agenda The motion to approve the Agenda of January 22, 2004 was made by Kate Wilder, seconded by Jessica Lee, and carried without dissent. III. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda None IV. Action Items on CONSENT Agenda MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH January 22, 2004 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 2 January 22, 2004 A. Minutes approval of December 18, 2003 meeting. Motion to approve the minutes of December 18, 2003 was made by Kate Wilder, seconded by Tim Carey, and carried without dissent. B. Rabies Policies and Procedures Review This is the first time the division rabies Standard Operating Procedures have been rewritten and compiled in a single reference document. The draft was reviewed, modified and approved by the Animal Control and Environmental Health Committee and the Health Director. Alan Rimer suggested the division prepare a user-friendly brochure for public distribution as a final step in this process. Motion to approve the rabies Standard Operating Procedures as written was made by Kate Wilder, seconded by Tim Carey, and carried without dissent. V. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. Healthy Carolinians Community Action Plan Approval The Health Department is required to conduct a community assessment process every four years and submit both the results of the assessment as well as community action plans for at least two of the priorities identified in the assessment as part of its state contract responsibilities. In collaboration with Orange County Healthy Carolinians, the community assessment was completed and approved by this Board in December 2003. Healthy Carolinian Committees have been busy developing action plans for selected priorities. Two new priorities have been selected for initial work: 1) improved access and availability of mental health services and 2) obesity and overweight. Draft community action plans are attached for your review. In addition, existing committees will continue to focus on high priority areas such as reducing child abuse and neglect. All community action plans require the commitment of multiple community partners; the health department is only one of the partners involved and in fact may not be the lead agency for a given priority. Motion to approve the community health action plans and forward them to the state as required in the contract agreement with NC Division of Public Health was made by Alan Rimer, seconded by Lee Werley, and carried without dissent. B. Board Vacancy The Board currently has one vacant at -large position. Applications have been received from several candidates. Board members reviewed the applications and selected two for further study. Recommendation of a candidate to fill the at -large position will be made at the next meeting. C. PHEADS 1. Flu Update MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH January 22, 2004 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 3 January 22, 2004 The department was inundated in December with increasing public demand for flu vaccine. The increased demand was due to an unusually early peak in flu in the community. Wayne Sherman provided the Board with updated statistics. Staff held a de-briefing session to develop recommendations for future responses. Results of that debriefing were discussed. Rosemary Summers also provided the board with an update on the current outbreak at UNC. 2. Triangle Collaboration to Reduce Syphilis and HIV For the past ten years North Carolina has experienced high rates of syphilis compared to other states. In the late 1990’s the CDC provided funding to selected states to significantly reduce syphilis. In 1998, Orange County was one of a handful of counties selected to receive funding based on increased rates of syphilis. The high rate as reflected in the table in the attachment was a result of a cluster outbreak of related cases. Once that cluster was addressed, county rates fell dramatically. Orange County turned back the state funds when the state mandated that they be used solely for phlebotomy in the community. Syphilis continues to be a problem in Orange County on a periodic basis, usually as a cluster surrounding a few individuals that become infected. Durham and Wake Counties however, continue to experience more widespread issues. These counties remain in the cluster of funded counties. CDC is aiming to reduce its financial support in this area and wants local jurisdictions to take on a more active funding and policy role to eliminate this infectious disease. To that end, CDC held a community seminar inviting policy leaders from the funded counties to present that notion. Commissioners from Durham and Wake County wanted to form a regional partnership to address this issue and asked that Orange County be a partner with them. The three health directors have met and discussed the focus and made recommendations for proceeding back to the commissioners who expressed interest. The follow-up commissioner’s meeting for the Triangle area is currently scheduled for Tuesday, February 17. Board discussion resulted with the suggestion to add HIV and substance abuse to the partnership efforts with other counties. Motion of support for the staff to participate in a regional partnership with Durham and Wake Counties and the addition of HIV and substance abuse to the syphilis issue was made by Lee Werley, seconded by Kate Wilder, and carried without dissent. D. Review of Final Input to Board of Commissioners for Retreat The Board of Commissioners holds an annual retreat and asks all county Boards to provide input and information to inform their retreat. Board members have reviewed the list of suggestions made at the December meeting via email and provided no additional input. The list of suggestions was submitted to the Commissioners office on January 15, 2004. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH January 22, 2004 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 4 January 22, 2004 Alan Rimer, Vice Chair, will make any comments the Board of Health wishes to emphasize on January 31, the day of the retreat. Commissioners may not choose to hear from Board representatives at the retreat, but if they do, Mr. Rimer will attend. VI. Board Comments/Announcements Ron Holdway gave an update to the Board regarding a community meeting of an environmental water quality issue that the Health Department is participating in. Residents of Oak Grove Community in western Orange County have requested a study be done of disease rates for that populace that they feel is higher than normal when compared to statistics for statistics of other areas. The main concern of the residents is a bio-solid (residuals or byproducts of wastewater treatments plants) agricultural application that is being used in their area. These products come from the City of Burlington. Permits for these applications are issued at the state level, therefore the county cannot regulate these, but can monitor for water quality upon individual homeowner request. A follow-up community meeting was held this week. Community members were presented with the results of the well water quality study done by the department. The department has offered to do a further study of the surface waters after a future application. Rosemary Summers has contacted the State Cancer Registry about doing a GIS survey of area roads of what they have in the cancer registry to see if it can determined if the statistics are higher than usual. We will also inquire whether the state or CDC might be willing to do a health survey in that area, which would involve bringing in a team that would canvas each resident in person. Those studies are generally difficult to formulate and provide only limited information. Alan Rimer informed the Board of sludge application information that is available. VII. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Lee Werley, seconded by Jessica Lee, and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on February 26, 2004 at the Century Center, Room 21, in Carrboro, North Carolina at 7:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary L. Summers, MPH, DrPH Health Director Secretary to the Board