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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 020503MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 1 February 5, 2003 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 February 5, 2003 at the Government Human Services Center, Hillsborough, North Carolina. This was a rescheduled regular meeting of the Board of Health. The regular meeting scheduled for January 23, 2003 was cancelled due to hazardous weather conditions. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Mel Hurston, Chair; Alice White, Vice Chair; Alan Rimer; Martha Stucker; Lee Werley; Jessica Lee; Jonathan Klein BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Barry Adler; Moses Carey; Sharon Van Horn; Kate Wilder 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, Administrative Assistant; Maria Hitt, Healthy Carolinians Coordinator GUESTS PRESENT: I. Welcome and Introductions Mel Hurston called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. Rosemary Summers introduced the newest Board of Health member, Dr. Jessica Y. Lee, a faculty member from the UNC School of Dentistry who is replacing Dr. Janet Southerland. Dr. Lee has a master’s degree in public health as well as her dentistry degree and provided service to the health department dental clinics when she was a student. Melody Deas, Clerk of Court’s office, administered the oath for installation of a new board member. II. Approval of February 5, 2003 Agenda Rosemary Summers requested two items be added as V.F., Smallpox Employee Policy, and V.G., Tobacco Update. The motion to approve the Agenda of February 5, 2003 as amended was made by Jonathan Klein, seconded by Lee Werley and carried without dissent. III. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda None IV. Action Items on CONSENT Agenda A. Minutes approval of November 14, 2002 meeting. Motion to approve the minutes of November 14, 2002 was made by Alan Rimer, seconded by Jonathan Klein, and carried without dissent. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 2 February 5, 2003 B. Dangerous Dog Appeal Alan Rimer reported on a dangerous dog appeal hearing that was heard by three Board of Health members in January. Animal Control received complaints in December regarding a dog owned by Mrs. Karen Gilmore that, after investigation by Animal Control officers, resulted in a Dangerous Dog Notice being issued. Mrs. Gilmore appealed this action before the ACEH Committee on January 8, 2003. The hearing officers in a unanimous decision recommended that the Board of Health uphold the designation of potentially dangerous dog for the dog named Big Boy according to GS Statute 67-4.1(2a) as determined by the Acting Animal Control Director on December 31, 2002. Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore attended the Board of Health meeting and addressed the Board in defense of the dog, Big Boy. They stated that the dog named in the notice was in the house at all times and they stated that Big Boy is a 9 month old puppy that is never out of the house without supervision. They also questioned why the complainant was not present at either the hearing or at this Board meeting. Motion was made to uphold the designation of potentially dangerous dog named Big Boy according to GS Statute 67-4.1(2a.) by Martha Stucker, seconded by Jonathan Klein, and carried without dissent. C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund Grant Acceptance One of the priorities identified as a result of the Healthy Carolinians community assessment process in 1996 was to reduce the rate of tobacco use by teens. Rosemary Summers advised that a grant opportunity offered by the NC Health and Wellness Trust presented an opportunity to further this objective. A grant request was submitted in November 2002 to develop a teen program in both school systems in the county. The grant was collaboratively developed by both school systems and the health department. The health department was notified in December that the grant was awarded for a total amount over a three-year period of $232,848. The Commission cut the grant request by $15,000 and asked that the funds be taken from the travel line items. The first year’s allocation is $81,351. The grant calls for hiring a Project Manager who would be responsible for working with both school systems and other community partners in implementing the project. Maria Hitt explained how the project is set up to establish teen peer educators in each system who will actively work at preventing teen tobacco use from starting and encourage and facilitate teen tobacco cessation. The sustainability plan in the grant calls for the county to assume full funding for this position if the outcomes of the grant are met and the project proves to be successful in teen tobacco prevention. Motion to accept the grant award of $232,848 for three years, authorize the Health Director to sign the grant agreement and forward such to the BOCC for approval, and to forward the position description for the project manager to the BOCC for approval, with the stipulation that the department proceed with the assurance that the BOCC will fund the position given a successful outcome of the project, was made by Jonathan Klein, seconded by Alan Rimer, and carried without dissent. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 3 February 5, 2003 D. Creation of Dentist Position in Health Department Since the beginning of the dental program more than 20 years ago, services of a dentist have been provided through a series of part -time dentists on a contractual basis. Overall direction of dental clinical services has been provided by a part -time faculty member from the UNC School of Dentistry under a contractual arrangement. For the past five years it has been increasingly difficult to maintain a stable complement of private contracting dentists to provide patient care and oversight of dental residents and students. The School of Dentistry has shared the cost of providing these dental services, however over the past two years that support has decreased with the increasing reductions to the School for part-time faculty support. The School has indicated that it can no longer provide the support to the Health Department for part-time faculty on an ongoing basis. Therefore, the department is requesting the creation of a 32-hour per week, Dentist II position for the department. The position would serve both children and adult patients in both clinical locations and serve as the clinical director of the dental program. In addition to this position, the department would maintain a contract with the School of Dentistry for a Pediatric Resident one day per week for 35 weeks and a contract with a pediatric dentist for 17 days (remaining 17 weeks) for pediatric care of very young children. In addition, a contract for a GPR dental resident 4 ½ days per week would also be maintained. The cost of a full-time position is approximately $104,000. Prorated to 32 hours per week, the salary would be $83,200 and benefits would be approximately $16,640 for a total cost for the 32-hour position of $99,840. In addition, there would be approximately a $1,000 increase to our liability insurance coverage. In order to maintain services at their current level, costs would be as follows: • 32 hour dentist position (with liability) $100,850 • Pediatric Resident (1 day week/35 weeks) 1,750 • Pediatric Attending Contract (1 day week/17 weeks) 6,800 • General Practice Resident (4 ½ days week) 46,000 The amounts available in the current fiscal year budget to support this position fall short by $19,584. It is anticipated that this position will be able to earn that amount of revenue through increased productivity as a result of fewer cancelled or reduced clinic hours that have been necessary for the past three years. The dental hygiene position has been vacant for more than a year without successful recruitment. An alternate scenario for redirecting funds is to reduce the dental hygienist position to a half-time clinical hygiene position which will make available approximately $20,000 to redirect toward the dentist position. This would still enable the hygienist to provide prophylaxis to adult clients one day each week in each location. Dr. Lee verified that this would be an adequate compensation level to attract a dentist. The dental school has advised that the best time to recruit dentists is during the early spring as residents begin graduating from the dental school. Therefore, it was recommended the department proceed with recruitment as soon as possible. Motion to approve the request to create a 32-hour per week dentist position for the health department and forward to Commissioners for approval and implementation as soon as possible was made by Alan Rimer, seconded by Martha Stucker, and carried MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 4 February 5, 2003 without dissent. V. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. PHEADS Committee 1. Community Assessment Process for 2003 The health department in the past has been charged by the state Division of Public Health with completing a community assessment process every two years. The last such assessment was completed in August 2000. This two year cycle did not allow for adequate time to address needs identified as a result of the assessment process and involved a lot of staff time in conducting an assessment rather than implementing interventions to affect the chosen priorities. Last year the State altered the assessment process so that it would only need to be conducted on a four-year cycle and that it would correspond with recertification of local Healthy Carolinians coalitions. Therefore, for our county, a community needs assessment will be due to the Division of Public Health by December 2003. Maria Hitt, Healthy Carolinians Coordinator, explained that the Healthy Carolinians Executive Committee has considered a tentative outline for a community-wide process. That group has recommended the enhancement of the process by approaching various non-profit and government groups that may be conducting assessments of their own and asking them to participate in a single assessment every four years. A revised outline of the process was presented to board members for their input. Orange–Chatham Justice Partnership, the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, and Communities in Schools have agreed to participate to date. Board members are welcome and encouraged to participate in this process. B. ACEHS 1. L & W Mobile Home Park Update Ron Holdway presented the board with an update on the L & W Mobile Home Park case. Wayne Paschal is the owner of L&W Mobile Home Park in Eno Township and was under a Superior Court Consent Order from 2001 and further notices from Health Department staff to vacate spaces because of failing septic systems. Mr. Paschal appealed to the Board of Health with the consideration that he would connect the park to the Durham sewer system by June 1, 2002. The connection was to be by a privately owned sewer pump station that Mr. Paschal would install. Mr. Paschal failed to meet the deadline for installing the pump station and contended until early December 2002, that he still intended to do so, but had been held up for a variety of reasons. Staff was notified by his attorney on December 16th that Mr. Paschal no longer intended to install the pump station for financial reasons. Staff met with Mr. Paschal and his attorney on January 10 to review the situation MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 5 February 5, 2003 and inform them which spaces must be vacated to comply with the consent order and the other failures. C. Public Health Preparedness Grant Proposal North Carolina received funds from the CDC to enhance public health preparedness at both the state and local levels for the last two fiscal years. Approximately $2 million of funds from that grant are being made available to local health departments on a competitive basis for the period beginning February 1 through August 31, 2003. Funds may be renewable pending renewal of the grant application from CDC to North Carolina. Staff submitted the grant proposal in January to the Region IV Public Health Response Team for initial review. Following their review and recommendation, grants will be forwarded to the state by January 31 for decision. Notification is expected by the state in mid-February. The grant will assist the department in two primary areas; enhanced communications equipment in the event of an emergency and increased staff resources to further develop the plans that have been drafted and to start a public health volunteer corps for the county. D. Board of Commissioners Retreat Materials The Board of Commissioners annually holds a planning retreat to consider priority issues for the coming calendar year. Their retreat was scheduled this year for January 25, 2003. The Commissioners requested that each volunt ary Board or Commission complete an informational sheet for their consideration. This year, each department head was also asked to provide information summarizing various items for the department. Board members were given both requested informational forms for review. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair reviewed the Board informational form prior to forwarding it to the Commissioners. E. Possible Legislative Priorities The North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors (NCALHD) drafts legislative priorities each year that they determine will affect the provision of public health services throughout the state. As much as possible the Association attempts to coordinate the priorities with the Association of County Commissioners and with local Boards of Health. The draft priorities were provided to the board members for consideration along with a new tobacco tax resolution of a $.75 tax increase per pack of cigarettes. Last year the Board adopted a resolution that supported a $.45 increase. The new increase is being supported by a variety of organizations such as the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, and NCALHD, and others. Motion to support the new tobacco tax resolution and forward to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration was made by Martha Stucker, seconded by Jonathan MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 6 February 5, 2003 Klein, and carried without dissent. F. Smallpox Employee Policy Rosemary Summers distributed a copy of a smallpox employee policy passed in Wake County. The department has proposed a similar plan that would help protect our employees. It would bridge the gap for our employees who are going to receive the smallpox vaccination. As it stands, workman’s compensation insurance would not cover lost wages until the seventh day of illness. This would leave a gap of seven days that would come out of an employee’s sick leave time. It is the department’s view that if an employee is vaccinated against smallpox, although voluntary is a job related vaccination that enables the department to respond in the event of an outbreak. The proposed policy would allow the county to give those vaccinated employees, if they are ill, up to seven sick days without charging those days to the sick leave they normally accrue. Another proposal that this policy would address is payment for any uncovered co-pays during that period of time. Liability for those providing the vaccinations to others is covered under the federal Homeland Security Act. Phase I is tentatively scheduled to begin the first week of March. Motion to support the Health Department Smallpox Phase I vaccination program for county staff on a volunteer basis was made by Lee Werley, seconded by Jonathan Klein, and carried without dissent. G. Tobacco Update Rosemary Summers reported that the Orange County School Board is considering a 100% tobacco free policy. The policy would ban the use of tobacco products anywhere on campus including outdoor events. A first reading of the proposed policy was held at the last school board meeting. Maria Hitt and Rosemary Summers attended that meeting and spoke in support of the policy. A second reading will be held at the next meeting of the school board and Board of Health members are encouraged to attend and voice their support. The Department of Public Instruction has passed a policy that will be fully implemented by 2005-2007 that each school district is required to have a school health advisory council that will consider all eight components recommended by the CDC of a consolidated school health program. This school health advisory council will require a health department representative. Chapel Hill Carrboro School System has a school health advisory council in place already. Rosemary Summers proposed that an offer of a joint meeting be made to the Orange County School Board Chair by the Board of Health Chair to talk about health issues in schools. The PHEADS Committee would be directed to develop a proposed agenda for this meeting. Jonathan Klein will attend the next Board of Commissioners meeting to address Commissioners on the tobacco tax proposal. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 5, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 7 February 5, 2003 VI. Board Comments/Announcements NONE VII. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Martha Stucker, seconded by Lee Werley, and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on February 27 at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina at 7:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary L. Summers, MPH, DrPH Health Director Secretary to the Board