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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 072403MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 24, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 1 July 24, 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 July 24, 2003 at the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Mel Hurston, Chair; Alice White, Vice-Chair; Jonathan Klein; Jessica Lee; Matt Vizithum; Sharon Van Horn; Lee Werley; Kate Wilder; BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Moses Carey, Jr., due to meeting conflict; Alan Rimer, out of town; Martha Stucker, moved out of county. STAFF PRESENT: Rosemary Summers, Health Director; Letitia Burns, Central Administrative 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; Victoria Huntley, intern; Rooney Mestas, Budget Analyst GUESTS PRESENT: Elliot Cramer, PAWS; Pat Sanford, Jim Sanford, John Manning, Orange County residents; Melody Dees, Clerk of Court. I. Welcome and Introductions Oath of Office for Matthew Vizithum Mel Hurston called the meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. and introduced Ms. Dees. Melody C. Dees, Clerk of Court, administered the Oath of Office for Matthew Vizithum, who is replacing Barry Adler in the optometrist position on the Board of Health. II. Approval of July 24, 2003 Agenda The motion to approve the Agenda of July 24, 2003 was made by Kate Wilder, seconded by Alice White, and carried without dissent. III. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda Elliot Cramer addressed the Board regarding the Animal Protection Society’s administration of the animal shelter. Mr. Cramer summarized his comments contained in a document he provided for the Board’s information and review. IV. Action Items on CONSENT Agenda A. Minutes approval of June 26, 2003 meeting. Motion to approve the minutes of June 26, 2003 was made by Kate Wilder, seconded by Alice White, and carried without dissent. B. General Practice Resident Contract with UNC School of Dentistry 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 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 24, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 2 July 24, 2003 clinics. The total cost of the contract for July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004 is $46,533. This amount was included in the 2003-04 approved budget. This contract could not be fully executed until the state legislature passed their budget. Motion to approve the renewal of the contract with the UNC School of Dentistry for General Practice Resident Services for FY 2004 and forward to the Commissioners for approval was made by Jessica Lee, seconded by Jonathan Klein, and carried without dissent. V. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. Dental Cost Study Report The last review and increase in dental fees was effective July 1, 1999. A cost study was done based on the fiscal year 2001-02. Victoria Huntley, an intern from the Health Policy graduate program at the UNC School of Public Health, performed an activity-based cost study analyzing dental staff effort to ultimately derive a unit price per service and determine if fee changes should be requested. This is the first time a cost study has been conducted for any dental services provided by the department. Using this study, the PHEADS Committee will be considering fee adjustments for the Board’s consideration. The Board commended Ms. Huntley for her work on this project. B. Medicaid Fee Adjustments Twice a year the state Medicaid office reviews the fees that are eligible for reimbursement by Medicaid. The department recently received notice that the following fees were changed as of April 1, 2003: Code Procedure Current Fee Proposed Fee 58400 Insert IUD N/A $85.00 92552 Pure Tone Audiometry, Air $15.00 $20 96152 Health & Behavior Intervention (HBI) N/A $23.00 J7302 Mirena IUD N/A $400.00 D7120 Tooth Extraction, each additional $56.00 $60.00 Proposed fees are based on the new Medicaid fees and are rounded up in five-dollar increments. After discussion, Board members suggested amending the proposed fee for the Mirena IUD to $420.00 to include cost of device plus insertion. Motion to approve the Medicaid fee adjustments as amended was made by Alice White, seconded by Lee Werley, and carried without dissent. C. Health Board Appointments The Board currently has two vacant or expired term appointments to consider; the designated nurse position and the designated physician position on the Board. Applications have been received for each position from several candidates. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 24, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 3 July 24, 2003 The Board discussed background and qualifications of each applicant and voted to recommend Dr. Tim Carey for the physician position and Christina Harlan for the nurse position. Motion to recommend Dr. Tim Carey for the physician position and Christina Harlan for the nurse position to the Board of Commissioners for appointment to the Board of Health was made by Alice White, seconded by Kate Wilder, and carried without dissent. D. Board Calendar of Events for Fall HSUS Report Presentation: The HSUS presentation of the report regarding the assessment of the Orange County Animal Shelter is scheduled to occur during a joint meeting of the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Health, and the Animal Protection Society Board of Directors on August 28, 2003. That is the same night as the regularly scheduled Board of Health meeting. There will likely be actions required on remaining contract renewals in August as well as presentations as a result of student project completion. Rather than schedule a meeting to conduct regular business in August in addition to this meeting, Jonathan Klein suggested that the Board of Health convene it’s meeting at 6:30 to conduct regular business prior to the joint meeting. Public Hearing: There will be a public hearing to receive comments on the HSUS assessment of the Orange County Animal Shelter on September 18, 2003. Board of Health members have been asked to attend to hear the public’s comments. Staff Recognition Breakfast: The Board discussed available dates for the annual Staff Recognition Breakfast and selected October 20, 2003 for the event. The awards breakfast will be held at Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill. Dr. Sandler: The Board indicated that it would like to schedule an event to recognize Dr. Sandler’s 23 years of service to the department. After discussion the Board agreed that a dinner event be held and that dental health staff be included. Open House: The staff is planning an Open House in celebration of opening the renovated Whitted facility. The anticipated date for this is September 10, 2003 in the late afternoon. The Board recommended September 17, 2003, as more Board members would be able to attend. The date may vary depending on final work to be scheduled at Whitted. E. Environmental Health and Animal Control Committee Report Kate Wilder reported that the committee met July 22, 2003. Among discussion items was the preliminary report from HSUS. Many of the comments in the report were standard recommendations they make to animal shelters. One of the concerns of the committee was that the specific problems that were associated with our animal shelter be separated in some way from the general recommendations that were given in the study. The committee plans to request that of HSUS. The committee cannot make any recommendation until the final report is received. HSUS did not want to issue this MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 24, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 4 July 24, 2003 preliminary report on disease management because of the possibility of statements being taken out of context, but the county requested one to address immediate needs. The committee also recommends having general stipulations in future contracts concerning quality assurance and governance included in the contracts. The county has asked the department to look at various options for shelter operations. A CD, “The State of Things,” from the WUNC public radio program was distributed to board members. This program was aired July 15, 2003. F. Health Director’s Report Grants: A grant application to the Samuel Harris Fund for support of the dental preschool screening project that is partially funded through Smart Start funds has been submitted. It is in the Amount of $6,065 and will primarily support a contract coordinator to provide follow-up services. Healthy Carolinians: The community assessment process is going well and collection of primary data should be complete by mid-August. Vendor and sponsor recruitment has begun for the Family Fun and Fitness Day on October 19. This will be the first Healthy Carolinians sponsored community event and Board members were invited to attend and participate. Community Health Care Network: We are continuing discussion with surrounding counties regarding the development of a community health care network for serving low income and unserved populations. The last meeting included Chatham and Alamance County Health Departments and Piedmont Health Services. The committee decided to invite Caswell and Person County Health Departments and these health departments would see if their respective community hospitals were interested in participating. UNC Physicians and Associates has indicated that they are not interested in participating in this effort at this time. Several physician practices are Access Care Providers, with UNC Physicians and Associates as the largest. Some of these physician practices may be added to the planning group as the discussion progresses. There is at least one planning grant opportunity that may assist the group in moving this process along. Accreditation: The North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors unanimously approved the Committee’s report and recommendation for establishing an accreditation system for local public health agencies that was distributed at the June Board meeting. It is the Health Director’s intent to volunteer to be one of the pilot counties for accreditation. The timing, while challenging, should be an excellent blend with the community assessment and strategic planning efforts. Senate Bill 672 on Public Health Infrastructure: This bill has passed the Senate but was not heard in the House. Moses Carey, Deborah Rowe (the Executive Director of the North Carolina Health Director’s Association and the North Carolina Public Health Association), and the Health Director met with Representative Verla Insko at her request to discuss this bill. Representative Insko is the Chair of the House Committee on Health. She expressed some concerns about the lack of opportunity for full input into this bill and wanted to ensure that it had full consideration by all stakeholders. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH July 24, 2003 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 5 July 24, 2003 She intends to take up discussion of the bill during the short session. At the very close of the session, in an effort to get the bill passed, it was attached to the bill with the Cancer Hospital construction, which did not pass. Volunteers: We have received return postcards from over 100 nurses who will attend an orientation and information session on volunteering with the county in the event of an emergency situation. The training session and job descriptions are under development at this time. Postcards have also been sent to pharmacists in Orange County. VI. Board Comments/Announcements None VII. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Alice White, seconded by Lee Werley, and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on August 28, 2003 at t he Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina at 7:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary L. Summers, MPH, DrPH Health Director Secretary to the Board