QUINNIPIACK VALLEY HEALTH DISTRICT

BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES

North Haven, CT

     January 26, 2017     

4:30 PM

In attendance: A. Mulvihill; J. Donaldson; C. Goldberg (by telephone); V. Gallo; R. Wilson; R. Martinello.   

Ex officio: L. Balch.  Staff: D. Culligan. Guest: M. Federico, QVHD Accountant

Not in attendance: B. Weeks; A. Sofair; D. Cofrancesco; P. Marone; K. Blake; A. Levison; J. St. Peter; R. Ivins.      

President Donaldson called the meeting to order at 4:40 p.m. She introduced M. Federico, accountant for QVHD. She thanked QVHD staff for their presence at the Martin Luther King Day event at Peabody Museum. A. Hanke noted that she saw J. Donaldson on television telling stories at the Martin Luther King celebration.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A motion was made by A. Hanke, seconded by V. Gallo to accept the December minutes.  The motion was accepted unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORT

L. Balch distributed a hard-copy of an Excel spread sheet which shows the changes in revenue from April 2016 (approved NET budget) to January 2017 (Adjusted GROSS budget). The GROSS budget represents the gross line item expenses and how grant funds have been allocated in the approved grant applications, and will offset the deficit by approximately $105,000 in FY2017. A digital copy will be sent to Board members and L. Balch will be available for questions and further explanation.

M. Federico presented the 2016 Annual Report. (The document was distributed and will be emailed to Board members for review before the March meeting.)

He noted:

• Total Assets are $261,106 and Total Current Liabilities are $41,285 resulting in a Total Net Position of $219,821.
• QVHD is still in sound shape with $152,000 in reserves, however there has been a deficit budget for the past three years, which has impacted reserves. The deficit for this year was $29,000 which was better than the last two years.

M. Federico stated that the financial goals are: A no deficit budget; additional revenue streams; and a long range plan for capital improvements. He made some recommendations to the Board:

• A horizontal format for the monthly financial report which shows the operations and each grant revenue and expenses for the month. This would allow Board to see what is being collected and what is being spent and help to assess fluctuations. 
• Sage software, the current bookkeeping system, can prepare a report for the Board. Recommendation to consider a change in accounting program to Quick Books for ease of use and less expensive program updates.
• Looking to the future, is the staff size adequate to handle what needs to be done? Is the per capita to the towns adequate?

R. Martinello asked if per capita fees are fixed or negotiated. L. Balch explained that the per capita to the towns are negotiated but the per capita from the state is a fixed amount. J. Donaldson asked what the per capita to the towns would need to be to cover the budget deficit. M. Federico did not have the amount but it will be made available to Board members.

QVHD is required to make a public announcement that the QVHD Annual financial report available upon request. Board members were asked to review the report for a vote on acceptance at the March Board meeting.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

There were no committee reports this month.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

President Donaldson announced a changed in the order of the Agenda to accommodate an early departure of the  Director of Health (DOH)

Director of Health Report, L Balch

• L. Balch requested that the Board consider management salary increases now that the Union contract has been settled. J. Donaldson recommended a personnel and finance committee meeting to consider a recommendation to be brought forth at the March 2017 Board meeting.
• Update on Regionalization (now being referred to as Local Health Integration): L. Balch will forward to Board members a meeting notice to occur on Monday, January 30^th regarding Local Health Integration. She noted that the most recent proposal has eliminated the large dollar amount originally put forth for the towns to contribute and has created an additional level of oversight. The current draft legislation organizes public health departments into 9 health districts consistent with the boundaries and structure of the COGs  (Councils of Government.) The COGs will be the fiduciary agent for the health districts.
• L. Balch distributed the CoRE work plan for the opioid grant. QVHD was the first of the 6 health departments to receive the contract for signature and processing, It was signed and mailed today, paving the way for payment. Quinnipiac University medical students are working with QVHD and will develop and distribute a provider survey to identify the interest in and barriers to accepting patients for Medically Managed Treatment (MAT).
• QVHD received a $2,500 FDA Food Safety Standards grant to assess the QVHD food protection program against the 9  FDA Retail Program Standards.
• QVHD has 5 interns this semester. 2 undergraduates from Southern CT State University (SCSU) for whom D. Culligan and L.Fox are serving as preceptors; A Masters of Public Health student from SCSU; an undergrad from Quinnipiac U for observation only of local health department operations and programs (Arrangements for this student have been made by QVHD to observe at four other area health departments to broaden the experience); and a doctoral student in Nursing Practice from UMass/Amherst. Each brings current knowledge and innovation to QVHD  and are expected to contribute to QVHD programs currently in progress while developing competencies in public health practice.
• L. Balch participated in a telephone conference with the Orange and Wallingford health department to discuss applying for a small grant to explore shared services.

Health Education reported, D. Culligan

• L. Fox and D. Culligan attended the Martin Luther King Day. Recycling was the theme and visitors to the QHVD table learned how to make paper beads. About 50 children made beads.
• A demonstration on preventing the spread of germs was shown to Board which was used at a prevention program at the Keefe Center in October.
• Zika travel awareness information was distributed before the holidays through social media, the QVHD website, to the Family Resource Center at Church Street and through Hamden Partnership for Young Children list serv.
• From July to December, there were 8 total cases of flu within the district. From January 1 to January 26, there were 15 reported cases. In addition, there have been two outbreaks of norovirus in long term care facilities.
• A draft of the Community Health Assessment should be available for review by the end of February.
• A Volunteer newsletter was sent to QVHD volunteers in December. D. Culligan distributed a copy to Board members.

Other:

J. Donaldson asked V. Gallo if there had been any progress on the digitalization of files. V. Gallo stated there had been some initial investigation by L. Balch but nothing else has occurred. J. Donaldson would like to follow up on this at the March board meeting.

At 5:55 p.m., a motion to adjourn was made by R. Wilson, seconded by V. Gallo and passed unanimously.

Minutes prepared by D. Culligan and L. Balch

The next regular QVHD Board meeting will be held March 23, 2017 at 4:30 P.M. at the QVHD office.