HomeMy WebLinkAboutM061517JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
MINUTES
Thursday, June 15, 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 42
Kathleen Kier, 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
Stuart Whitford, Env. Health Dir
Veronica Shaw, Public Health Deputy Dir
Michael Dawson, WQ Manager
Jenny Matter, Clerk of the Board
Vice -Chair John Austin called the June 15, 2017 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of
Health to order at 2:32 p.m. A quorum was present.
Members Present: John Austin, Kate Dean, David Sullivan, Jill Buhler, Kathleen Kler
Members Excused: Catharine Robinson, Sheila Westerman
Staff Present: Tom Locke, Vicki Kirkpatrick, Veronica Shaw, Stuart Whitford, Michael
Dawson, Jenny Matter
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Vicki Kirkpatrick requested to make an award announcement prior to Item III to accommodate
the recipient's clinic schedule.
Vice -Chair Austin asked for approval of the Agenda of the June 15, 2017.
Member Kate Dean motioned to approve the agenda as amended. The motion was
seconded by Member David Sullivan. No further discussion. The motion passed
unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Jill Buhler asked to add clarification to the second sentence on page 3, under item 5.
Vice -Chair Austin asked for approval of the minutes of the April 20, 2017 meeting of the
Jefferson County Board of Health, as amended.
Member Jill Buhler motioned to approve the minutes as amended; the motion was
seconded by Member Kate Dean. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously.
Vicki Kirkpatrick announced that Jefferson County Public Health had been identified as a
Breastfeeding Friendly Washington Clinic at the gold level. Ms. Kirkpatrick recognized Kathy
Anderson, JCPH's WIC Nutritionist, who led a collaborative effort to apply for and receive the
award.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There was no public comment.
OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
1. Smile Mobile in Port Townsend, June 18-30
Vicki Kirkpatrick announced that the Smile Mobile will be parked in the Jefferson County Public
Health parking lot and offering services to children (birth through high school) and pregnant
women. Dr. Tom Locke added that the Smile Mobile has been updated to serve more people
with newer technology.
2. WA. Dept. of Health Transformation Talks
Dr. Tom Locke informed the Board about a series of webinars offered through the Department of
Health to address healthcare reform and health systems transformation. Dr. Lock gave a brief
history of how the mission of Public Health has changed over the years and added that, currently
there is some uncertainty as to how public health will fit into healthcare transformation. The
webinars have been provided by the DOH to address this issue.
Board members had questions about the availability of exchange health care insurance providers
in the tri -county area. Dr. Locke said it's predicted that private insurance plans will pull out of
the exchange and managed care providers will most likely fill the void. Vicki Kirkpatrick
explained how plans are selected by the Healthcare Authority within various counties in
Washington State.
3. Salish Behavioral Health Organization Update
Commissioner Kathleen Kler:informed the Board that our region (through the Salish BHO) has
been offered afinancial incentive to become a mid -adopter of the State Directive to fully
integrate physical health, mental health and substance abuse for the Medicaid population. For
the Salish BHO to be accepted as a mid -adopter, each of the three counties must agree
independently and send a letter to the State. Thus far, there have been many discussions on the
pros and cons of becoming a mid -adopter, but no clear path to a final decision. The
Commissioners asked members from the healthcare community in Jefferson County to provide
input to their decision.
Jenn Wharton (Jefferson Healthcare), Ru Kirk (Discovery Behavioral Health), Dunia Faulx
(Jefferson Healthcare), and Ford Kessler (Safe Harbor / Beacon of Hope) were in attendance and
provided their opinion on becoming a mid -adopter.
The Board and those in attendance discussed their experience with managed care organizations,
funding implications of adopting or not adopting the State's Directive, and their concern over
how crisis services would be impacted. A discussion ensued regarding the integration,
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administration and funding of crisis services and the unknown conditions of how crisis services
will be designed and provided.
Vicki Kirkpatrick clarified state and federal funding and administrative options for Medicaid
eligible and illegible populations, and how different counties have chosen to administer crisis
services.
Dr. Locke informed the Board that other States have opted to use Medicaid Accountable Care
Organizations instead of Managed Care Organizations. He stressed the importance of innovation
and collaboration, as well as a fundamental shift from the "Barriers to Utilization" model
Managed Care organizations have traditionally used to payments systems that provide direct
incentives to health care providers to control costs and improve quality.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Washington Association of Counties (WSAC) Public Health Strategy
Kathleen Kler reported that a funding strategy has not been developed to fund public health for
Washington State and that many other states are having difficulty funding public health. Kate
Dean reported, that while on a recent legislative steering committee call, she heard that the
revenue projection for the State is lower than previous years. Vicki Kirkpatrick shared a
document showing a visual of how funding affects public health services.
2. Washington Association of Local Public Health Officials (WSALPHO) Summer
Conference Highlights
Vicki Kirkpatrick announced that the report to the legislature directed by a proviso in the 2016
supplemental state budget, A Plan to Rebuild and Modernize Washington's Public Health
System, had been released and is available online at:
http://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/ I /Documents/ I 200/FPHS-PublicHealthModemizationPlan2OI6.pdf .
Some of the topics covered in the report were also discussed at the conference. This included the
concept of shared services, which many jurisdictions are already doing successfully. There was
concern about how shared services will be defined and if jurisdictions will lose the ability to
independently define their shared services process. The two other main topics of discussion
were about how to fund foundational public health services capabilities and public health as the
Chief Health Strategist. Board members had questions about the function of the Chief Health
Strategist and Ms. Kirkpatrick noted that more work needed to be done to define the roles and
responsibilities of the Chief Health Strategist.
3. Olympic Regional Tribal -Public Health Collaboration and Mutual Aid Agreement
Dr. Locke reported that the American Indian Health Commission received a grant to revise the
operational plan for the Olympic Regional Tribal -Public Health Collaboration and Mutual Aid
Agreement. Representatives from the regional tribes and the tri -county area, including Dr.
Locke and Stuart Whitford from Jefferson County, participated in 4 day -long work sessions to
revise the operational plan. Once is it is finalized, Dr. Locke will provide the website where it is
located.
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4. Olympic Community of Health (OCH) Update
Dr. Locke, as a member of the opioid response project steering committee, reported that all three
work groups (prevention, access to treatment, overdose prevention) are moving forward at a
rapid pace. There was a brief discussion on opioid response activities in other areas and
fentanyl and carfentanil overdose.
5. Washington State Legislature Update
Stuart Whitford reported that no progress has been made with the bill for Hazardous Substances
Tax. There was a brief discussion on the impact of the Hirst decision on budget negotiations.
Dr. Locke reported that House Bill 1427 will allow local health officers to have access the
prescription monitoring program, which is a data base of opioid prescriptions dispensed by
pharmacies. This will allow local health officers to follow up on overdose events. The program
also automatically sends out notices to prescribers if there is an overdose related death.
The Board discussed the implications to Jefferson County Public Health if a state budget is not
agreed to by June 30th and necessary preparations.
ACTIVITY UPDATE
Kate Dean inquired about the results of the Healthy Youth Survey. Vicki Kirkpatrick said that it
will be discussed at the July BOH meeting. Kate Dean also asked about the status of the
Duckabush downgrade. Michael Dawson reported that the shellfish beds have not been closed
yet and they are in the process of submitting the closure response plan. A public meeting is
planned for late July.
Dr. Locke asked to be excused from July BOH meeting to attend a family reunion.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR
There were no agenda planning updates.
NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
The next Board of Health meeting will be held on Thursday, July 20, 2017 from 2:30 — 4:30 p.m.
at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA.
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ADJOURNMENT
Vice -Chair John Austin adjourned the June 1611, 2017 Jefferson County Board of Health
meeting at 4:37 p.m.
JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
"/& 'J '
Kate D4ulivan,
mbe I
Buhler, Member
Excused
David Member Sheila Westerman, Member
Excused
Catharine Rbinson, Chair
Jo ust n, Vice -Chair
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Kath n Kler, Me ber
Respectfully submitted
Jenny Matter
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