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HomeMy WebLinkAbout081607 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, August 16, 2007 Board Members: Phil Johnson- County CommiSJioner Distrtd #1 David Sullivan - County Commissioner Distrid #2 John /1.uJtin, ~-Tice Chairman - County Commissioner District #3 Jill Buhler- Hospttal Commissioner Distrid #2 GeoffMaJci - Port Townsend City Coundl Sheila Westerman - Citizen at urge (Ctty) Roberta Frimll, Chair- Citizen at Large (County) StaffMembm: Thomas Locke, MD, Health Officer .Jean Baldwin, Publi" Health Servi"es Diredot' Julia Dam'kin, 1'\Tursing ProgramJ Diredor Mike lvhNidde. Environmetltal Health & Water Quality Director Meeting was called to order at 2:30 pm on August 16, 2007 by Chair Frissell in the conference room of Jefferson County Public Health. Board members present: Chair Frissell, Member Austin, Member Sullivan, and Member Westerman. Members absent: Member Johnson, Member Masci and Member Buhler. A quorum was present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Board Member Austin moved to approve the agenda. Member Sullivan seconded the motion, which carried by a unanimous vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Board Member Austin moved to approve the minutes of July 19, 2007, as written. Board Member Sullivan seconded the motion, which carried by a unanimous vote. PUBLIC COMMENTS None OLD BUSINESS Jefferson County Clean Water District Press Release Neil Harrington, Water Quality Division Manager, informed the Board about the public meetings being held to discuss formation of a Clean Water District to protect Jefferson County's water and shellfish resources. Neil reported that there has been a lot of useful input from the public. Member Sullivan remarked that it would be up to the County Commissioners to approve a Clean Water District and that the City and the County will not overlap in funding for the same services. An MOU would need to be drawn up for implementation purposes. Current estimates projects a tax amount of approximately $18.00 per parcel, with the City included. Without the City's participation, the tax would be approximately $24.00 per parcel. He explained the difference between households and parcels. There are 11,000- Jefferson County Board of Health, August 16, 2007 Page 1 of6 12,000 households and 25,000 parcels. If the amount was based on households the tax per household would be approximately $40-45. Gibbs Lake Closure Neil Harrington reported to the Board on the monitoring and sampling done at Leland, Gibbs and Anderson Lakes. Three weeks ago samples taken at Gibbs Lake showed levels of Anatoxin A, 5 parts per billion. Health and safety guidelines specify a cut off at anything above I part per billion. The State Parks were notified and the Gibbs Lake was closed for recreational water uses. The other Park facilities remained open. This week's test results are due back on Wednesday, August 22nd If that test comes back indicating no toxins or shows toxins below 1 part per billion, the lake will reopen. Pharmacy Rule Chanl!e Takes Effect Dr. Locke provided information regarding the Pharmacy dispensing rules that went into effect July 26, 2007. This new ruling emerged as a result of pharmacists declining to fill legal prescriptions for emergency contraception. The rules were adopted by the Board of Pharmacy after a lengthy public hearing process. The ruling states that if an individual pharmacist will not fill a prescription, then the pharmacist must make sure another pharmacist is available to do so. If the drug is out of stock, then the patient can ask the pharmacist to find another drug store that has the medication in stock and refer the patient to that pharmacy. Board Correspondence Dr. Locke made reference to the letter from the Port Ludlow Yacht Club Women's Group. The Port Ludlow Yacht Club Women's Group made a contribution of$4,014.88 and presented it to Jefferson County Public Health to benefit the Jefferson County Breast and Cervical Health Program. Member Austin asked about the letter that was requested by the Board to be written to Jefferson County Hospital District #2. This letter recommended pursuing application for assignment of a National Health Service Corp doctor for the rural and poverty areas of Quilcene and South County. Dr. Locke responded that the letter has not yet been sent. Other correspondence included an EnviroStars award and a letter to the Port Ludlow Marina for their continued efforts in eliminating and recycling hazardous wastes. A Green Business letter and award was presented to Matthew Berberich Professional Gardening Services for their efforts in conserving water, energy and other valuable resources. NEW BUSINESS Hil! Brothers Hil! Sisters Presentation Crisann Brooks, Vice-President of Programs and Recruitment, from King County Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) and Sylvia Platt, Jefferson County Program Coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters gave a presentation to the Board and thanked Jefferson County Public Health for their contribution and highlighted the successes of the program. She noted that Port Townsend, Chimacum and Quilcene schools serve as key stakeholders Jetferson County Board of Health, August 16,2007 Page 2 of6 with the program. Ms. Brooks thanked the Resource Advisory Committee for their hard work in expanding awareness to the program. There are currently 135 matches in the program with a projection exceeding 150 matches over the next year. Ms. Brooks talked about outcomes and evidence that showed that the program works. BBBS of America conducted a nationwide study looking at the outcomes of effective mentoring. In Jefferson County results showed that nearly all of the little brother and little sisters surveyed, improved and maintained their status on self-esteem, self-confidence, social skills, school performance, and positive relationship with adults, family members and peers. Ms. Brooks touched on the strengths of the program through strong positive community relationships that have been built, challenges ahead with financial stability, local leadership and the need for volunteer mentors. Sylvia Platt shared her excitement about the success of the program and her involvement in it. She said she was pleased at how many high school students are involved. There are 64 high school students that are BBBS to the 135 enrollees. Sylvia shared her experiences as a Big Sister in the program. This year the focus will be on early intervention, getting elementary school faculty to refer kids before they reach middle school. Sylvia spoke about local support and the Cool Card program she implemented. With the Cool Card, volunteers can take their little brother/sister to various local retail stores and purchase at a 2-for-l price. Also sharing their stories of success and gratitude was a parent from the community whose son is a little brother in the program and Linda Atkins, from Environmental Health, who is a Big Sister. Public Hearinl!: Jefferson County On-site Sewal!e System Manal!ement Chair Frissell called the Jefferson County On-site Sewage System Management public hearing or order at 3:20 p.m. There was no one from the public in attendance for comments. Dr. Locke explained that this plan is in response to two government mandates, one from the new state on-site sewage regulation, which was passed two years ago and took effect last month. This mandate requires a specific plan for Operation & Maintenance which is reviewed and adopted by the Board of Health through the public hearing process. The second mandate is legislative and requires plans for establishment of Marine Recovery Areas in the 12 counties with Puget Sound shoreline. These two mandates were combined to create a unified plan. This plan is eligible for $100,000 in implementation funding. There were no further comments or discussion. Chair Frissell closed the hearing at 3 :25 p.m. John Austin moved to adopt the On-site Sewage System Management Plan as written. Member Sullivan seconded the motion. Member Westerman complimented the staff on their hard work. The motion passed by unanimous vote. Jefferson County Board of Health, August 16, 2007 Page 3 01'6 Jefferson County West Nile Virus Response Plan Dr. Locke reported that the state West Nile Virus (WNV) plan has been in development for the past 5 years. We are the only state in the lower 48 that has not had significant WNV activity. Washington's plan focuses heavily on exposure prevention. Dr. Locke emphasized the 4 "Ds", (da\^iTI, dusk, dress and Deet), which will reduce the likelihood of people getting bit. Alisha Hicklin, from EH, has been doing extensive mosquito surveillance on the Peninsula. She collects and sends samples weekly to the lab from different areas in the county. There have been samples containing Tarsalis species in Eastern Jefferson County, which, along with Pipiens species, are the major WNV carriers. Alisha reported that there have been 444 human cases of WNV reported so far this year, predominately in California, Colorado and North and South Dakota, and 15 deaths have occurred. There has not been any WNV detected in mosquito pools or birds in Washington. Washington is one of 6 states that has no detected activity. Oregon and Idaho are just now detecting activity. Alisha described the four tier alert system used in mosquito surveillance and monitoring. Level I alert occurs when there have been no human or horse cases and no detection of the virus in mosquitoes. Level 2 alert follows confirmation ofWNV in wild birds or sentinel flocks or mosquito pools. Level 3 alert indicates confirmation of horse or human cases and/or multiple positive birds, and/or sentinel flocks and/or mosquito pools, which means humans are more likely to come in contact with mosquitoes carrying WNV. Level 4 alert indicates escalating epizootic in horses and birds and multiple human cases likely to have been acquired locally due to high levels ofWNV activity. This level could warrant larvaciding or adulticiding. These interventions would only be implemented after consideration of the risk to human health, taking several factors in account such as the time of year and weather conditions, documentation of the presence ofWNV in the area, the abundance and species of the mosquito populations and the potential impact on people and the environment. Dr. Locke explained that the symptoms ofthe virus were flu-like and most people would not know they had been infected with virus. There is no treatment for the infection. Approximately 20% of those infected experience West Nile Fever and are at risk for persistent neurological complications. 1 in 150 are at risk of a neuroinvasive disease that can be fatal. Hepatitis A After Action Report Dr. Locke stated that this report came as a result of an emergency response to a Hepatitis A incident in June 2007. He stated that Hepatitis A is a highly contagious illness but there are effective tools to prevent it. After a case of Hepatitis A was detected in a produce handler at a local community sponsored agriculture operation, an investigation was conducted and multiple individuals were identified as potentially exposed. The Hepatitis A vaccine and Human Immune Globulin was offered to everyone exposed. There were a few individuals who chose not to receive either. Jefferson County Board of Health, August 16, 2007 Page 4 of 6 The Communicable Disease staff and the Environmental Health staff work effectively as a team to coordinate activities and contain the illness. The investigation report was written up as part of emergency preparedness training and offers the Board an unusual amount of detail into outbreak control efforts. Julia Danskin related to the Board how a larger outbreak would be handled. She stated, if the outbreak is a local outbreak, our first level of response would be to ask for help from Kitsap and/or Clallam County Health. At the second level she would go through the Emergency Operations Center and would activate the Medical Reserve Corp. The third level of response would be to set up a phone tree and recruit support from the state. As of August 9, 2007 there are no reported secondary cases of Hepatitis A. Jefferson County Public Health Budl!et and Timeline An excerpt of the complete submitted JCPH budget was handed out to the Board for review for in future board discussion. ACTIVITY UPDATE Chair Frissell spoke to the Board about the memorial service for Dr. Chris Hale. Chair Frissell presented the family of Dr. Hale with the Public Health Hero Award named in honor of Dr. Hale in recognition of her many achievements and contributions to our community. Chair Frissell said the service was well attended. Member Austin announced that he has applied for membership to the State Board of Health. He will keep the Board informed throughout the process. AGENDA PLANNING . Presentation of pros/cons of becoming a Health District . Budget proposal discussion Member Westerman moved to adjourn the meeting. Member Austin seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote. Meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m. Next Board of Health meeting is September 20,2007. Jefferson County Board of Health, August 16,2007 Page 5 of6 . .'It :;!.~.'" ??Pon 2dIow 8/iwk ~kJ po. Box 65338 Port Ludlow, WA 98365-0338 Jean Baldwin Health Department Director Jefferson County Public Health 615 Sheridan Port Townsend, WA 98368 July 19, 2007 On behalf of the Port Ludlow Yacht Club Women's Group, I am pleased to present you with the enclosed check for $4,014.48 as a contribution to the Jefferson County Breast and Cervical Health Program. The PLYC Women's Group hope this contribution will help the Jefferson County BCHP with its funding so it can continue to serve the women of our community with outreach events such as the Swedish Mobile Mammogram. This contribution is the culmination of the PLYC Women's Group cookbook project which began in January 2006. The vision of the cookbook project was to open our galleys and kitchens as we have done so many times during PLYC events and cruises with the greater objective of contributing to the community. Our initial goal was to sell 250 cookbooks and raise $2500. As you can see we far exceeded our expectations. With the help of numerous volunteers from the PLYC Women's Group, "A Culinary Cruise with the Port Ludlow Yacht Club" was launched on Opening Day of Yachting - May 12, 2007 with the first printing sold out. After just completing our second printing, this contribution represents the sale of 429 books with more requests coming in. Respectfully, . ." , ! ,~ . CjlLY! d.. cL 'L.L:..A..i=lLi./LhLL' Glenda Wetherbee Chair Port Ludlow Yacht Club Women's Group