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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHealth Board - Minutes - 12/16/2013 BAYFIELD COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING December 16, 2013 – 4:00 PM Health Department Resource Room Present: Elaine Kopp, John Bennett, Ken Jardine, Harold Maki, Winefred Punjak, Wayne Williams, Beth Meyers Absent: Deb Dryer Staff: Terri Kramolis, Cathy Moore Others: none 1. Call the Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm by Chairperson Meyers. 2. Approval of October 21, 2013 Meeting Minutes: A motion to approve the minutes of October 21, 2013 meeting as presented was made by Jardine; motion seconded by Williams. Motion carried. 3. Adoption of Agenda: A motion to adopt the agenda as presented with the addition of an update on the health insurance issue was made by Kopp; motion seconded by Bennett. Motion carried. 4. Update on the NW Wisconsin Tobacco Free Coalition Activities for 2013 Presented by Marilyn Jenkins: Marilyn was unable to attend due to the weather. She is scheduled to be on the February 17, 2014 meeting agenda. 5. Environmental Health Report: The Health Department, our environmental staff, DNR, State Bureau of Occupational Health and a hazmat team from Superior were involved in a human health hazard in Cable. There was a possibility of toxic chemicals in the soil on private property. Multiple soil samples were taken at the site for testing and all were negative. Water samples were taken and showed slight chemical evidence but not in toxic levels. The DNR will not do any more testing. At this point, the Health Department has done all we can do. A board member suggested the DNR write a letter to the property owner stating that the property owner would be liable for any other testing done on the property. The City of Washburn is building a collection pond for all the sediment that washes into the lake at Thompson’s West End Beach. They are going to take out the playground and put in a settling pond. This is part of the $90,000 grant the City of Washburn received from UW-Oshkosh to correct the runoff problem at Thompson’s West End Beach. 6. Family Planning Update: The Health Board received an outline of the steps that have been taken and what process the Director would like take. The contract will be open in 2015 although the County Administrator has suggested we take over the program before we even have grant funding. The grant amount is $23,000 but the billable services are estimated at $115,000. The Director plans to meet with Lisa Kane, who is the Clinical Director at the Health Care Clinic, regarding our taking over the program. The Director would like to have policies and procedures, and a plan in place before we move forward. Price County has been contacted regarding this change. Price County is the fiscal agent doing all the billing for the Health Care Clinic. Price County keeps a 10 percent administration fee so this will be affecting them also. The Director would like to go to other health departments that have the Family Planning program to see how they run it. A motion was made by Kopp for the Director to continue working on the plan and to let the Board know when she needs further backing; motion seconded by Bennett. Motion carried. At that point the Director would like support from both the Board of Health and area physicians in her efforts to continue pursuing this funding. 7. Preparedness Update: This is one of the tenets of public health. We receive funding to do community-wide preparedness plans. This sits in public health because of the possibility of mass clinics. We are currently partnering with Ashland County and Red Cliff. Bad River has recently shown interest in joining our partnership. Ashland County and Red Cliff contribute part of their funding to aid in coordinating and planning. We also coordinate with Jan Victorson, Bayfield County Emergency Management Coordinator. The role of the sheriff and highway departments would play in a disaster was explained. We have Memorandums of Understanding with St. Luke’s and Essentia Health regarding assistance with staff and nursing. There are three priority areas this year. The first concerns the capability of the local health department to provide community preparedness. We have looked at media pieces and outreach on how to get people to make their own personal plan. We have been working with Beth on a program she has through CORE called Fair Weather Friends. They have a call tree to activate in inclement weather to call seniors and make certain they are safe. With this model, and since we are in partnership with Ashland County, we have been looking at using Faith in Action or some similar entity for a similar program. We need to plan for whatever would tax our current structure. The second priority is mass fatality capability. We need to plan within our structure for anything that would overwhelm our current ability. There are a lot of legal and logistical components to this. The final one for this year is responder health and safety. This is another one that we work closely with Jan. Plans need to be built to keep them safe and to provide the training that they need. An exercise has to be done each year. We need to do a real-time event or a tabletop exercise. 8. Next Meeting Date: Monday, February 17, 2014 at 4:00 pm in the EOC. 9. Other Issues: Insurance: The health department is coordinating with Security Health’s Wellness Program because we have a wellness program. Last year the County said employees with the County health insurance had an opportunity to pay 10 percent of the health insurance premium rather than 15 percent by participating in the biometrics and seeing their physician for an annual exam. This will be the same for 2014. A point rating is going to be given to each of the items in the biometrics. The total points needed to get the reduction in premium for 2015 is 200 points. If all the biometrics are within the parameters set by Security Health the total points will be 200. If someone loses points because they are not within the parameters, they will have a chance to get those points back by doing some on-line education with Security Health. Many health insurance providers have been going to this; it is not unique to Bayfield County. This is happening all over the country. The Board members have been hearing from employees that they are concerned about privacy. They are also asking if this is what it is for 2014 and 2015, what will it be like in future years. In regard to privacy, the County will not get any of an individual’s results. Those results are protected under the HIPAA laws. All the County will be getting is the number of people who have completed all the steps. There will be a meeting with the Security Health Wellness Coordinator on December 19th at 12:00 and 12:30. He will be here a second time in January. This year the Teamsters will be included. Their insurance provider has a similar program for them to participate in. 10. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 4:57 pm. Respectfully Submitted Cathy Moore, Office Manager