Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 September ~ -:;.-~ ~~~- 'f JEFFERSON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT HEALTH BOARD MINUTES: September 18, 1985 BOARD MEMBERS B.G. Brown, Chairman John L. Pitts, Member Larry W. Dennison, Member Glenn Ison, Member STAFF MEMBERS: Randall M. Durant, R.S. Gretchen Gephart, D.O.N. Joseph Fischnaller, M.D. Gael Stuart, Administrator All Health Board members were present when Chairman B.G. Brown called the meeting to order at the appointed time. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: the Minutes ot August 21, 1985. motion. Commissioner Pitts moved to approve Commissioner Dennison seconded the DIRECTOR OF NURSING REPORT: August was a very busy month, Gretcheh Gephart, D.O.N. reported. Nursing Service had a 50% increase in services with 1,571 people being served. * 356 immunizations were given to 220 people. Because the law now mandates that a child can not attend school until they have been vaccinated against the seven preventable diseases, most of these immunizations were given to children. * Alot of information was given out at the Jefferson County Fair this year about the new vaccine to prevent meningitis. Also had alot of questions about AIDS, lice and scabies. 801 blood pressure screenings were done at the Fair. 40 people were referred to their Doctors. 32 of the 40 were teenagers who all chewed smokeless tobacco. * The Washington State Traffic Commission, Safety Belt Workshop was attended and the Leader has been contacted and asked to run an article to encourage people to "buckle up". Students in the area Pre Schoollihave been given information and asked to be helpers so that when they get into the car they can remind their parents to bvckle up. * TlJe Nursing Staff did the teaching in the "Growing Younger" Program Dor senior citizens. The first two sessions were held in the L11~i Area, on flexibility exercises for seniors and healthy nut- ,r1~tion, stress reduction and lifestyle improvement. The. average age ,qf the participants in these sessions was 78. , 1, Ai stress reduction session was given for the Kah Tai caregivers. * An Osteoporesis session was given for the Brinnon Booster Club Seniors. * Particpated in the Child Abuse Council. <. Health Board Minutes, September 18, 1985 Page 2: * A Smokeless Tobacco Program has been initiated and area Dentists are being contacted and provided with literature. * Six cases of animal ringworm in children were treated. HEALTH OFFICER REPORT: The meeting of the Local Health Officials was attended, Dr. Fischnaller reported, by he and Gael Stuart. The Board of Pharmacy is still fighting to keep Nursffifrom giving bottled drugs, that were previously dispensed by a registered pharmacist, to a patient. Work is progressing to find language that will suit both sides on this issue. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIRECTOR: The month of August, Randy Durant reported, saw a decrease in the number of septic tank permits with an increase in the number of site evaluations. * Food Service inspections (35) included 18 temporary food service booths at the Jefferson County Fair, which went very well this year. * There were 45 office or telephone call complaints about various environmental concerns, which resulted in 13 field trips for in- vestigation purposes. * Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Program: Discovery Bay off Beckett Point showed the highest level of PSP in the State, currently. The Beckett Point Community Club has been advised so they can make sure people do not dig clams in the area even though Discovery Bay is closed to clam digging. * Monitoring the Port Townsend Paper Company Sludge Application Project continued during the month. There are three shifts being run on this project at present. * Nine final inspections of on-site sewage disposal systems were performed during the month. Randy Durant reported that he attended a workshop on the new Solid Waste Regulations and some highlights of the proposed regulations are: * Each landfill will have to do a groundwater study within twelve months after adoption of the regulations which should be done October 25 to go into effect the end of November. * Within three years of the effective date the County will have to install a leachate control system at the landfill. * Liners will be required in the newer trenchs at existing landfills. * If an area has 10 inches or more of rainfall a year liners and leachate control systems are required, the old regulations did not require these items unless an area had 25 inches or more of rain- fall in a year. * There is a waiver and variance section also included in the new regulations. Health Board Minutes, September 18, 1985 Page 3: * The last date for comment on the new regulations is October 4 with the final public hearing to be held on October 19, 1985. * The report from DOE on an inspection they made of the County's landfill has been received. ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT: Gael Stuart added to the Financial Report listed at the bottom ot the agenda, that the revenues will be about $3,000 more than are listed because of a grant that will be re- ceived in November. Grant activity will be increasing now, with the opening of school so some of those expenditures will increase, but every dollar spent on the grant programs is a dollar received in revenue. Mr. Stuart than cautioned that the County be careful in setting fees for immunizations. If the fees are set at a lower rate than in an ad- jacent county, people wtll naturally go to the county with the lower rate which raises their vaccine costs. The County with the lower fee loses on their administration fee as well as having to pick up the cost of vaccine that the State will not cover, because of this kind of migration. The fee schedules will have to be reviewed this year. The areas of planning and review of septic. systems should have fees that reflect the amount of -time thestafrputs into i:fi.em. . n As a final note, Gael Stuart added that the Conference Room in the basement is finished. Contract: Speech Therapist: Krehbiel-Johnson: Gael Stuart --revie-we,I Mary Beth Krehbiel Johnson ' s background betore recommending that the County Commissioner's sign a contract with her to provide services as a speech therapist. She will work with Mary Tudooc>in the Development Disabilities Program for pre school children. She also has a great deal of experience in geriatric speech programs and can work with stroke patients. Smokeless Tobacco Use by Teenagers: Corn.uiss:i.orEr' Pi tts urged the Health Department to send letternto the area High Schools reporting the information regarding the number of teenagers with high blood pressure who were using smokeless tobacco. (See Director of Nurses Report). Other County Health Departments on the Olympic Peninsula could be contacted also. Gretchen Gephart noted that the Cancer Society is aware of this problem and is distributing information about the use of smokeless tobacco and its relation to hyper tension, and that she will write to the area high schools. Proposed Cape George Sewer District: The Board of County Commissioners is faced with making a decision with regard to including the Highlands area of Cape George within the boundaries of a proposed Cape George Sewer District, Commissioner Pitts reported, and asked the Health Department if they have experienced problems with approving on- site sewage systems in the Highlands. Health Board Minutes, September 18, 1985 Page 4: Randy Durant reported that the parcels of property in the Highlands are larger than in the other areas of Cape George, but the same hard pan soil and seasonal high water tables exist in this area. Randy Durant will submit a letter to the Commissioners stating these conditions exist. present. APPEAL re: R.E. Duppenthaler: Mr. Duppenthaler was not APPEAL re: Bill Copeland: Mr. Copeland was present and related to the Board that he is buying a 4 bedroom mobile home which he planned to put on a mobile home lot owned by Charles Moreno, which is located in the Quilcene area. The Health Department advised him that the mobile home could not be put on this lot because the septic system was not designed to handle the number of bedrooms that would be on the system if his mobile home was put there. Randy Durant explained that the septic system for this mobile home park was installed in 1978 and was designed to handle a maximum of five bed- rooms, on two lots. Currently there is a 2 bedroom mobile home on one lot and with Mr. Copeland's 4 bedroom home this would make a total of six bedrooms on this system. Mr. Moreno, owner of the mobile home park, has indicated that he was not interested in upgrading the septic system to handle more bedrooms. To upgrade the system would require a bigger tank and additional drainfield, Randy Durant added. The Health Depart- ment recommended to Mr. Copeland that a mobile home with 3 bedrooms and less than 2,000 square feet be found for this lot. Mr. Copeland has put money down on a mobile home that is less than 2,000 square feet in size, but it has 4 bedrooms. In response to a question from Commissioner Pitts, Mr. Copeland added that he does not have any funds to put into expanding the septic system at present and that he hopes to be able to move the mobile home to a piece of property within the next two years. The present septic system was designed under the old criteria, but the soils are acceptable and there is possibly enough room for the additional drainfield, Randy reported. After further discussion of the possible alternatives available to Mr. Copeland, the Board directed, as recommended by Randy Durant, that the variance request should come from the property owner. The Board also directed Randy Durant to call Mr. Moreno and ask him if he wants to apply for a variance after explaining to him that he would be responsible if the drainfield failed at some future time. Randy Durant will also write a letter to Mr. Moreno outlining the risks associated with up- grading only the drainfield part of the system, as well as his alterna- tives. Medical Care for the Poor: Commissioner Pitts reported that he had attended a meeting held recently in Port Angeles regarding health care for the poor in Clallam and Jefferson Counties. A book was compiled called "The Poor Among Use - Health Care Equity In Clallam and Jefferson Counties'~ which indicated that the Olympic Peninsula h~ higher numbers Health Board Minutes, September 18, 1985 Page 5: of poor in all categories except for the elderly in Clallam County, than other Puget Sound Counties. The crises of poor people not .finding provider care is accelerating. Six recommendations were made by the North Olympic Health Planning Council; two of which were: 1) Find the minimum level of health care which should be available to people regardless of the ability to pay. 2) Develop a suggested protocol for both providers and consumers to screen and discuss charity care for needy individuals. This second recommendation, Commissioner Pitts continued, was the one that might best serve the immediate problem of people who do not have access to provider hemthcare. A meeting is planned within the next month to discuss this topic with all sections of the community and health care providers. Discussion ensued on the best way to discuss this issue of health care for the poor. The best way to discuss this may be to have a provider forum and a consumer forum, Glenn Ison suggested. This would help avoid any confrontation. Commissioner Pitts added that he would discuss this idea with Vic Dirksen at Jefferson General Hospital for his input. MEETING ADJOURNED JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH ~ B.G. Brown, Chairman ~L/?# John L. Pitts, Member Larry W. Dennison,Member