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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 April County Health & Human Services BOARD MEMBERS: STAFF MEMBERS Robert Hinton, Chairman Richard Wojt, Member Glen Huntingford, Member David Specter, Health Department Director Jean Baldwin, Director of Nursing Services Larry Fay, Director of Environmental Health J. Peter Geerlofs, M.D., Health Officer Chester Prudhomme, Director of Substance Abuse CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND REPRESENTATIVE: Bob Sokol The meeting was called to order by Chairman Robert Hinton. The following Board and staff members were present: Commissioner Richard Wojt, Commissioner Glen Huntingford, Larry Fay, David Specter, Chester Prudhomme and Bob Sokol. Jean Baldwin was attending a meeting out of town. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioner Wojt moved to approve the minutes of March 22, 1994 as presented. Chairman Hinton seconded the motion. The motion carried. DIRECTOR'S REPORT FINANCIAL REPORT: David Specter reported that 25.1 % of the budget was expended and 26.4% of budgeted revenues have been collected as of March 31, 1994. Revenues are right on target while expenditures are slightly high due the prepayment of rent. PROGRAM/GRANT UPDATE: Drug and Alcohol Abuse Services has recently submitted a grant application that Chester Prudhomme will review later in the meeting. David Specter is a member of a committee which consists of local employers and health care providers that meet to discuss State health care reform. The purpose of this committee is to become educated about health care reform and how it will impact the community. On June 21, 1994 there will be a community forum held at the Port Townsend Community Center to discuss health care reform. The Board is invited and encouraged to attend. Copies of the Executive Summary of the Public Health Improvement Plan progress report for March 1994 were then presented. He reported that the Health Department hosts a Nursing Mothers' Tea for women every week to promote breast feeding. There has been a great response and it shows to be very successful. One woman sent a card expressing her delight and appreciation for such a gathering. HEALTH DEPARTMENT 206/385-9400 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 206/385-9444 DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 206/385-9400 ALCOHOL/DRUG ABUSE CENTER 206/385-0650 FAX 206/385-9401 HEALTH BOARD MINUTES - APRIL 26, 1994 NURSING DIRECTOR'S REPORT Page 2 TB TESTING: In the absence of Jean Baldwin, David Specter reported that the nursing staff is conducting TB testing for the correctional facility in the West End. This is being done as part of the "Urgent Needs" project funding that was received. FAMILY PLANNING: The Health Department will be taking over the Family Planning program and are currently working on the operation details. A contract between the Health Department and Family Planning will be drafted and sent to the Board of County Commissioners for approval within the next few weeks. PROPOSAL FROM GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH: The group is still working with the local physicians and medical community to establish referral relationships. David Specter feels that the group is not as enthusiastic about this program as they had been initially. He feels this is partially due to the group realizing that this is not a simple task, but very complex with system and insurance issues that need to be addressed. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIRECTOR'S REPORT QUlLCENE WATER PROBLEM UPDATE: L1rry Fay stated a public meeting was held in Quilcene to update the community about the contaminated wells. A representative from the Department of Ecology and the Department of Health Drinking Water Program were present. While the meeting did not result in a solution, it was productive. The Department of Ecology will be conducting more soil gas testing beginning on May 16, 1994. They hope this testing will better define the extent of the contamination and identify a source. All the information gathered so far has come from the water sampling tests. A short-term solution for the problem is the use of a tractor-trailer tanker to transport 3,000 gallons of fresh water to the contaminated residences. L1rry Fay completed a permit application with the Forest Service to access their water system to fill the tanker. The use of the tanker was donated by Glen Huntingford, B.G. Brown and other unnamed individuals. A Public Works employee will manage the tanker and P.U.D. will provide some oversight and technical assistance to insure water quality in the tanker. This solution will be used for six months. By that time they hope to find the source of the contamination. Over the next week the Health Department will be conducting limited sampling of the properties located adjacent to the contaminated area. Once more is learned about the contaminated area they will be working on a longer term water quality monitoring design. To contain costs they hope to make an arrangement with the State Department of Health L1boratory to share the costs of analysis. The scope of the analysis can be simplified now that they know what to look for. Larry Fay stated it needs to be determined how long the Health Department will continue to do the sampling and at what point the community needs to become involved. David Specter suggested asking the residences to contribute to the costs being incurred to let them know they have some responsibility also. Commissioner Huntingford stated that adjacent property owners could split the costs. If the property owners take over collecting the samples it is very important that they do it the exact way it has been done in the past to insure consistency in the testing process and secure meaningful results. Commissioner Huntingford asked if the Health Department has checked with Glen Gately to see what water quality testing capabilities his equipment has? L1rry Fay answered that Mr. Gately would be the logical person to conduct the sampling, however, he would not be able to conduct the analysis. HEALTH BOARD MINUTES - APRIL 26, 1994 . Page 3 DESIGNER. INSTALLER. PUMPER MAINTENANCE DRAFT ORDINANCE: The State Board of Health has adopted the revised onsite sewage regulations. Originally they were scheduled to go into effect in June, however, many Counties indicated that they needed more time to implement the regulations, and there were also some legislative concerns and concerns in the building and real estate communities about the rapid implementation date. The new effective date is January 1, 1995. Larry Fay would like to proceed with the original schedule of June or July and adopt an amendment to the existing ordinance referencing the new regulations. Then once the new regulations go into effect ours would automatically be effective. The draft ordinance on designers, installers and pumpers was presented to the Board for review and comment. The Health Department needs a process to certify septic system designers. Without a process the Health Department must review every system that is designed by individuals which are not certified. Copies of this ordinance were sent to designers, installers, licensed pumpers, and the President and Vice-President of the State Onsite Sewage Pumpers Association. Supportive comments were received from the Vice-President of the Association. The Board directed Larry Fay to make any necessary amendments and bring it back to the Board for their review at the next meeting. The draft will also need to be reviewed by the Prosecuting Attorney. FINAL ONSIGHT SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTION POLICY DISCUSSION: The Health Department is looking at opportunities to try to reduce the number of inspections. He will draft a policy statement for the Board to review at a later date. SUBSTANCE ABUSE DIRECTOR'S REPORT Chester Prudhomme reported that the Community Mobilization Against Substance Abuse (CMASA) grant application was recently completed and submitted. He has been working on a needs assessment survey for prevention, treatment and referral for the County plan for 1995-1997 to be submitted to the State by April 30, 1994. Approximately 50 of the 150 surveys that were sent out, were returned. He feels they will be able to gather some helpful information to put together the assessment. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 24, 1994 at 1:30 p.m. MEETING ADJOURNED