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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHealth Board - Minutes - 6/10/2025 Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer BAYFIELD COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING Tuesday June 10, 2025 – 5:00 PM Present: Mary Dougherty, Kathleen Carlson, Madelaine Rekemeyer, Jan Lee, Terri Kramolis, Fred Strand Absent: Dr. Kathryn Stolp, Diane Erickson, Jeff Olsen Staff: Anne-Marie Coy, Michelle Crowell, Amy Jarecki, Laura Lear 1. Call the Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Rekemeyer. 2. Approval of April 8, 2025 Board of Health Meeting Minutes: A motion to approve the April 8, 2025 meeting minutes was made by Kramolis; motion seconded by Carlson. Motion carried. 3. Public comment: None. 4. Discussion Regarding Public Health 2024 Annual Report: a. Review Annual Report. Discuss accomplishments, changes in workload in Environmental Health program and Public Health Infrastructure Grant. Health Department went through a recertification process to become a Level 3 (three) health department and passed. The state identified and appreciated that we have a strong and active Board of Health. Additionally, Wellness on Wheels (WOW) with ADRC (Aging/Disability Resource Center) partnership; new Radon Information Center for a 7 (seven) county service area; new medical director; great, new partnership with Red Cliff on the Health Board; Northern Regional Immunization Stockpile for MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines; Community Wellness Grant reaches year seven (7); Additional school vaccinations; partnership with zoning for one Health Department staff; Community Health Needs Assessment; School Opioid Prevention Programming partnership with CESA #12; increased Health Department Office/Lab/Clinic Space; joining Western Wisconsin Ready Consortium for emergency preparedness. b. Increased workload for Environmental Health: 698 (six hundred ninety-eight) establishments in 2024 to 774 (seven hundred seventy-four) in 2025. Only 40 (forty) are lodging; about 40 (forty) are restaurants falling on one person (Michelle Simone); and all of them are a lot of work due to pre-inspections, which not everyone is trained to do yet. Large workload for one person, and Margaret Lamothe will be trainined to assist. Desi Niewinski will also be trained Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer to help with mobile food inspections at temporary events. Lots of food trucks coming into the county make a large, time consuming load. These food trucks often have incorrect licensing or no license at all, or may be operating improperly. We cannot take action against their license when the food truck is licensed in another county—we are only able to contact the licensing county. We accept all other county’s food licenses, but will charge a food truck a one- time $40.00 (forty dollar) inspection fee. Lately, a lot of food trucks have not had licenses, and staff will take the extra time to go over the code requirements, etc. with the vendor. Lots of time and extra weekend work goes into inspecting food trucks. Department has been trying to get local Chambers of Commerce on board to inform us when there is an event featuring food trucks and/or local food vendors. c. Public Health Infrastructure Grant—Some of the improvements made with the funding has been pickleball courts, trail development, swings and a pavilion, basketball court resurfacing, park restrooms, fitness stations, and equipment for a StrongBodies Strength Training program (in conjunction with ADRC). Six applicants in 2025 were all approved. d. Lots of good work accomplished. Great job! Motion to accept the resolution and forward onto the Full County Board for approval was made by Lee; motion seconded by Kramolis. Motion carried. 5. Discussion Regarding 2026 Public Health Budget: Discussion was focused on the possibility of some of the current grant funding being cut or eliminated in 2026. a. Public Health Wisconsin Department of Health Services Grants: some programs will be funded, some will not, others are unknown. b. New Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grant is on track to receive grant funding for the upcoming school year to expand the program. c. WIC (Women, Infants, Children): some related WIC programs may be cut or reduced, but unknown at this time. d. Environmental Health funds are fee-based, not grant funded. e. Emergency Preparedness grant funding will be reduced, but to date, it is unclear as to what the cut will actually be. This grant is used to pay for staff time to conduct mass clinic exercises such as vaccination clinics in the local schools. f. Department does have some new funding sources, such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Retail Program for our Environmental Health staff; additional funding from Marshfield clinic for Opioid response. g. Expenditures may be short, but department will attempt to keep public health tax levy amount same as last year. To date, expenditures are under what was budgeted. The finalized budget will be submitted in August, so will need the finalized budget to the Board of Health by mid-July. Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer 6. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding 2025 Budget Adjustment: Motion to forward onto the Full County Board for approval was made by Strand; motion seconded by Lee. Motion carried. 7. Update on Bayfield County Community Health Infrastructure Mini-Grants: Six (6) project applications were received and all were approved. Mark Abeles-Allison, Bayfield County Administrator suggested a logo be created to post at each site that is funded to help increase awareness where the funding for the projects came from. There is funding that will not be used and the extra money will go towards making a logo to post at the sites. No logo developed to date. Local towns or municipalities have to apply, but non-profits are able to work with the towns to utilize the funds. The project is geared to public/municipal property, so the public has access. The projects are now in the eighth (8th) year. 8. Update on Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program by Laura Lear, RN: Pilot program “Positive Prevention Plus” (PPP) with Bayfield School, where we worked with their health class and the health teacher. Laura, Anne Marie Coy and the health teacher were all certified in the program curriculum. We received the grant in December 2024. January-March 2025 were curriculum review and selecting Positive Prevention Plus (PPP), working with Bayfield School, and grant report training. In March and April, we offered 16 sessions to 11 students with the health educator. a. Feedback from entry and exit surveys (before and after 14 sessions) showed the teens felt empowered (to say no, stand up for themselves) by the end of the program. The PPP Program doubled the involvement of parents and trusted adults when talking about pregnancy prevention, STI protection, where to get birth control, and how to use it. b. Program facilitator feedback: students’ comfort levels grew as we developed a safe and nurturing learning environment. Throughout the program, I observed the students’ ability to manage stressful situations improve significantly as they developed confidence-building skills, communicating boundaries effectively, and mastering the art of responding to pressure. I also witnessed their understanding grow in identifying life goals, seeing life a whole, and working for lifelong success. We took proactive steps to engage the students outside of the classroom, with established office hours. No students attended the office hours, but we used that time to identify ourselves as a trusted and consistent resource. We also worked with the school nurse to develop and deliver a healthy relationship and consent lesson plan for 34 5th graders and shared the presentation with the Medeline Madeline Island 5th grade teacher. c. The Wisconsin DHS Adolescent Health Team collaborated with the UW Population Health Institute Evaluation Team surveyed Wisconsin parents and Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer caregivers. Overall, 92% of parents/caregivers preferred comprehensive sex ed (both abstinence and safer sex) versus abstinence-only, or no sex education in school. Parents/caregivers vary on what age they think comprehensive sex ed is appropriate. d. Our new TPP grant proposal ($40,000) would expand our services to middle school youth, in addition to high school youth, focusing on grades 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. We hope to serve 100 youths aged 10-24. We would add Positive Potential curriculum for middle schoolers to the existing PPP program. e. Bayfield and South Shore schools have already expressed interest. The Bayfield School Nurse also requested my services as a facilitator for the American Lung Association’s vaping and nicotine cessation program. Funding and training plans are being developed to create comprehensive wellness services for school hours. f. Also worked on improving the BCHD website. The Reproductive Health page now includes information about our services, improving teen health, local clinics, crisis centers, and hotlines, and the process for enrolling in Family Planning Only Services. g. Working on developing a Community Café based on the BE Strong Families model to increase parent/caregiver/trusted adult engagement. Cafes are physically and emotionally safe spaces to have conversations and share thoughts on topics that matter to them. The goal will be for participants to leave feeling inspired, energized, and excited to put into practice what they’ve learned. h. Had WONDERFUL feedback from the students about Laura, and it’ll be great for Laura to continue as a trusted adult figure next school year. Can branch out and do NARCAN training, and even Stop the Bleed training at the school. Hoping other schools will come on board, and we can expand our services to children and their parents. PPP covers human trafficking, relationship abuse, and awareness. The middle school one is from a different company, but has a similar feel, and is about setting students for understanding the curriculum as they got older. The middle school one is more about relationship safety and abuse, and less sex ed. Schools currently aren’t teaching students about puberty or coming of age, or having a period, so kids are in the dark. Schools might not even have school nurses in person at the school. i. To continue this program in the future--can money come out of Levy, or is the grant a shoe-in? This is a three-year federal funding. So next summer (2026) we’ll have to find a source for funding Laura’s time. 9. Update on Health Department Programs and Services: Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer a. Website Revamp: Goal to make website navigation easier and more user- friendly. Ann Ehler (new clerk) worked on the website to make improvements. But she took a job with Human Services (starting in July) and will be leaving. b. CHIP objective: To work on getting mental health services all together on one website. We have a mini-grant to pay for CredibleMind to do the work. CredibleMind loads all mental health providers (local service providers), as well as other providers onto one website and will send doctor referral from the site. Ashland, Bayfield, and Iron counties and Tamarack Health will all use it, and the cost for up to 46,000 residents is $6,000 (so less than $2,000/county) per year. Opiod Settlement money will be used to pay for ours. Can focus on teen health, overdoses, suicide awareness, veterans’ health resources, etc. CredibleMinds maintains the site and will provide user data (how many who clicked on what tiles, etc.). Counties with the most success/use of website were ones that publicized it and did a lot of outreach. Stickers or coasters with QR codes, for example. Mental Health has been the highest concern on CHIP cycles for the last 10 or so years, so hopefully, this will be a good first step. Could also help us pinpoint locations where people need help, meeting people where they are. c. Powassan Update: Person passed away in the county from Powassan Virus. We have contacted the state. Marshfield Clinic is going to help with tick testing. The State will be meeting about Powassan case tomorrow. We will send out a provider health alert, but would like the state to also share information. It has 10% fatality rate, and 50% people who are infected have long-lasting impacts. It’s a virus, so not run at the same time as other tick diseases. The deer tick basically bites you, and you can get it. Could be on your for less than 10-15 minutes. i. More knowledge will probably change the statistics. We’re seeing more and more of it. It can be in your yard, because squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, skunks are all carriers. You don’t have to be hiking in the woods to get it. Likely to have more reports around Cable, Ashwabay, and trailheads where tourists (who don’t know about tick diseases) are going. Most of the neuroinvasive symptoms are in the older population so far. ii. We may do outreach with local garden groups. When Marshfield Clinic tested in two Northern Wisconsin counties in 2017, they were finding 1- 5% positivity rate in ticks they tested. So they’re coming back to test again, they’ll see if it’s the same positivity rate, or higher now. The only time Powassan is being found in people is when they have neuroinvasive symptoms. When labs run other tick panels, they stop when they find Lyme Disease, or anaplasmosis, and don’t keep looking for other diseases. So tick and people testing will help us know more. Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer iii. Tick education last year helped people self-diagnose, and then get tested, and have positive results. Duluth tests for Powassan, and gets results within 24 hours. The only private place to test is Mayo Clinic. The State Lab of Hygiene will test, but it can take 4 days to 2 weeks to get a result, and that can be too late for the person. iv. The Health Department will have tick kits in the new health vending machines, as well as give them out in person. How can we share this Powassan information with the public to increase awareness? Article outreach? Providers need a lot of updates, as well, because with Powassan, ticks can only be attached for a very short amount of time and spread the disease. Hard to know if children are getting Powassan, but children are probably being tick-checked more thoroughly than adults. 10. Update on Health Department Staffing: WIC will be partnering with the Ashland Birth Center for the peer counseling, and we will have a contract on that soon. That person can probably start July 1st. Ann (two days/week) is resigning, and Amanda will only go to WIC one day a week (on Tuesday). So that will free up budget about $20,000. Maybe in the summer, a nurse could cover the front office one day a week, and then in the winter, the sanitarians would provide coverage. We will also submit a request to increase Laura’s TPP grant. And she would be full-time August-June (the school year), and then see if the grant gets renewed again or not. 11. Committee Input: From Dr. Kate Stolp, she’s been working with Opiod Academy Training, and trying to spread the word about measles and vaccines. Trying to involve churches in getting the word out; working with Red Cliff; appearing on radio shows; and trying to spread the word as much as possible for MMR. May also try lemonade stands at baseball games and local chambers. a. Immunization rates are low with children, but good with adults. b. There is a new COVID variant, but the fall vaccine will not include it. Other countries might include the new variant in their vaccine. Even though CDC has changed the vaccine recommendations for pregnant women, the State Health Department will still recommend pregnant women be vaccinated for COVID-19. Still recommending 6-month boosters for people 65 and older. As you age, your immune system needs that extra boost. c. Thanks for all that you’re doing. We love the discussion, input, and enthusiasm. 12. Next Meeting Date: Next scheduled Health Board meeting for Tuesday, August 12, 2025, 5:00 pm, in-person in the EOC and/or remotely via Teams or phone-in option. 13. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m. by Rekemeyer. Healthy people, communities and environment for a superior Bayfield County. Bayfield County Health Department 117 East Sixth Street - P.O. Box 403 - Washburn, WI 54891 Phone: 715/373-6109 Fax: 715/373-6307 Anne-Marie Coy, REHS/RS, MPHc Director of Public Health/Health Officer Respectfully Submitted, Amy Jarecki Amy Jarecki, Office Manager