HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022/09/27 - BOH PacketMason County Public Health
415 N 6th Street, Bldg. 8, Shelton WA 98584,
(360) 427-9670 ext. 400
Fax (360) 427-7787
MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH
September 27, 2022
3:00 PM
Commission Chambers
411 North 5th Street
Shelton, WA 98584
Zoom Information
Meeting ID: 834 8034 3274
Passcode: 721009
DRAFT AGENDA
Peggy Van Buskirk, Chair
Board Members
Board Members
Dr. Keri Gardner
Dave Windom
Ian Tracy
Melissa Casey
Board Members
ORCAA Staff
FCS Group
1.Welcome and Introductions
2.Approval of Agenda – ACTION
3.Approval of July 26, 2022 Minutes – ACTION
4.Health Officer Report
a. COVID-19
b. Other
5.Administration Report
6.Environmental Health Report
7.Community Health Report
8.Other Business and Board Discussion
9. ORCAA Presentation
10. Housing Needs Assessment
11.Public Comment
12.Adjourn
If special accommodations are needed, please contact McKenzie Smith at (360) 427-9670 ext. 589.
MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS
411 North 5th Street, Shelton, WA
July 26, 2022
Attendance: Randy Neatherlin, County Commissioner; Kevin Shutty, County Commissioner; Sharon Trask,
County Commissioner; Dr. Keri Gardner, Health Officer; Dave Windom, Community Services Director;
Darrin Moody, Hospital District No. 1; Peggy VanBuskirk, Hospital District No. 2; Keri Davidson, Shelton
School Board; Ian Tracy, Environmental Health Manager; McKenzie Smith, Clerk of the Board; and Dedrick
Allen, MasonWebTV.
1. Chair Peggy VanBuskirk called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m.
2. Approval of Agenda
Kathy McDowell/Cmmr. Trask moved and seconded to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried.
3. Approval of the May 24, 2022 Minutes
Cmmr. Shutty/Trask moved and seconded to approve the May 24, 2022 Board of Health minutes as
presented. Motion carried.
4. Term Limits for House Bill 1152
Dave Windom shared the categories for the Board of Health membership have been decided but no
applications have come in for the community member position. The bill requires term limits for all
positions excluding the Elected Official positions.
Darrin Moody/Cmmr. Trask moved and seconded to rotate three-year term limits for non-Elected Official
Board of Health member positions. Motion carried.
5. Health Officer Report
Dr. Gardner discussed the BA5 COVID variant which has had a small increase in the number of
hospitalizations and deaths and is extremely transmissible. Therapeutics appear to still be affective
against this variant if used within the first five days. The latest variant is BA2.75 and is expected to reach
the States. Each variant behaves different and may need to be treated differently. The Dept. of Health
estimates that the case numbers are only 12% of what is out there. About 78% of cases are not being
reported due to at-home testing.
Influenza is late this year; a lot of positive influenza cases and deaths are occurring.
Monkeypox was declared by the World Health Organization to be a disease of international interest.
Cases are spreading rapidly. Washington has had 83 cases; a majority were considered as unknown
etiology. Monkeypox can be transmitted through respiratory, but is most commonly transmitted through
close physical contact. Testing is becoming available in commercial labs for individuals with insurance
and the Public Health lab will do tests for individuals without insurance. Vaccines are being released to
areas with the most cases.
The State has increased response to an acute Hepatitis of unknown origin in pediatrics (children under the
age of ten). Very few cases and not spreading at this time.
Washington has a program to make the state Hepatitis C free by 2030. This program pays for anyone
who needs to take Hepatitis C treatment. Treatment used to be very expensive and considered dangerous.
Now the treatment is two pills twice a day for two months and has less side effects.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) shared that nationwide indicators of emotional distress are lower
as far as visits for suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts, and psychological distress. Overdose deaths have
increased due to the current fentanyl circulating. The number of overdose deaths this year has already
exceeded the total number of overdose deaths last year. The population at the greatest risk of suicide is
males ages 50 to 65 by firearm.
Congratulations to David Windom for increasing funding for Foundational Public Health Services to
$1.26 million. Last year $740k was received, the year before that $200k.
6. Administration Report
Dave discussed the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) contract to expand services around
obesity, diabetes, and strokes in the amount of $360k. The FPHS report for last year was completed
today; capacity was increased but expertise decreased. 10,000 test kits were purchased and another 2,000
was received from the State. An order for 300 was put in for the Novavax vaccine for emergency uses.
The Novavax is not an MRNA vaccine, it is more durable. The RNA is combined with DNA and put in a
host cell which grows the spike proteins. The proteins are harvested and used in a plant extract to irritate
the immune system. It is a two-dose vaccine taken three weeks apart.
A contract is being discussed with Permitium for individuals to be able to order both birth and death
certificates online or via their phone for a $4 fee. These certificates, once printed at Public Health, can be
mailed or picked up in the office.
Public Works has a cooling center set up.
Dave met with Peninsula Community Health Systems in Bremerton to discuss getting a medical van
down to the homeless shelter. Cmmr. Shutty recommended reaching out to Thurston-Mason Behavioral
Health Administrative Service Organization to bring in a peer counselor.
7. Environmental Health Report
Ian Tracy shared that Mason County had the State’s first rabies positive bat on July 12, 2022. This is the
first case in Mason County since 2016.
8. Community Health Report
Melissa Casey shared the new format for the Health Report. Homelessness is a growing issue in the
community. Nearly 900 evictions were prevented in the last month and 600 individuals stayed in the
emergency shelters. Mental health is a huge priority.
Melissa attended the Positive Community Norms conference and a lot of the data shared in assessments
and in reports can be negative. However, there is also a lot of data that can be celebrated as well.
The 2023-25 Community Health Needs assessment survey link is available online. This is a federal
requirement of public hospital districts.
9. Other Business and Board Discussion
Cmmr. Shutty shared that there is a lack of crisis stabilization beds, both involuntary and involuntary. He
will be traveling to Spokane to look at a crisis stabilization facility. Partners are needed to operate and
run a facility like that in Mason County. There is a lot of capital money available from the State through
the Department of Commerce.
10. Public Comment
No public comment at this time.
11. Adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
ATTEST
_______________________________
McKenzie Smith, Clerk of the Board
MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON
BOARD OF HEALTH
MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON
_______________________________
Darrin Moody, Hospital District #1
_______________________________
Kathy McDowell, City Commissioner
_______________________________
Kevin Shutty, Commissioner
_______________________________
Randy Neatherlin, Commissioner
_______________________________
Sharon Trask, Commissioner
_______________________________
Peggy Van Buskirk, Hospital District #2
_______________________________
Gary Plews, Fire Commissioner
_______________________________
Keri Davidson, Shelton School Board
From the Director’s Desk
Sept 2022
Summer is going, going…..!
Welcome to COVID day 938
As we’ve all seen in the news, COVID-19 response is winding down. As of October 31, Governor Inslee
will be ending the emergency declaration and most COVID-19 restrictions will be removed or reduced.
Those items under the Authority of the Secretary of Health may remain in place such as masking. We are
still watching to see what exactly changes with schools and congregate living such as skilled nursing and
jails. By the End of October, we’ll be standing down Area Command and public health will be taking full
lead on COVID-19 response. Some of our funding ends on 18 October and other funding ends on
December 31st. Our COVID team is already transitioning to new tasks while continuing to be ready for
COVID contingencies.
Homelessness has risen to the top of the community interest, and we have been participating in a six-
month homelessness task force lead by the City of Shelton. The task force brought together service
providers, local government, public health, activists, and downtown business representatives. In
October, the task force will make recommendations to the city council to address short, medium, and
long-term interventions. I think that public health has a role to play and certainly in looking at
prevention as a means to reduce new additions to the homeless population.
General Update: Foundational Public Health Services Funds (FPHS) will aid our transition from COVID to
traditional public health as well as increasing the capabilities we have. We’ll be focusing on
communication heavily. Our intent is to fill positions in health education and Hepatitis C intervention
and focusing efforts on chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. We’re ordering the
equipment needed for us to be ready to store and administer vaccines in the future. We’ve not heard
back on our WIC application yet but should have information by the end of this month.
We’ve had some turn-over especially in our administrative section. Alyssa Medcalf is now attending
nursing school and we certainly wish her the best. Sunni Evans has taken a position in our Environmental
Health section as a food inspector while Shelly Bellisle is moving upstairs to become a permit technician.
We welcome Alejandra Nacasio to the Admin section, and we’ll be adding another team member on the
1st of October. We’re currently filling our health educator position as well as an environmental health
position.
Come find us at Oysterfest!
Dave Windom, MSHS
COMMUNITY HEALTH REPORT
JULY-AUGUST 2022
Housing & Homelessness Communicable Disease &
Notifiable Conditions*
1,358 cases of COVID-19
42 cases of Chlamydia
*CD rates are suppressed for all non-zero counts which are <10
Unduplicated
Participants
40
569 (YTD)
Overdose Data to Action (OD2A)
• 232 Naloxone kits distributed
• 52 new people trained on overdose prevention,
recognition, and response
• Re-engaged with 42 participants to give refills
Substance Use
Mobile Outreach
Syringes
exchanged
17,800
21
Successful overdose
reversals with Naloxone
Eviction Prevention
A total of 1,298 evictions were
prevented through all temporary
eviction programs between March
2020 and August 2022. An average of
64 households were provided
assistance per month, an average of
$7,079 per household for an average
of 7 months.
Housing-related factors (median gross rent) is the strongest
predictor for rates of homelessness (graph below is from the
book, Homeless is a Housing Problem). In addition, the
National Low Income Housing Coalition has found that for
every $100 dollar increase in rent there is a 9% increase in
homelessness.
Households Below
30% AMI
82%
Mason County
Area Median Income
$77,200
Evictions
Prevented
1,298
COMMUNITY HEALTH REPORT
JULY-AUGUST 2022
Melissa Casey, MPH | Community Health Manager | Mason County Public Health
mcasey@masoncountywa.gov | 360-427-9670 Ext 404
Children with Special Health Care Needs
• The School Medical Autism Review Team (SMART)
evaluates and may diagnose children with autism.
• Public Health assists families to get the support and
resources needed during or after their child is diagnosed.
Maternal Child Health
Active LEAD Cases
144 Substance Use Prevention
The team is continuing to work diligently to launch an exciting
Social Norms campaign in the Fall. Social Norms messages
have been developed, and listening sessions have begun to
collect feedback from CHOICE and Cedar High School students
as well as from members of the Mason County Substance
Abuse Prevention Coalition.
New Referrals
January-August
58
Diagnosed with autism 38
Did not meet criteria for diagnosis 12
On hold (too young or parent request) 4
This program provides transportation to substance use and
mental health related medical appointments, inpatient and out
outpatient substance use and mental health treatment,
recovery support meetings, UAs, jail re-entry services, and
other necessary support services for Mason County residents
in substance use and mental health recovery.
• 237 transports by Patty Wagon (in county)
• 45 transports by Gethsemane Ministry (out of county)
Behavioral Health & Recovery Support
Transportation Program
Behavioral Health Navigator
The Behavioral Health Navigator Program is steadily increasing
in referrals by law enforcement. Our law enforcement partners
have expressed gratitude for the program and the quick
response time by our navigators.
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program
(RCORP)
The Olympic Health and Recovery Services (OHRS) team
continues to work diligently with the jail substance use
disorder population, providing assessments, creating
treatment plans, case management, peer services, working
with the legal team to establish furloughs for treatment,
coordinating treatment upon release for those who are not
eligible for furloughs, and providing reintegration case
management to individuals who have left the jail. Mason
Health’s Peer Navigator has begun community outreach two
days per week with the Behavioral Health Navigator to build
relationships within the community as well professionally with
law enforcement agencies.