HomeMy WebLinkAboutHealth Board - Minutes - 8/8/2017BAYFIELD COUNTY
BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING
Tuesday, August 8, 2017 – 5:00 PM
Bayfield County Annex Building EOC
Present: Fred Strand, Jeremy Oswald, Elaine Kopp, Wayne Williams, Rachel Coughtry
Absent: Brian Goodwin, Deb Dryer, Ellen Braddock
Staff: Sara Wartman, Amy Jarecki, Anne-Marie Coy
1. Call the Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:05 pm by Chairman
Strand.
2. Approval of June 20th, 2017 Meeting Minutes: A motion to approve the minutes of
the June 20th, 2017 meeting as presented was made by Kopp; motion seconded by
Coughtry. Motion carried.
3. Public Comment: None.
4. Update on Health Department Staffing:
Jacob Kentnich, NEHA Intern, has finished his internship as of August 3, 2017. Jacob
had been working with Anne-Marie Coy on beach water sampling. Jacob had also been
posting weekly beach updates, showing which beaches had closings or advisories. Jessica
Zakovec, PT WIC clerk, who has an environmental conservation background and past
experience with water sampling, will be filling in for the month of August doing beach
sampling twice a week in and around Iron River. Beach sampling will end around Labor
Day. We have advertised for a Part-Time LPN to fill the Health Screener position at
WIC. We were having a difficult time filling the Health Screener position with a Public
Health Nurse as this is only a two (2) day a week position, working WIC clinic days only.
We were able to create a job description around an LPN instead of a four-year RN. Mary
Spoden was hired as the WIC Health Screener. She will be starting on August 10, 2017.
Tony Bondioli, Public Health Nurse will be brought over to the Health Dept full time
instead of splitting his hours between the Health Dept and WIC. Tony will be working on
the Community Opportunity Grant, which is AODA (Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse)
and taking over some of the Wellness duties that were previously held by Pete
Morrissette, Public Health Educator. Pete will be taking on more of an Environmental
Health role as he will be working more in the water lab and assisting the sanitarians. Sara
will be working up to her deliver date and then will be taking six (6) weeks off for
maternity leave. She plans on being gone for four (4) of those weeks and the remaining
two (2), she will be working mostly from home. Caloney Mesik, Public Health Nurse will
be interim director while Sara is on leave.
5. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Resolution to Accept Safe Sharps and
Prescription Drug Collection Grant:
Many community members and coalition members have mentioned the difficulty in
safely disposing of sharps containers. Many county residents have been dropping off
containers of sharps at the Bayfield County Sheriff’s office who then drops the containers
off with the Health Department. Peter Morrissette, Public Health Educator and Amanda
Paulson, Community Health Nurse, had applied for a grant through Security Health for
three (3) permanent drop boxes for pharmaceutical and sharp collection. We have been
awarded the grant; the amount awarded is $12,000.00. We are looking at three (3)
geographical locations for the drop boxes: Washburn, Bayfield and most likely Iron
River. These drop box sites would need to have law enforcement presence for monitoring
purposes. The drop boxes will be secure and built to certain specifications. The specific
placement of these drop boxes has yet to be decided.
A motion to approve the resolution and forward to the Full County Board was made by
Oswald; motion seconded by Coughtry. Motion carried.
6. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Resolution to Accept WIC Mini-
Grant:
Bayfield County Health Department was awarded funds through the Wisconsin
Department of Health Services in the amount of $2,320 for WIC clinic improvements.
Some examples of these improvements are to make the clinic more father-friendly and
to improve clinic signage. The outcome will be to improve participant caseload and
increase visibility in the community.
A motion to approve the resolution and forward to the Full County Board was made by
Kopp; motion seconded by Oswald. Motion carried.
7. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Resolution to Accept Taking Action
with Data – Carbon MonoxLife Grant:
Bayfield County Health Department has been awarded funds through the Wisconsin
Environmental Public Health Tracking Program—Division of Public Health in the
amount of $10,000. We will be purchasing between 250-300 carbon monoxide detectors
to be given out throughout the county for placement in homes. We will also have packets
with educational materials and a detector available for those agencies that provide home
visits. Packets will also be given to the WIC program and our nurses who provide
prenatal and/or new baby home visits. Pete Morrissette will be attending some of the
local hunter/fisherman dinners and expos providing carbon monoxide safety tips for
hunting shacks/blinds and ice shanties.
A motion to approve the resolution and forward to the Full County Board was made by
Williams; motion seconded by Coughtry. Motion carried.
8. Review and Possible Action on 2018 Proposed Budget:
The proposed budget for 2018 looks to be about on track with the funding we received in
2017, with the exception of the loss of a few grants, such as the Beach Monitoring Grant.
We could possibly get another paid intern next year or have the municipalities take their
own beach samples and bring them to us for testing. And there are the new grants we are
applying for and receiving that will take the place of the grants ending. The difference
between the revenue and the expense would be what the Health Department would need
in tax levy. Once the 2018 budget is finalized, a report will be sent to all Board of Health
members for their consent before it is presented at the full County Board meeting.
9. Review of Second Quarter Budget Report:
The 2017 budget looks to be right on track. The funding for the WIC program was just
increased by $6,432.00 so that will change the 2017 budget slightly. There are going to
be some reductions in expenses in the WIC budget for 2017; hiring an LPN to do the
health screening and full-time employees not taking the health insurance will help to shift
the expenses to more outreach materials geared at improving participant caseload and for
purchasing items needed at the WIC clinics. Water lab revenue is up due to the Coastal
Management Program in 2016, is prompting more people to want to have their water
tested. The trend of Air B&B’s has increased the revenue of the licensing fees. Air
B&B’s are people who rent out a bedroom in their house on a nightly basis; state law
says that they need to be inspected and licensed before they can rent. Anne explained the
process that she needs to go through in order to bring these rooms up to code. Revenue
for Health Check (billing for heights, weights and hemoglobin checks) at the WIC clinics
has been reduced due to our not being able to bill for those services; those services are
technically covered with the grant money from WIC. We are still allowed to bill for any
blood lead testing that we do at a WIC clinic.
10. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Resolution to Approve 2017 Health
Department Budget Adjustments:
This resolution is to amend the 2017 Health Department Budget due to
increase/decreases in grants. Due to receiving the news of the increase in funds for the
WIC program this morning, this resolution does not reflect that change. However,
there will be an adjustment done before the resolution goes before the Full County
Board.
A motion to approve the resolution with the addition to the WIC budget of $6,432.00 and
forward to the Full County Board was made by Coughtry; motion seconded by Kopp.
Motion carried.
11. Discussion on Community Recreation for Health, Capital Improvement Plan
Request for Budget 2018:
Sara has been discussing with Mark Abeles-Allison investing in infrastructure for
health for the community. Normally, looking ahead we would budget for painting
and/or carpeting of offices or office equipment in the capital improvement budget. We
are requesting $22,000.00 in 2018 to fund a cost sharing program with local
communities that will assist with health infrastructure, such as playground equipment,
new lighting for hiking trails, safer swimming areas or a new tennis court. This
amount will be a fifty-percent (50%) match with local communities. The intent of this
mini-grant is to help support communities improve health and wellness opportunities.
The emphasis would be on the rural areas of our county that don’t have as many
opportunities for health and wellness. Sara will be gathering more data to support the
plan. Consensus to move forward was made by Chairman Strand.
12. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Strategic Work Plan:
The strategic work plan specifies what the staff will be working on for the next four
(4) years. Sara will be looking into whether or not the Health Department will be
creating its own logo or stay with the Bayfield County logo. The topic of employee
morale was brought up and discussed.
13. WIC Update:
Mary Spoden will be starting as Health Screener on August 10, 2017. As noted earlier,
the WIC budget has recently been increased by $6,432.00. The number of participants
has remained steady for our local WIC project, even though throughout the state, WIC
has been trending with lower participant counts. Sara and Kelsey Latimer, WIC
Nutritionist/Director have created target goals for the WIC program. There is still
outreach being done to increase the number of WIC clients. Word-of-mouth seems to
be the way most people hear about the services. Two members of the WIC staff
attended training to become child passenger safety certified to install car seats. We
will be looking at applying for car seat grants to purchase car seats for future clinics.
Kelsey attended a training to become a Certified Lactation Specialist which qualifies
her to become the breastfeeding coordinator for the WIC program. The WIC mini-
grant funds are being utilized for items such as decals for the waiting room walls, toys
and a sandwich board type sign for satellite clinics.
14. Radon Information Center Update:
Letters of support from other local health departments regarding possible creation of a
northern Radon Information Center (RIC) will be sent out.
15. Health Department and Grant Updates:
We are looking at applying for a grant to purchase car seats to give away. Sara had
applied for a grant through the Duluth Superior Area Foundation, but was denied. She
will be applying for a Second Chance Grant. Staff are always looking for other
opportunities. Staff participated in a HIPAA training at the last all-staff meeting
presented by Amy Jarecki, Office Manager, who is the department privacy and
security officer. Board member Jeremy Oswald shared that he provides the HIPAA
trainings for NorthLakes Clinic and offered to share his training with the department
staff.
16. Other Issues: None.
17. Next Meeting Date: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 10th, 2017 at
5:00 pm in the EOC.
18. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 6:16 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Amy Jarecki, Office Manager