Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout051707 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, May 17,2007 Board Members: Phil Johnson- County Commissioner District #1 David SulHvan - County Commissioner District #2 John Austin, Vice Chairman - Counry Commtssioner District #3 Jill Buhler- Hospital Commissioner Distrid #2 GeoflMasci - Port Townsend Ciry Council Sheila WeJterman - Citizen at Large (Ciry) Roberta Frisse/I, Chair- Citizen at Large (County) S tqff Members: Thomas Locke, MD, Health Officer J ,an Baldwin, Public Health S ervic"" Director Julia Danskin, Nursing Programs Director Mike McNickle, Environmental Health & Water Quality Director Meeting was called to order at 2:30 pm on May 17,2007 by Chair Prissell in the conference room of Jefferson County Public Health. All Board members were present. A quorum was present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Member Westerman made a motion to approve the Agenda as amended. Member Buhler seconded the motion, which passed by unanimous vote. The agenda was amended to add Junk Cleanup to Old Business. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A comment made by Member Westerman was incorrectly reported in the April Minutes. Member Westerman restated her remark, saying the County needs to take responsibility to educate the community on the changes that will occur in the 0 & M program when the PUD agreement ends. Board Member Masci moved to approve the minutes of April 19, 2007, as corrected. Member Austin seconded the motion, which carried by a unanimous vote. PUBLIC COMMENTS Member Masci welcomed John Barth, Chair of the Substance Abuse Advisory Board, to his first meeting as an ex-officio member, as approved by the Board at the April 2007 meeting. OLD BUSINESS Jefferson County Women, Infants, Children (WIC) Prol!ram Facts 2006 Julia Danskin reported to the Board on the 2006 Annual WIC Report. The number of women and children being served is about the same as the previous year. This year Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) will be giving out approximately $2,000 to purchase Parmer's Market produce. She reported that WIC dollars being spent at grocery stores has gone down slightly. Last year WIC dollars spent were reported at $300,000 and have gone down in the past six months to $291,494. Julia indicated this is due in part to a change in Federal Government guidelines allowing WIC clients to shop at any authorized vendor. As of July 2006 clients can now take WIC checks to any qualified WIC vendor, such as Wal-Mart, making it more convenient, but also impacting our local economy. Julia explained the mechanics of the WIC program, including the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) First Steps referral process. Many times clients see a nurse at the health department first, and are then referred to DSHS for First Steps. The physicians also make referrals the First Steps program. Outreach efforts continue with our local physicians. Jean proposed putting an informational letter in the welcome packet to physician's who are new to the area. Adenovirus 14 Alert Dr. Locke spoke to the Board about reports of regional Adenovirus 14 cases. Oregon Health Services is investigating a cluster of serious lung infections caused by this rare virus. Several people in Oregon have been hospitalized and there have been a few cases of death reported. When this first appeared the concern was that it was a new or SARS-like virus. It was concluded that Adenovirus was not a new virus but part of a large family of viruses that are a major cause for the non-influenza common cold. It is difficult to detect this illness unless you were tested specifically for Adenovirus 14. Notices have gone out to Jefferson County providers to be aware of symptoms where groups of people show signs and symptoms of severe respiratory illness requiring hospitalization. There is no specific treatment for Adenovirus 14. Should this virus prove to be highly contagious, community-wide spread can be prevented by recognition of cases, isolating them and monitoring their contacts. As of date we have not seen wide spread activity. Junk Cleanup Member Austin reported to the Board about a call he received from a citizen regarding illegal dumping on Walker Mountain Road. The citizen said they reported this to the health department but feels that their complaint hasn't gotten any response. Member Austin asked the Board for ways to respond to the complainant. Jean Baldwin responded saying that this becomes a prioritization issue. The current Solid Waste Ordinance states, when an illegal dumpsite is found, it is investigated by sorting through the debris, trying to find 3 forms of identifying information. The person(s) responsible is then notified. If, after a set number of days the responsible party has not taken action to clean up the debris a fine is issued. JCPH has a 98% compliance rate. Regarding this particular complaint, two identifying pieces of information were found, both with a Missouri address. There was no way to pinpoint whose garbage it was. Depending on where the garbage is found, such as a state road, private property, county easement, it becomes a question of, "who will clean it up and who will pay"? In the past we have successfully used the sheriffs department, who in turn bill a DOE grant and send out a work crew. There is now a 3-month wait to get a work crew out to any specific site. Grey Wolf was approached. They will only do community work in the city. State Highway Patrol and DOT will not initiate the cleanup. Public Works is not doing any cleanup on county right-of-ways, as such; they will not clean up a state right-of-way. There is no budget to send our staff out to a site for clean up. The complainant sees it as a discrimination against South County because there is no tipping station. It was suggested there be a discussion on prioritization of solid waste complaints. Discussion to be tabled to a meeting in the future. Member Austin mentioned that he would bring up the issue at the next Solid Waste Advisory Board meeting. Jean will furnish the Board with the number of illegal dumping complaints by zip code. Member Buhler volunteered to pick up the 3 bags of garbage on Walker Mountain Road. 'Ill: NEW BUSINESS Substance Abuse Advisorv Board (SAAB) Report John Barth gave an overview and focus ofthe SAAB. SAAB has formed three subcommittees; one of which is working on the 6-year Substance Abuse Prevention Plan resulting from information gathered from a data questionnaire. The 6-year plan is the key focus of the SAAB. The results showed that 99% of issues seen by police enforcement were alcohol related in some way. When the data is compiled the SAAB will look at the many recommendations and will prioritize issues and present to the BOH their goals and course of action. John also noted that Jefferson County Substance Abuse Advisory Board bylaws need to be updated. OlyCap and Safe Harbor provide a counselor y, day a week in our schools, which has produced results. SAAB has also sent in a letter of support to W A DC requesting additional funding for the CODA program. Jefferson County Septic Code Revision - Update There was a written recommendation to cancel the scheduled June 21, 2007 Public Hearing and reschedule it for July 19,2007. Member Masci motioned to approve rescheduling. Member Sullivan seconded the motion. The motion carried. Member Westerman will not be available for the July meeting. She will submit any recommendations in writing. Jefferson County 6-vear Substance Abuse Prevention Plan Julia Danskin presented an overview to the 6-year Substance Abuse Prevention Plan. DASA financing requires that a 6-year Substance Abuse Prevention Plan be in place. This plans works together with the tobacco plan and the CTED plan prevention piece. This plan was the dedicated work of Kellie Matlock, Jefferson County Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist and Anne Winegar, Jefferson County Community Network Coordinator. They found the number one indicator to be early intervention of problem behavior. There are many programs in place working on this issue, such as Nurse Family Partnership, Family Planning and Project Alert. Gaps have been identified and will addressed. Utilization of Public Health Services Port Townsend/Jefferson County Comparisons Jean Baldwin gave the Board a copy of the letter she mailed to the City noting specific health services JCPH provides to City residents. She commented on the updated draft ofthe Community Health Services City/County split and stated that JCPH serves a disproportionate number of City clients relative to County residents who live in unincorporated areas. There was discussion about the loss of Motor Vehicle Excise Tax funding (MVET). When the legislature reassigned part of the Cities MVET revenue to public health, cities were relieved of their obligation to provide funding to the county for public health services. The legislature's action did alleviate the counties responsibilities for mandated services. HIV / AIDS Policy National. State and Local Challenl!es Dr. Locke participated in a discussion with other health officials of the state and local public health jurisdictions focusing on HIV related programs and their outcomes. The HIV epidemic has fundamentally changed over the past 20 years. He noted that this epidemic is less of a priority to the federal government today than it was 20 years ago, even though the epidemic has grown, and pointed out that funding is essentially flat for HIV. The state of Washington is examining the current system and how it works relating to HIV case management. 25% of people with HIV don't know they're infected. Early detection ofHIV infection is critical, since much transmission is thought to occur in the initial stages of the disease. Jean will be meeting with Kitsap, Clallam and the state officials to determine where public health is headed with HIV programs. 4th Annual Cross Borders Emerl!ency Preparedness Conference Report Dr. Locke briefed the Board on the Cross Border Public Health Public Health Emergency Preparedness Conference he attended in Victoria, B.C. This conference attracts a number of Canadian and US federal officials. In a large-scale health emergency British Columbia and Washington State would need to request assistance from one another. As an example, one topic on the agenda was the 2010 Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver. Active work for pandemic influenza and terrorist planning is currently taking place. Dr. Locke is working with health officers in Washington to organize a Cross Borders health officers meeting. Media Reports Jean Baldwin brought attention to the Clallam/Jefferson County Early Learning Summit, sponsored by the Clallam County, Peninsula College and childcare providers. The goal is to have the county provide funding for early learning programs. Julia will represent JCPH at this summit. ACTIVITY UPATE Data Steerinl! Committee New state demography and health indicators data is now available. Jean Baldwin spoke about the new data and would like to invite demographers Siri Kushner and Chris Hale and other data steering committee members to the BOH Retreat. The board felt it was timely to have the information presented at the Retreat. AGENDA PLANNING June Board of Health Retreat Topics New data sharing presented by Demographer Siri Kushner and Chris Hale Jean will pull together a priority matrix for the Board. Al!enda Plaooinl! for July Illegal Dumping On-site Septic Regulations Public Hearing Big Brother Big Sister report Meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm. Next Board of Health meeting is July 19,2007. JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH ~ ' ;' / .' /, -,,:{ '( t.' J,' ",Jt_ ~--:~- ~, 1,~i;J.?""-/ Roberta Frissell, Chair J~~~;' ~~ ?)ere Phil Johnson, Member "\v: 1\ \ ., J.' ., , j, \;' 'v, \ \"1:''------- l ,,,.,/,,,,,"" esterman, Member qd/~ Jill Buhler, Member