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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM121814JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, December 18, 2014 Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend WA 98368 Board Members Phil Johnson, County Commissioner District #1 David Sullivan, Chair, County Commissioner, District #2 John Austin, County Commissloner, District #3 Salty Aerts, Citizen at large Kris Nelson, Port Townsend City Council Shelia Westerman, Vice -Chair, Citizen at large JQ1 Buhler, Hospital Commissioner, District #3 Stufi'Members Thomas Locke, MA MPH Health Officer Jean Baldwin, Public Health Services Dir Julia Danskin, Public Health Manager Jared Keefer, Env Health Services Dir Veronke Shaw, Public Health Deputy Dir Chair Sullivan called the December 18, 2414 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:34 p.m. A quorum was present. Members Presents David Sullivan, Jill Buhler, Sheila Westerman, Phil Johnson, John Austin, Kris Nelson, Sally Aerts Staff Present: Thomas Locke, Jean Baldwin, Jared Keefer, Julia Danskin, Veronica Shaw APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Sullivan called for review and approval of the agenda for the 12/18/2014 meeting. Chair Sullivan added "Public Smoking Enforcement" as number 7 in new business. Member Austin added "State Board of Health Update" as number 8 in new business. Member Nelson moved to approve the amended agenda; the motion was seconded by Member Austin. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Sullivan called for review and approval of the minutes of the 10/16/2014 meeting of the Board; of Health. Member Nelson moved to approve the minutes; the motion was seconded by Member Austin. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT Kathleen Kler, County Commissioner District 3 Elect, announced she will be in attendance next month as a member of the Board. OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Letter to Community Pharmacists re: Naloxone Dispensing Dr. Thomas Locke, Health Officer, Jefferson County Public Health, provided the Board with a copy of the letter that was mailed to Jefferson County pharmacists asking for their participation in dispensing Naloxone either by prescription or by standing order from Dr. Locke. Dr. Locke is gathering information about the cost of the naloxone. Dr. Locke is also looking into whether it is feasible for JCPH to dispense it to users of the syringe exchange program. Dr. Locke is willing to provide legal access and training to any public safety officers that would like to carry it naloxone for emergency treatment of opiate overdoses. 2. Girls' Night Out Thank You Nate Julia Danskin, Public Health Manager, JCPH, shared the thank you letter that was sent to the Friends of the Port Townsend Main Street Program. JCPH received a donation of $3,120.50. 3. School Based Health Center Promotion Jean Baldwin, Director, JCPH, informed the Board that JCPH is currently advertising its School Based Health Center in the Port Townsend Leader, Peninsula Daily News, and through school newsletters and handouts. 4. Commissioner Austin Farewell Party Monday, December 22 at 1:30 p.m. at the Commissioner's Chambers in the courthouse. 5. Governing Magazine Article: Census Report on Poverty Ms. Baldwin provided this report for the Board for their information. The report estimates an additional 2.9 million Americans would be counted as poor if the federal government took a comprehensive snapshot of people's income and expenses. NEW BUSINESS 1. Preliminary Briefing on Environmental Health Fee Revisions Jared Keefer, Director of Environmental Health and Water Quality, provided the Board with the On -Site Sewage Fees and Activity Review. The Board last reviewed this in 2009. At that time, 8 fees were amended. Mr. Keefer informed that Board that data from a new review will be presented over the next two meetings with recommendations for action following at the subsequent meeting. Mr. Keefer provided the Board with the following information: • Staff tracked daily time associated with individual activities on Building cases from 817114 to 9/8/14. This resulted in 86 Building cases being analyzed. • Staff tracked daily time associated with individual activities on septic cases from 8/6/14 to 9/22/14. This resulted in 255 septic cases being analyzed. • Staff randomly selected and tracked activities by septic case for the "life" of the case from receipt to final sign -off from 912011 to 9/2014. 3'8 septic systems were tracked. • A total of 496 specific work activities were analyzed. • Mean time spent per case activity was approximately 58 minutes, with a range of 5 —1190 minutes. • Mean time spent per permit was approximately 546 minutes, with a range of 85 — 1,730 minutes. • Outlier is the repair on the Duckabush, which is still not complete, at 28.83 hours. Additionally, Mr. Keefer reported to the Board that support staff handle each septic case approximately 3 times, and handle building cases at least twice. This adds approximately 20+ minutes of additional staff time. Previous analysis showed approximately 69% of Build Permit Wastewater Reviews need to be re -reviewed, which adds to workload and staff time. This disparity of time spent vs. revenue will be reflected in the recommendations brought to the Board. Mr. Keefer informed the Board of some solutions to the aforementioned issues include auto -populating forms for increased completion percentages, applying Lean practices to reduce staff touch -time on cases, and electronic recordkeeping. Recommendations for fees or subsidies will be brought to the Board in the upcoming meetings. Member Westerman strongly objects to subsidies to individuals, and recommends that permits should pay for themselves. Member Sullivan pointed out the other bookend is enforcement and trying to find a balance. Members Nelson and Buhler recommend looking at the program as a whole to see how it can pay for itself, rather than looping at just repairs. Member Austin sees the social good of having subsidizing, and does not want to charge people the full fee right away. Member Westerman recommends policy that sets income standards. Mr. Keefer will bring to the Board in the upcoming meeting activity detail, time frames, and approximate costs, and subsequent to that will bring recommendations to the Board. 2. Findings of the State Board of Health Re: Complaint Against Jefferson County Public Health Dr. Locke provided the Board with a letter sent to him from the Washington State Board of Health that found Jefferson County Public Health appropriately enforced the rules and regulations concerning decontamination of illegal drug manufacturing or storage sites. The Board has determined that no further action is warranted on the complaint. A review of the findings can be found at lnttp !/sT boh wa g�v/€'ortalsl7/Doc/Meetingysf2034/11-12/WSBOH-11-12-14-Tab09b.pdf 3. The New Blue H: Findings of the 2014 Rural Health Workgroup Dr. Locke provided the Board with the report detailing the findings of the 2014 Rural Health Workgroup. The report looks at the many challenges confronting the rural health system and proposes solutions. Dr. Locke also informed the Board that the federal innovation grant that the State applied for has been approved and will be funded. Dr. Locke explained that the current healthcare system is a cost-plus system, which is not sustainable, and this report advocates for doing pilot programs using global budgets. The report also highlights the issues of work force recruitment, retention, and training. 4. Community Health Improvement Plan and Olympic Community of Health Update Ms. Baldwin invited the Board to attend the upcoming policymakers' group discussion on the Health and Wellness of Jefferson County on January 8, 2015 from 4:00 —11:00 a.m. at the Maritime Center. This meeting will review this year's work on assessing Jefferson County's health needs and identifying priority problems to address.. This is the next step in developing a community health improvement plan and involves city, county, legislators, BOCC, BOH, School Boards, Substance Abuse Board, Police departments, Jail, and others in reviewing priorities and developing action plans to address them.. Earll Murman will facilitate. Dr. Locke and Tom Glenn, CEO, Jefferson Healthcare, are on the agenda. This meeting will wrap up the Community Health Improvement Plan, establish priorities, and convince stakeholders to participate in this larger, more ambitious project. Ms. Baldwin also informed the Board that she and Dr. Locke are working as grant writers on the Olympic Community Health Grant. They are submitting the design grant to the Healthcare Authority. Additionally, Ms. Baldwin informed the Board that we were awarded the Healthy Communities Grant, which involves weight reduction, diabetes, and hypertension reduction. It is a $25,000 grant. 5. 2014-15 influenza Season Update Dr. Locke informed the Board that the most recent flu activity measured the end of the first week in December showed that numbers were ,lust starting to increase. Almost all of the flu is H3N2, which tends to have higher hospitalization and mortality rates because it causes more severe disease. One strain of the H3N2 flu has mutated enough that it may not be covered by the current vaccine. It is still recommended that people get a flu shut, cover their cough, wash their hands, and stay home if they are sick. People over age 65 can get a high potency vaccine to have increased effect from the vaccine. b. Ebola Preparedness Update Dr. Locke informed the Board that the state preparedness activities are winding down as the exaggerated media concern wanes. Control efforts have been ramped up in West Africa, and target goals have been met in Liberia and Guinea. There are no additional hospital acquired cases in the U.S., and no additional healthcare workers who have come back to the U.S. and developed symptoms since the New York case. As of one week ago, 15 people in Washington State were under active monitoring following their recent return from Ebola outbreak zone. This number will continue to fluctuate are healthcare workers return from West Africa to the United States. 7. Public Smoking Enforcement Chair Sullivan informed the Board that the issue of public smoking at a bus stop came up at a recent transit meeting. Ms. Baldwin informed the Board that the Smoking in Public Places law prohibits smoking within 25 feet of entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes that serve enclosed areas where smoking is prohibited. She explained that this is a common issue for a county Board of Health to discuss, and is a legitimate health concern. Ms. Baldwin will provide the Board with more information for discussion at an upcoming meeting. 8. State Board of Health Update Member Austin informed the Board that a full time staff member, Sierra Rotakhina, will do a Health Impact Review on any upcoming legislation. The request must come from a legislator and be sent directly to the State Board of Health or Ms. Rotakhina. Member Austin also informed the Board that as of December 1, Keith Greilner is the new Chair of the State Board of Health. They are still deciding on a vice chair, and there are two openings: one for a County Commissioner equivalent, and one for a consumer representative residing east of the Cascades, and preferably someone who can represent a minority population. ACTIVITY UPDATE Community Health Improvement Plan Meeting January 8, 2015, 9:00 --11:00 a.m. Northwest Maritime Center, Port Townsend No Public Comment. PUBLIC COMMENT AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR In 2015 the Board will have a new Chair, and the City and Hospital will recommend members to be appointed to the BOH by the Board of County Commissioners. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING The next Board of Health meeting will be held on Thursday, January 15, 2015 from 2:30 — 4:30 p.m. at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA ADJOURNMENT Chair Sullivan adjourned the December 18, 2014 Jefferson County Board of Health meeting at 4:26 p.m. JEFFE CO TY BOARD OF HEALTH Phil Johnson, Member Sally Ae s ember Kris Nelson, Member Sheila 'Westerman, Vice Chair Respectfully Submitted: Natalie Crump l Buhler, Member David SSuulll van, it John Austin, Member