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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH Final Minutes of May 26, 2021 MINUTES - Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 26, 2021 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 26, 2021 virtually via Go To Meeting. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Sam Lasris — Chair, Bruce Baldwin —Vice-Chair, Keith Bagby, Brian Crandell, Jessica Frega, Commissioner Jean Hamilton, Aparna Jonnal, Lee Pickett, Shielda Rodgers and Alison Stuebe. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Timothy Smith. STAFF PRESENT: Quintana Stewart, Health Director; Rebecca Crawford, Financial and Administrative Services Director; Victoria Hudson, Environmental Health Director; Dr. Monica Meng-Haggerty, Dental Director; Amerylis Jill McCullough, Public Health Nurse Supervisor I; Kristin Prelipp, Communications Manager; Beverly Scurry, BOH Strategic Plan Manager; Juliet Sheridan, Informatics Manager; and La Toya Strange, Administrative Support I. GUESTS PRESENT: Logan Butler and Brandon Friedman. I. Welcome New Employees Sam Lasris, Chair, called the meeting to order. Ms. Stewart, Health Director, introduced the new employee in attendance, Amerylis Jill McCullough. II. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda: None. III. Approval of the May 26, 2021 Agenda Motion was made by Alison Stuebe to approve the agenda, seconded by Bruce Baldwin and carried without dissent. IV. Action Items (Consent) A. Minutes of April 28, 2021 Meeting Motion was made by Aparna Jonnal to approve the minutes of April 2021 with an edit, seconded by Alison Stuebe and carried without dissent. V. Educational Sessions A. CDC Social Vulnerability Index and Vaccinations in Orange Co Juliet Sheridan, Informatics Manager, provided a presentation on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), one of the tools that the OCHD uses to look at vaccination rates in OC. Below are some highlights. S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda &Abstracts\2021 Agenda &Abstracts/ May Page 1 MINUTES - Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 26, 2021 • Social vulnerability refers to the resilience of communities when confronted by external stresses on human health. Such stresses include natural disasters or disease outbreaks. Reducing social vulnerability can decrease both human suffering and economic loss. • The federal government created the SVI to aid in planning in the response and recovery of some of these disasters. • Each census tract is based on fifteen social factors, including poverty, lack of vehicle access, and housing. They are groups them into four related themes. ■ Socioeconomic status ■ Household composition ■ Race, ethnicity and language ■ Housing and transportation • Ms. Sheridan displayed the OC Overall SVI map along with maps designated by the four themes indicating the varying levels of vulnerability. Ms. Sheridan shared how the maps give pertinent information such as indicators to inform the OCHD where they may be a need for more interpreters or a need for more mobile clinics in a certain area due to a lack of access to a vehicle. She also provided a link to the NC DHHS Vaccines by Census Tract - https:Harcg.is/OW9LK8 • OC Vaccine Data can be retrieved: ■ State Dashboard - Looks at the county population as a whole. ■ SVI and Vaccination Map — Only looks at the population eligible for vaccinations, which is ages 12 and up. • Some noted census tracts: ■ In general, the more rural areas of the county have lower vaccination rates. ■ Other than UNC, the lowest rate of vaccination OC has is 52% of the eligible population. ■ The two census tracts that contain most of UNC's campus have very low rates of vaccination (7.4% and 14.4%). Some factors for this include: o Students using permanent address (related to the insurer's home address) instead of on-campus address. o Much lower on-campus population than in previous years. The BOH members had questions that were addressed by Ms. Sheridan. B. Health & Human Services Consulting Group Vaccination Presentation Brennan Bouma, OC Sustainability Coordinator, and Beverly Scurry, BOH Strategic Manager, gave a presentation of the Human Services Vaccine Consulting Group's (HSVCG) activities. The group was formed to address equitable vaccine distribution. Below are some of the highlights. • The function of the group was pulling together human services providers from various county departments with human service providers who are embedded in the communities that the OCHD is trying to reach, particularly those who work in historically marginalized populations. • Barriers addressed included: ■ Transportation o Collaboration with OC Public Transportation provided transporation to any community member that wanted to receive a vaccine with transporation. ■ Language S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda &Abstracts\2021 Agenda &Abstracts/ May Page 2 MINUTES - Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 26, 2021 o Language interpretation was provided at mobile and pop up vaccination sites for community members in their native language. ■ Technology o Understanding that the internet is not accessible to all, registration was also offered via walk-in, the Call Center and community assistance. • Outreach and Engagement ■ Members of the HSVCG were selected based on their proximity in working with communities of color and vulnerable populations. ■ Homebound and homeless populations were helped with the assistance of partnerships with groups such as the Department of Aging, Meals on Wheels and the Homelessness Coalition Street Team. ■ POD sites and mobile van clinics were held at various sites including Lattisville Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Timbers Mobile Home Park and Fairview Park. • The HSVCG also tackled myths, fears and incorrect information regarding the vaccines and also was a source of finding out the concerns and/or issues experienced at the vaccine sites. • Upcoming Activities ■ The group will support the school systems in preparation for any vaccination barriers that families and/or children may experience as children ages 12-15 are eligible to be vaccinated. ■ The group is discussing ways to incentivize others to get vaccinated. ■ As the HSVCG will not continue to be as busy as they are currently, the group will eventually merge with the Health Equity Council. The BOH members had questions that were addressed by Mr. Bouma, Ms. Scurry and Ms. Sheridan. C. Child Fatality Task Force Report Quintana Stewart, OC Health Director, provided a summary of the 2020 Child Fatality Prevention Team (CFPT) Annual Report. Before she began, Ms. Stewart stated that she is serving as the interim chairperson until a Director of Nursing is hired. Ms. Stewart briefly explained the CFPT's origin and purpose, which includes reviewing medical records, discussing outcomes, identifying deficiencies and carrying out recommendations to prevent further child deaths. The CFPT members' composition is defined by statute and includes members of law enforcement, school, mental health, EMS and providers. In 2020, the CFPT met twice and reviewed seven child deaths. There was one system issue identified — insufficient Community Alternative Programs for Children (CAP/C) slots in Orange County to serve disabled children. The team's recommendation was to increase outreach to the Registry of Unmet Needs Coordinator in the county to communicate the need for additional CAP/C slots. Normally, the CFPT meets quarterly. Towards the end of 2020, there was a delay in receipt of death certificates and cases for investigation from the state, which resulted in a meeting cancellation. CFPT Activities and Accomplishments: • The annual CFPT Activity Summary was completed and sent by the date requested. S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda &Abstracts\2021 Agenda &Abstracts/ May Page 3 MINUTES - Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 26, 2021 • The team adapted to the need for virtual meetings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Individual reports were completed on child deaths reviewed by the team and were forwarded to the State Coordinator. The BOH members had questions that were addressed by Ms. Stewart. VI. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. BOH In-person Meetings Board chair, Sam Lasris, led the discussion regarding the Board and OCHD staff's stance on returning to in-person meetings. Ms. Stewart stated that the OCHD staff are flexible to the Board's needs. She also added that the Emergency Declaration for the county, which requires all boards to meet virtually due to COVID, expires June 30t". After June, unless there's another declaration, boards may be eligible to meet in person. In response to a previous conversation with the Board co-chairs whether a hybrid meeting could occur for those that preferred meeting virtually, Ms. Stewart stated she consulted with OCIT Director, Jim Northrup. A hybrid meeting is possible by having a laptop available to be able to see virtual members; however, BOH members would need to call into the conference line. Mr. Lasris also mentioned that the virtual meeting format is due to change. Ms. Stewart acknowledged that, in the new fiscal year, the county will be moving to a Zoom format away from GoToMeeting. Some of the discussion included: • Comfortability of Board members with meeting in person vs virtually and for Board members to be able to privately state their comfort level, if needed • Benefits to meeting virtually and its flexibility • An initial meeting in person and then meeting virtually afterwards • Subcommittee meetings— meet virtually • What would be the protocols/policy for mask wearing, etc.? Ms. Stewart stated that, currently, the county's policy is that while indoors, county staff is to continue to wear their mask and practice social distancing. Mr. Lasris stated that the Board will attempt to make a decision at the next Board meeting. B. Health Director Report In addition to her report, some of items Ms. Stewart briefly highlighted are below. • NC Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK) asked if the OCHD could house one of their consultants. They would complement our Family Success Alliance and the navigators and be a big help to the families they serve. NC InCK will contribute $40K towards the salary for the consultant's position. This request has been forwarded to the county manager and HR and is awaiting approval. • The NCALHD held its first in-person Executive Committee meeting at the Medical Society. Beginning next month, the NCALHD Full Association will go back to in person meetings in Raleigh. • On tomorrow, Rebecca Crawford and Ms. Stewart will participate in the BOCC budget work session for the Human Service departments recommended budget for FY 21-22. S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda &Abstracts\2021 Agenda &Abstracts/ May Page 4 MINUTES - Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 26, 2021 C. COVID-19 Update Quintana Stewart, Health Director, gave an update on the COVID-19 status in Orange County (OC) as well as took questions from the Board. Some highlights are below. • As of today, ■ In OC, there are 8,563 confirmed cases and 101 deaths in related to COVID. The percent positive is 0.6%. The state is at 3.8%. ■ Over the last 7 days, there have been 14 new cases, averaging 2 new cases each day. ■ For the first time, there are no outbreaks at any of the residential facilities in OC. Throughout this pandemic, there have been 25 outbreaks in 13 facilities. There were 390 positive resident cases and 242 staff cases that resulted in 69 deaths. That accounts for 2/3 of all deaths in OC. • Vaccinations— ■ In OC, 50.6% have received their first dose and 46.3% are fully vaccinated. ■ County demographic data that includes all OC providers. o 0.3% American Indian/Alaskan (0.7% of OC pop.), 8.4% Asian (8.5% of OC pop.), 9.1% Black/African-American (12.4% of OC pop.), 72.9% White (78% of OC pop.), 8% Hispanic (8.6% of OC pop.), 6.7% Other Category, 2.5% Missing Data • The state has changed the layout of the COVID dashboard on their NC DHHS site. It provides a general overview of data and now requires a simple click to get information that is more detailed. There is also a new link for wastewater monitoring. OWASA began sending weekly wastewater samples to NC researchers to support wastewater surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 in our wastewater in the county. Phase one of this project's goal was to perfect the analytical methods and contribute valuable information to the state about the presence of COVID 19 in our wastewater. Phase two began in January. OWASA provided wastewater samples to the NC wastewater monitoring network. Their last report showed that the level of SARS-CoV-2 in the water had plateaued. This information is on the NC DHHS site. • Both, Moderna and Pfizer, have applied for full authorization of their vaccines. Moderna plans to submit for their Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in early June for 12-15 year olds. • Currently, the state's five color (red, orange, yellow, light yellow and green) county alert system has OC in the yellow tier, which means that there is significant community spread. • COVID testing is still available at both OCHD, SHSC and Whitted, locations. D. Media Items Kristin Prelipp, Communications Manager, highlighted 4 articles that were included in the Board's packet. There was an article from WRAL about working with the Rodger Road Community Center (aka RENA). There will be a pop up clinic at RENA this Saturday from 9am to 12 noon. The Herald Sun had an article that mentioned OC as being at the top of this list of NC counties with at least partially vaccinated persons based on population percentages. Lastly, there were 2 Chapelboro articles that spoke about the transition to walk-in clinics at the OCHD and that persons 12 and up are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda &Abstracts\2021 Agenda &Abstracts/ May Page 5 MINUTES - Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 26, 2021 Media items were in the packet which focused on Orange County's events and our involvement in various efforts. VII. Board Comments None. Vill. Adjournment Alison Stuebe moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:30pm and Aparna Jonnal seconded. The next Board of Health Meeting will be held June 23, 2021 at 7:00pm via Go To Meeting. Respectfully submitted, Quintana Stewart, MPA Orange County Health Director Secretary to the Board S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda &Abstracts\2021 Agenda &Abstracts/ May Page 6