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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004/03/04 - Board of HealthBOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS March 4, 2004 Chairperson Commissioner Jayni Kamin called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. Attendance: Cmmr. Dist. 1, Herb Baze; Cmmr. Dist. 2, Wes Johnson; Cmmr. Dist. 3, Jayni Kamin. ATTENDANCE Dr. Mark Trucksess, Health Officer Steve Kutz, Department of Health Director CORRESPONDENCE None APPROVAL OF MINUTES Cmmr. Baze/Johnson moved and seconded to approve the Board of Health meeting minutes for November 6, 2003, December 18, 2003 and February 3, 2004. Commissioner Johnson abstained on the February 3, 2004 meeting minutes due to his absence in the meeting. Motion carried unanimously. B-aye; J-aye; K-aye. ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES HEALTH OFFICER'S REPORT: Dr. Trucksess, Health Officer reported for January and February 2004 as cases of one case Camphylobacter, one case of Shigellla, one case of Salmonella, one case of Petussis/Whooping Cough, one case of Tularemia, one case of active Hepatitis B and five new cases of Latent Therapy started. The STD reported for January and February 2004 as fourteen cases of Chlamydia, two cases of Gonorrhea, two cases of genital herpes and one case at Washington Correction Center of genital Herpes. Dr. Trucksess provided information on many health topics. The State Health Department showed the peak Influenza activity occurred between November 24 through December 14, 2003. The Health Department had tested twenty-four people for HIV and none were positive. There was an outbreak of bird flu but there have been no human cases reported. The Washington State Department of Health had stopped testing dead birds until spring. There were no reported human cases of West Nile Virus in Washington and Oregon. There have been no cases of Mad Cow Disease in Washington State. 2004 Meeting Schedule: Steve Kutz, Health Department Director presented the Board with the meeting dates for 2004 and asked that conflicts in the schedule be made in order to print the yearly meeting schedule. Cmmr. Baze stated the October 7th meeting would need to be cancelled due to the WSAC meeting. Mr. Kutz requested the October, 2004 meeting be cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. Mr. Kutz stated he would be unable to attend August 5, 2004 but Ms. Riley would be available for the meeting. He also stated that December 2, 2004 would be a conflict he asked that it be changed to December 9, 2004. The 2004 Board of Health meetings will be March 4th, April 1st, May 6th, June 3rd, July 1st, August 5th, September 2nd, November 4th and December 9th, 2004. Cmmr. Johnson/Baze moved and seconded to approve the 2004 Board of Health meeting calendar as presented. Motion carried unanimously. B-aye; 3-aye; K-aye. PERSONAL HEALTH ISSUES Steve Kutz, Health Department Director stated the annual Communicable Disease and STD reports Dr. Trucksess presents only represents a portion of the work that is done to report the case. There are many STD cases that are treated but when the necessary follow up occurs it becomes time consuming if the patient doesn't want to respond. The Communicable Disease report only shows the positive cases. There is extensive work done on cases that are never reported because the final result was negative. Cmmr. Johnson questioned Mr. Kutz if he had an estimate of the contacts the staff needs to make for the cases that do get reported. Mr. Kutz stated the staff does not keep track of that information. Depending on the case contacts can lead to other contacts and on other times it is a few contacts and the case is closed. Mr. Kutz stated the State Department of Health (DOH) is preparing to introduce a new tracking and reporting software for Communicable Diseases. There are going to be some types of cases that will not be tracked in the new software, one of which is STD's. Hopefully in the future it will track STD's. It is important to know if you have someone transmitting a STD and is not being identified. Currently tracking of STD's is done on paper. Mr. Kutz stated his department would not be ready to implement the new program until September 2004. Cmmr. Kamin questioned Mr. Kutz if the health staff tracked the drug and alcohol abuse in the County. Mr. Kutz stated the records for the drug and alcohol abuse is tracked through the DASA program. Cmmr. Kamin stated she had gone to a Criminal Justice meeting and was shown Department of Ecology (DOE) statistics of cleaning up drug sites. She stated the number of sites are disconcerting. Mr. Kutz stated in order for a site to be listed and tracked by DOE it has to be identified as a Methamphetamine lab site. Mr. Kutz stated in rural counties that is harder to prove. The Environmental Health Department gets numerous complaints for suspected Methamphetamine Labs by neighbors. The information gets turned over to the Law Enforcement but it is very hard for them to get probable cause to go onto the site. The Environmental Health staff is trained in the event they are doing a site visit and suspect a Methamphetamine Lab. The home nurses are also trained in the event they do a home visit and suspect drug evidence. Cmmr. Baze question Mr. Kutz if the Sheriff calls the Health Department in all suspected Methamphetamine Lab arrests. Mr. Kutz stated that at some time during the day of the event the Health Department gets called out to post the site for non occupancy and then send a notice and order to the owner of the site with instructions on how to get the notice and order lifted. The requirement for the notice and order to be lifted is for a certified company to test the site for contaminations and to remediate the contamination's so the site can be reoccupied. The site is not suppose to be reoccupied until the report is complete. Although there is no enforcement authority if people return to the site but if the owner is not taking care of the site there are penalties that could include going before the Hearings Examiner. ENVIROMENTAL HEALTH ISSUES On -Site Advisory Committee Mr. Kutz stated there are two vacancies on the On -Site Advisory Committee. He had received two applications for the committee. One application is from Anita Latch and the other is from Constance Ibsen. Mr. Kutz recommended the Board appoint both applicants to the advisory committee. Cmmr. Kamin asked for a brief history description and how many members are on the On -Site Advisory Committee. Mr. Kutz stated the committee is made up of thirteen people. The categories were announced for the make-up of the committee. Cmmr. Kamin requested the names and the position of each member on the committee. Mr. Kutz stated Ms. Riley oversees the committee and could present an overview and a committee list at the April 1, 2004 Board of Health meeting. Cmmr. Johnson asked if the open positions on the committee had been advertised and opened to the public to apply. Mr. Kutz stated he thought there was continuous recruitment process in certain categories because the committee had always had vacancies. Mr. Kutz suggested holding off action on the applications received until the April 1, 2004 Board of Health meeting which would give Ms. Riley time to prepare answers to the questions raised. Cmmr. Johnson stated he would like to see advertising done to announce the vacancies on the committee. Cmmr Kamin questioned how the long committee had been in place. Mr. Kutz believed the committee was formed prior to 1994. He stated the last time the By -Laws were updated were 1995. RECESS The Board recessed until 10:40 a.m. Meeting called back to order The appointments of the On -site Advisory Committee were tabled until further notice. Cmmr. Johnson/Baze moved and seconded to table the appointments of the On -Site Advisory Committee until the further notice. Motion carried unanimously. B-aye; J- aye; K-aye. ENVIROMENTAL HEALTH WAIVERS/VARIANCES The waivers/variances are provided for information only. Submitted to the Board by Health Director, Steve Kutz ADJOURNED The meeting was adjourned due to no further business. HEALTH OFFICER Dr. Mark Trucksess, Health Officer BOARD OF HEALTH MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON Jaiyni Ka in, Chairperson /E, Wesley EOJohns dn, Commissioner Herb Baze, C missioner