Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutM021617JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, February 16, 2017 Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend WA 98368 Board Members Kate Dean, County Commissioner District #1 David Sullivan, County Commissioner, District #2 Kathleen Kler, County Commissioner, District #3 Catharine Robinson, Chair, Port Townsend City Council Sheila Westerman, Citizen at large Jill Buhler, Hospital Commissioner, District #2 John Austin, Vice -Chair, Citizen at large Staff Members Thomas Locke, Health Officer Vicki Kirkpatrick, Public Health Dir Tammey Newton, Community Health Dir Veronica Shaw, Public Health Deputy Dir Michael Dawson, WQ Manager Stuart Whitford, Env. Health Dir Jenny Matter, Clerk of the Board Vice -Chair John Austin called the February 16, 2017 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:31 p.m. A quorum was present. Members Present: John Austin, David Sullivan, Jill Buhler, Kate Dean, Kathleen Kler Members Excused: Sheila Westerman, Catharine Robinson Staff Present: Michael Dawson, Tom Locke, Vicki Kirkpatrick, Tammey Newton, Veronica Shaw, Stuart Whitford, Jenny Matter APPROVAL OF AGENDA Vice -Chair John Austin called for review of the agenda for the February 16, 2017 meeting. Vice -Chair Austin moved to change the title of Old Business and Informational Items #4, "HB 1047: Drug Take Back Legislation" to "Legislative Updates." Jill Buhler moved to add New Business, Item 5: Discovery Mental Health and Jefferson Healthcare Collaboration Update. Kathleen Kler moved to change the title of Old Business and Informational Items #2, "Resume Mumps Outbreak Activity in Washington State" to "Resumed Mumps Outbreak Activity in Washington State." Vice -Chair Austin called for approval of the agenda for the February 16, 2017 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health as amended. Kathleen Kler motioned to approve the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded by Jill Buhler. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Vice -Chair Austin asked for clarification of the last sentence of paragraph two under Old Business and Informational Items, Item 1: Mumps Outbreak in Washington State. Dr. Locke clarified the meaning of the sentence and suggested striking it, as is was insignificant. Vice -Chair Austin called for approval of the minutes of the January 19, 2017 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health as amended. Kate Dean motioned to approve the minutes as amended; the motion was seconded by Kathleen Kler. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENTS There was no public comment. OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Introduction: Jefferson County Environmental Health Department Vicki Kirkpatrick introduced Stuart Whitford, the new Environmental Health Director for JCPH. Mr. Whitford previously worked for JCPH on a contract basis 5 years ago and came highly recommended including from JCPH's previous Director, Jean Baldwin, who had offered him the permanent position at that time. Mr. Whitford left his position at Kitsap Public Health District as Program Manager to come work for JCPH. The Board welcomed Mr. Stuart. Kate Dean asked about Kitsap County's food based businesses on septic systems as compared to Jefferson County and a short discussion took place. 2. Resumed Mumps Outbreak Activity in Washington State Dr. Tom Locke, Health Officer, informed the Board of the increase in the reported cases of mumps along the I-5 corridor and in Spokane. Although there are no confirmed cases in Jefferson, Clallam, or Kitsap counties, it is likely there will be in the future. In preparation, the superintendent of the Port Townsend School District has notified the schools and letters have been sent home with students. If mumps spreads to Jefferson County, it will highly impact the schools due the long incubation period of the disease. Students who are not vaccinated and exposed to mumps will have to remain out of school for 26 days after their last exposure or until they get vaccinated. Dr. Locke attended a Community Health Improvement Plan vaccination meeting and presented information on mumps and answered questions. One of the goals of the Community Health Improvement Plan is to know the vaccine status of every child so if there is an outbreak, they can quickly determine who is susceptible and take appropriate action. 11 Board members asked questions about the symptoms and repercussions of mumps, along with the effectiveness and availability of the vaccine. 3. Influenza Season, 2016-17 Dr. Locke reported that cases of the flu are declining. This year had the highest death rate since 2010 due to H3N2 (Hong Kong flu) being the predominant strain of flu, which is a more severe type of influenza. Although most deaths from influenza occur in those under two years of age or over 70 years of age, there were no deaths in those under age two. However, there were deaths across all other age cohorts. 4. Legislative Updates: HB 1047 and HB 1054 Kathleen Kler presented a sample letter in support of HB 1047 to require manufactures to collect and dispose of drugs residents no longer want. Support for this bill comes from the solid waste advisory committee, environmental health and public health. It is also timely as it relates to the current opioid crisis where many people with opioid use disorder originally started using opioids found in the family medicine cabinet. The Port Townsend Police department attempted to have a program to safely dispose of unwanted medication, but it is overwhelmed, in part because of the packaging. The purpose of the letter is urge state representatives and Senator Van De Wege to support HB 1047. Jill Buhler motioned to draft a letter in favor of HB 1047 to be signed by the Chair on behalf of the Board; the motion was seconded by Kate Dean. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. John Austin updated the Board about HP 1054 to raise the legal age for tobacco use. There was a public hearing on January 24, 2017 and it is currently with the House Committee on Finance. It passed with the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness. There is another public hearing on Monday, February 20, 2017. NEW BUSINESS 1. Discovery Behavioral Health and Jefferson Healthcare Collaboration Jill Buhler reported that the Jefferson Healthcare Board of Commissioners authorized a resolution to affiliate with Discovery Behavioral Health where they would work together for the first of two phases that would eventually lead to acquiring Discovery Mental Health. The final decision for acquisition wouldn't be made until the end of the year. Jefferson Healthcare has agreed to pay Discovery Behavioral Health $75,000 if the acquisition does not go through. Kathleen Kler asked about public comments and if there was a unanimous Board. Ms. Buhler said all the comments were very positive and the Boards were unanimous in their decision. 2. Three County Coordinated Opioid Response Project — Summit Report Dr. Locke distributed a series of PowerPoint slides from the opioid response summit and reviewed them with the Board. The slides included graphs displaying local and regional data related to opioid (including heroin) distribution, use, and disease. Dr. Locke prefaced the discussion by stating how critical it is to build data tracking into current and future programs to measure what is working and help refocus their efforts, if needed. Dr. Locke reviewed the slides and discussed the associated data that included graphs on opioid prescription rates, use by ethnicity and age, perceptions of opioid misuse by adolescents, fatality rates, maternal and infant addiction, syringe exchange numbers, etc. Board members asked questions about opioid use in Jefferson County, causes of overdose, syringe exchange program funding, and youth behavioral risk survey data. On Monday, February 13th, Dr. Locke attended the Medicaid Transformation Grant meeting and reported that interim funding sources have been identified to keep the project going until they receive the Medicaid Transformation Grant. Strategies and measures have been developed to meet the mandatory requirements of the grant, which are to prevent misuse and abuse, expand access to treatment and prevent deaths from overdose. Dr. Locke reported that the attendance at the Opioid Response summit exceeded expectations and that members from law enforcement, mental health and the chemical dependency treatment community were in attendance and very engaged. Dr. Locke stressed the importance of coordinating care between medication assisted treatment, individual appropriate chemical dependency treatment, and mental health services to receive the maximum results in treating those with opioid misuse disorder, which can have up to an 80% success rate. Kathleen Kler added that there are no physicians in Jefferson County to provide medication assisted treatment. However, with the assistance of nurse case managers, they are hoping physicians will be more open to serving this clientele. 3. Medicaid Transformation Grant Update County Administrator Philip Morley reviewed the agenda of the Salish Behavioral Health Organization meeting that was to take place the following day. The Board discussed the agenda items, including a proposal from the North Olympic Healthcare Network, the possibility of establishing an Opiate Substitution Treatment (OST) facility in Jefferson County, and interim / bridge funding for the Olympic Community of Health. Board members agreed it was important to support bridge funding until the Medicaid Transformation Grant was available in order to keep up the momentum with the Opioid Response Project. 4. Jefferson County Community Health Improvement Plan Update Vicki Kirkpatrick reminded the Board that there will be a joint meeting with the Jefferson Hospital Board of Commissioners on March 9, 2017. She reported that Dave Timmons, Philip Morley, Michael Glenn, and Dr. Locke previously met and agreed on a recommendation that will be presented at the joint board meeting. The recommendation is for the city, Jefferson Healthcare, and the county to jointly fund a full-time executive director and the equivalent of a 0.25 FTE for epidemiology services through December 31, 2018. 11 ACTIVITY UPDATE Vicki Kirkpatrick informed the Board that the Olympic Community of Health is conducting a survey(www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBVB89Y) to gather input from the community as it relates to the optional projects under the Medicaid Transformation Grant. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR The joint board meeting between Jefferson County Board of Health and Jefferson Hospital Board of Commissioners will be held at 3:00 pm on Thursday March 9, 2017 at the Cotton building. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING The next Board of Health meeting will be held on March 16, 2017 from 2:30 — 4:30 p.m. at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA. ADJOURNMENT Vice -chair Austin adjourned the February 16, 2017 Jefferson County Board of Health meeting at 4:30 p.m. JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH Kat4D, Me er Daan, Member Excused Catharine Robi on, Chair John Austin, Vice -Chi 1 Buhler, Member Excused Sheila Westerman, Member Kath een Kler, Member Respectfully submitted Jenny Matter