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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM101812JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:30 PM — 4:30 PM Cotton Building, 607 Water Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Board Members StaffMembers Phil Johnson, Chair, County Commissioner District #1 Thomas Locke, MD, MPH Health Officer David Sullivan, County Commissioner, District #2 Jean Baldwin, Public Health Services Director John Austin, County Commissioner, District #3 Julia Danskin, Nursing Services Director Roberta Frissell, citizen at large (County) Jared Keefer, Environmental Health Services Director Catharine Robinson, Port Townsend City Council Sheila Westerman, Citizen at large (City) JN Buhler, Vice Chair, Hospital Commissioner, District #2 Chair Johnson called the meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 3:30 PM. A quorum was present. Members Present: Phil Johnson, David Sullivan, John Austin, Roberta. Frissell, Sheila Westerman, Jill Buhler Members Excused: Catharine Robinson Staff Present: Dr. Thomas Locke, Jean Baldwin, Veronica Shaw, Julia Danskin, Cathy Avery APPROVAL OF AGENDA Member Westerman requested a report on the current status of the mill landfill permit application be added as item # 1 under Old Business. Member Austin moved to approve the agenda of the October 18, 2012 BOH meeting as amended. Member Buhler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Westerman requested on page 3 under BEACH Program Update the spelling of "Fort Warden" be changed to "Fort Worden". Member Sullivan moved to approve the minutes of the September 20, 2012 BOH meeting as amended. Member Westerman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. OLD BUSINESS and INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Update on mill application Dr. Locke reported that on September 4, 2012 the Port Townsend Paper submitted their application for a renewal of their existing inert waste landfill permit with additional conditions involving ground water monitoring and financial assurance. The application has been reviewed and a decision was issued October 17, 2012. The decision was to deny the application. Dr. Locke also discussed the two possible scenarios for the appeal process. Under state rules, a landfill permit denial appeal is first heard in a local administrative hearing presided by the local Health Officer with subsequent appeal, if necessary, to the Washington State Pollution Control Board. Under local solid waste rules, appeals are first heard by the local Health Officer and subsequent appeals are to the Board of Health. Dr. Locke urged the Board to maintain a neutral position on the issue. Jefferson County Pertussis Outbreak Final Report Dr. Locke stated that the Pertussis outbreak was winding down. The final count in Jefferson County was 22 confirmed and 2 probable cases with only 1 case below 1 year of age. Dr. Locke discussed the summary of Pertussis cases for Jefferson County which was included in the agenda packet, and shows the differences in Jefferson County statistics as compared to the State. Dr. Locke pointed out that most of the Jefferson County cases were in the 1 — 6 year age group, which is younger than the rest of the state. 75% of the state cases were in fully vaccinated people suggesting that vaccination may be wearing off prematurely. In Jefferson County, more than 1/2 the cases were in people that were not fully vaccinated. Jean Baldwin reported even though the new law is in effect and staff in schools, including school secretaries, has been trained, the immunization rate continues to be low. Nationwide Recall of Contaminated Pharmacy Products Dr. Locke reported there has been a nationwide recall on injectable solutions made by a large compounding pharmacy on the east coast. There were at least 3 batches of steroid containing products that were grossly contaminated with fungi and caused about 240 cases of fungal meningitis. There have been 12 deaths associated with the contamination. Dr. Locke stated that Jefferson Health Care and Forks Community Hospital did not receive anything from this pharmacy. Olympic Medical Center only received a topical compound which is regarded as a very low risk exposure. Smilemobile Coming to Jefferson County Julia Danskin announced the Smilemobile will be at Chimacum School November 5b through November 16`h. Anyone interested can call JCPH for an appointment. 2012 Jefferson County Budget: Water Quality and Community Health Veronica Shaw reported on concerns with the Water Quality program budget. Ms. Shaw reported that in the past, staff reorganization made it possible to maintain senior staff and the meet deliverables but that is not possible now. Water Quality is looking at a County general fund contribution reduction of $27,000. The revenue sources that Water Quality relies on are general fund, grant dollars and a fee assessed per parcel. There is concern because the general fund money has been reduced by 75% since 2009 and that money goes toward administration, overhead, building rent, the time spent writing grants and support staff. At the rate the general fund money has been reduced it looks like by 2014 there will be no general fund money. The services that will be impacted are lake biotoxin monitoring, shellfish biotoxin monitoring, pollution source identification and correction, water quality sampling, public education and outreach and grant administration. Ms. Shaw stated there are grant deliverables that have to be met and there is the ability to meet more if staff had the opportunity. There is money being left at the state level because they are not completing grant deliverable due to staffing levels. Federal Sequestration May Lead to 7.6% Public Health Funding Reduction Dr. Locke reported that according to a report released by the White House Office of Management and Budget on the Sequestration Transparency Act, funding for public health services will be cut by 7.6% - 8.2% at the federal level. Member Austin moved to direct JCPH to provide a brief letter, to our congressional delegation and the two candidates signed by the Chair showing examples of what an 8-10% cut would do to our programs. Member Buhler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. How Healthy Are We on the North Olympic Peninsula? Article Dr. Locke presented an article he wrote that appeared in local newspapers. He urged people to become familiar with community health assessments that are done every 3 years, which is the tool used that tries to answer the question, how healthy are we. NEW BUSINESS Community Health Fee Setting Policy Jean Baldwin discussed the Community Health Fees setting policy which was included in the agenda packet. She pointed out that Community Health fees are based on the actual cost of services and many are tied to federal funding that requires a sliding scale fee. Ms. Baldwin asked the Board to review and either approve or make changes to the document. Member Buhler asked for the words "too high" be quantified under office visit fees. Dr. Locke recommended that the sentence be rephrased to "In the event the cost analysis exceeds the contracted private insurance provider rates or market rates the lower of the rates will apply." Member Buhler moved to accept the Community Health Fee Setting policy as amended by Dr. Locke. Member Austin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Outbreak in Jefferson County Jean Baldwin reported on Saturday September 22nd, a family of 7 was admitted to the hospital for paralytic shellfish poisoning from ingesting mussels that were harvested at Discovery Bay. This resulted in six staff members of JCPH working through the weekend. Take Charge Program Increases Access to Family Planning Services Jean Baldwin announced that changes to the state and federal program, Take Charge, will allow JCPH to reach more clients and can expect more women to get access to services. Substance Abuse Advisory Board Appointment Member Austin reported that the Substance Abuse Advisory Board recently met and interviewed Michael Evans to fill a position on the board. Member Austin stated that the SAAB strongly recommends to the BOH for Michael Evans to be appointed to the SAAB. Member Austin moved to direct the Chair of the BOH to appoint Michael Evans to the SAAB. Member Buhler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ACTIVITY UPDATE Jean Baldwin announced that Mary Selecky will be at JCPH October 19, 2012 and invited all Board of Health members to attend. Jean Baldwin announced, on October 18, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at Jamestown S'Klallam Campus, Mary Selecky is presenting Dr. Locke the Warren Featherstone Reid Award posthumously awarded to his wife Kris Locke for her dedicated work to improve access to health care for American Indian Tribes in Washington State and for her national health reform work on behalf of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe. PUBLIC COMMENT Elaine Baily asked for information to be put on the website that would be useful to people who are resistant to getting immunized. Val Phimister presented information on the cleanup of the Kimberly Clark Mill in Everett, and thanked Dr. Locke for insisting on a limited purpose landfill permit. Mike (last name inaudible) commented on what Dr. Locke said regarding funding cuts. He urged people to get in contact with state and national legislatures to correct an imbalance of reimbursement received from Medicare. Dave (last name inaudible) commended Dr. Locke for taking a preventive approach environmental health protection rather than waiting until a failure has occurred. Gretchen Brewer thanked Dr. Locke for being strong with the landfill designation and encourages proactively looking at other waste streams that are not characterized. Elaine Baily stated she has passed on an enormous amount of information she has learned from attending BOH meetings. Member Frissell suggested the press be present at a lot more meetings, if not all, to help keep the public informed. AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR Member Sullivan announced there will be no November BOH meeting. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on December 20, 2012 from 2:30 — 4:30 pm. ADJOURNMENT Chair Johnson adjourned the BOH meeting at 4:06 pm. JEFF ON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH 04?A,6&e� Phil Johnson, JAI Buhler, Vice Chair e/yr' Roberta. Frissell, Member DavidWiaA. er Catharine Robinson, Member Jo Austin, ember Sheila Westerman, Member Respectfully Submitted: Stacie Reid