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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM022119JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, February 21, 2019 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 Greg Brotherton, County Commissioner, District #3 Pamela Adams, Port Townsend City Council Sheila Westerman, Vice -chair, Citizen at large Kees Kolff, Chair, Public Hospital District #2 Commissioner Denis Stearns, Citizen at large Staff Members Thomas Locke, Health Officer Vicki Kirkpatrick, Public Health Director Stuart Whitford, Env. Public Health Director Veronica Shaw, Public Health Deputy Director Michael Dawson, Water Quality Manager Pinky Mingo, Env. Public Health Manager Apple Martine, Community Health Dir Jenny Matter, Clerk of the Board Chair Ariel Speser called the February 21, 2019 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:30 p.m. A quorum was present. Members Present: David Sullivan, Greg Brotherton, Sheila Westerman, Kees Kolff, Denis Stearns, Ariel Speser Staff Present: Thomas Locke, Vicki Kirkpatrick, Michael Dawson, Jenny Matter APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Ariel Speser asked for approval of the agenda of the February 21, 2019. Member Greg Brotherton motioned to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Vice - chair Kees Kolff. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Ariel Speser asked for approval of the minutes of the January 17, 2018 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health. Member Sheila Westerman requested to modify the first sentence under New Business Item 4. Vice -chair Kees Kolff motioned to approve the minutes as amended. The motion was seconded by Member Sheila Westerman. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. Page 1 of 6 PUBLIC COMMENTS There was no public comment. OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Jefferson Healthcare (JHC) Update Vice -chair Kees Kolff reported that: 1) JHC successfully activated their incident command procedure during the recent snow storm, 2) both the cardiology and dermatology clinics have expanded, 3) construction for a retail pharmacy in Port Ludlow has started and construction continues for the new dental clinic, 4) JHC is working with local dentists to address available services and access, 5) patient visits to the Express Clinic have exceeded initial expectations, and 6) the Wellness Center recently had 16 people participate in the Dance for Parkinson's Disease program. 2. Bigotry as a Public Health Issue As requested by the Board, a literature search was performed looking at racism and bigotry as public health issues. Dr. Tom Locke, Health Officer, informed the Board that researchers have looked at bigotry from a public health perspective, using epidemiology to better understand the spread and impacts of bigoted beliefs. An article entitled "Why bigotry is a public health problem" by Ronald W. Pies was provided that summarized this research. The Board had comments and questions on local actions to address bigotry, promoting community resilience through already established forums (such as the Community Health Improvement Plan), learning from the study of other detrimental conditions where abuse is passed from one generation to the next, exploring training programs offered by the Mandala Center for Change, mitigating risk factors, and moving towards a more compassionate society. 3. 2018-19 Influenza Season Update Dr. Tom Locke said this year's flu season is much milder than last year's. This is due to several factors, which include a milder predominant strain of the flu (2009 pandemic strain H1N1), residual immunity from last year's severe flu season and a good vaccine match. Dr. Locke explained why flu vaccines have lower efficacy rates compared to others (e.g., measles vaccine) and the outlook for a more effective flu vaccine. NEW BUSINESS 1. Election of and/or Vice for 2019 Chair Ariel Speser informed the Board that she has taken a new job working for the Attorney General's Office and will no longer be able to serve on the Board. She introduced her replacement, City Council Member Pamela Adams and suggested Vice -chair Kees Kolff for Chair and Member Sheila Westerman for Vice -Chair. Page 2 of 6 Chair Ariel Speser nominated Vice -chair Kees Kolff for the position of Chair. The nomination was seconded by Member Greg Brotherton. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. Member Ariel Speser nominated Member Sheila Westerman for the position of Vice -chair. Chair Kees Kolff seconded the nomination. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Resolution for Raising the Legal Sales Age for Tobacco and Vapor Products Denise Banker, Community Health Educator, introduced Lindsay Scalf, the new Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative Coordinator for the Port Townsend School District. Karen Obermeyer, Community Health Educator, provided statistics on declining tobacco use and sales after laws were passed in other counties and states that prohibited the sales of tobacco products to those under 21 years of age. She presented a newly formatted resolution that was written with the help of Denis Stearns so that is was more likely to be read by the public. Chair Kees Kolff motioned to approve the resolution to raise the legal sales age for tobacco and vapor products to 21. The motion was seconded by Member David Sullivan. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Resolution supporting Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) Funding from the State Legislature Vicki Kirkpatrick, Public Health Director, presented the resolution in support of funding core public health services. If approved, the resolution would be forwarded to the Washington State Association of Public Health Officials, the Washington State Association of Counties and our legislators. Ms. Kirkpatrick explained the philosophy behind foundational public health services and how it is in the best interest of the state to equitably provide a minimum set of core services to all residents regardless of location in Washington State. Vice -chair Sheila Westerman motioned to approve the resolution supporting FPHS funding from the state legislature. The motion was seconded by Member Greg Brotherton. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Draft Joint Resolution of the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and Board of Health (BOH) regarding Regulatory Reform Philip Morely, County Administrator, introduced the draft joint resolution between the Department of Community Development (BOCC) and Public Health (BOH). The resolution is a commitment to start looking at options to reform regulations and associated permitting processes in order to reduce barriers to development while maintaining robust environmental protections. Patty Charnes, Communtiy Development Director, said some of the rules that oversee environmental protections and construction and development often conflict and are inconsistent. She is looking forward to finding ways to provide a higher level of customer satisfaction by working with Public Health in an integrated and holistic way, thereby making the development process less difficult. Vicki Kirkpatrick added that it is important to weigh the outcomes of regulations and look at the overall value to public health. Dr. Locke Page 3 of 6 emphasized the role of socioeconomic status as one of the key determinants of health, protecting the public's health by keeping food, water and waste separated in order to prevent disease, and the importance of working in a coordinated way to improve customer service. The Board had comments and questions about the Unified Development Code, areas of the code more stringent than required by state law, the importance public participation and including an advisory board, possible unintended consequences of streamlining the code, history of public participation in previous changes to the code, and the reasonable expectation of having a code that reflects a diverse and complex environment. 5. 2019 Washington State Measles Activity — Outbreak Update and Policy Implications Dr. Tom Locke said ten new cases of measles were reported last week, but it has primarily been contained to Clark County. Over a hundred people are working fulltime on determining exposure after each case is reported and over million dollars has been spent. Dr. Locke explained the process for containing measles outbreaks, including post -exposure treatments, isolation, and quarantine. Dr. Locke informed the Board of the current state of measles activity in Europe and the history of measles in the United States. Due to the recent Washington State measles outbreak, the legislature is considering not allowing personal exemptions for vaccines. On a positive note, measles vaccination rates have increased significantly since Washington State's measles emergency began. He also explained how new immune suppressing medications for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis decrease the effectiveness of vaccines like MMR and increase the risk of measles infection and complications. The Board had questions about the percentage of exemptions in local schools and actions by other health boards to support legislation to remove the personal exemptions. Chair Kees Kolff motioned to draft and submit a letter to the legislature in support of promoting immunity against vaccine preventable diseases. The motion was seconded by Member Greg Brotherton. The Board discussed the importance of speaking up and supporting the legislature. The motion passed unanimously. There was no activity update. ACTIVITY UPDATE PUBLIC COMMENT Member Ariel Speser opened the public comment period. Rebecca Taylor of Port Hadlock shared her experience of her children being harassed because of their last names. This happened to her children when they were in grade school and as adults living in Page 4 of 6 Jefferson County. She said racism and bigotry need to be addressed in the schools and in the community at large. Gary Lilley of Port Hadlock told the Board he was concerned about the mental health and effects of the people who suffer from discrimination in Jefferson County. He noted confederate flags displayed during annual civil war reenactments, a derogatory term used as a street name (Old Nip Lee), lack of diversity in Jefferson County, and described how people of color experience Jefferson County when they visit for the Blues and Jazz Festival and Writers Conference. Amanda Funaro of Port Townsend said she would like to see more awareness and conversations about what is happening in our nation and community when it comes to bigotry, racism or hatred. When these topics are discussed at a community level, they often don't include members from the diverse groups in Jefferson County. In addition, Ms. Funaro, as a representative of Goodman Sanitation, said she was concerned about hiring a code compliance officer and attorney to do enforcement, when the codes are unclear along with how to enforce them. She commented on the complexity of working with the County to identify simple items such as parcel numbers and case numbers. She also mentioned that she does not have this problem with Clallam County. Ms. Funaro recommended looking at how existing processes work and don't work before the whole code is rewritten. John Tevis of Port Hadlock informed that Board that Joey Gibson, a known white supremacist came in 5th out of 30th in Jefferson County for the position of US Senator, hate groups have grown by 30% since Donald Trump took office for president, the Southern Poverty Law Center is tracking 28 hate groups in Washington State, and membership to the KKK is declining because they are seen as too old fashioned. Mr. Tevis compared racism to the measles epidemic and asked the Board to find ways to immunize the community against it. Member Ariel Speser closed the public comment period. There was no agenda planning. AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING The next Board of Health meeting will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2019 from 2:30 — 4:30p.m. at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA. ADJOURNMENT Member Ariel Speser adjourned the February 21, 2019 Jefferson County Board of Health meeting at 4:34 p.m. Page 5 of 6 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH Kees Kolff, Ch it SheiltWes�t��rman, Vice -chair Davian, Member c� D is Stearns, Member Kate Dean, Member g Brothe on, Member ,7 - Ariel Speser, Membe Respectfully submitted J. Matter Page 6 of 6