In attendance: J. Donaldson; D. Cofrancesco; A. Levison; R. Ivins; P. Marone; A. Sofair; V. Gallo; B. Scott-Moore; Ex officio: L. Balch; D. Culligan, staff; Edward Rangos, guest.

Not in attendance: R. Wilson; M. Rochow; L. DeNegre; C. Goldberg. 

 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Donaldson called the meeting to order at 4:40 p.m. She welcomed back Board members. Edward Rangos, SCSU student intern, was introduced. She noted that the QVHD open house held in July was well-attended and informative and gave kudos to the staff.  

 APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A motion to accept the June 26, 2014 minutes made by D. Cofrancesco, seconded by A. Levison and voted unanimously with one correction of the date from June 22 to June 26, 2014.

 FINANCIAL REPORT

L. Balch presented the financial report for the period ending August 31, 2014. She reported:

• Revenue: 30%; Expense: 15%   
• She stated that there are no major financial issues at this time.

A motion to place the financial report on file was made by D. Cofrancesco, seconded by B. Scott-Moore and passed unanimously.

 COMMITTEE REPORTS

 Personnel Committee

D. Cofrancesco recommended that V. Gallo and R. Wilson be appointed to the Personnel Committee.

Finance Committee

No report.

Nominating Committee  A motion by B. Scott-Moore nominated J. Donaldson for Board President and P. Marone as Board Vice President. The motion was seconded by R. Ivins. There were no nominations from the floor. The motion passed unanimously.

 Committee Appointments

J. Donaldson made the following Committee Appointments:

Executive Committee: J. Donaldson, P. Marone, L. DeNegre, C. Goldberg and B. Scott-Moore.

Bylaws Committee: C. Goldberg, Chair; B. Scott-Moore, L. DeNegre, and D. Cofrancesco.

Personnel Committee: D. Cofrancesco, Chair; A. Sofair, V. Gallo, R. Wilson and R. Ivins.

Finance Committee: P. Marone, Chair; C. Goldberg, L. DeNegre, and B. Scott-Moore.

Nominating Committee: Current committee remains in place until May 2015.

Special Projects Committee: M. Rochow, Chair; R. Ivins, V. Gallo and C. Goldberg.

SBHC Liaisons: M. Rochow and A. Levison.

There were no nominations from the floor. A motion was made by R. Ivins, seconded by D. Cofrancesco to adopt the committee appointments as made by President Donaldson, and passed unanimously.

Appointment of QVHD Medical Advisor

A motion was made by R. Ivins, seconded by A. Levison to appoint Dr. Joseph Zelson as QVHD volunteer medical advisor. The motion passed unanimously.

 Appointment of QVHD Auditor

A discussion about the auditor position identified the biggest concern as the length of time it has taken the current auditor to get reports to the Board and to the state. Board members felt that bids from other auditors should be considered for the next fiscal year. A motion was made by R. Ivins, seconded by B. Scott-Moore to appoint Michael Federico as the auditor for QVHD through July 1, 2015 and change the time of appointments from September to January, to take effect in July of the next fiscal year.  The motion passed unanimously.

 SBHC (Mom’s Clinic) Annual Meeting and Appointment of the SBHC Medical Director

D. Culligan reported:

Approximately 40 new enrollees from the summer mailing. Heidi Wildstein, APRN resigned in July. YNHH is working to find a new APRN for MOM's Clinic. In the interim, approximately 12 hours/week APRN coverage will be provided by YNHH by 3 SBHC experienced clinicians.

A motion to appoint Sheryl Ryan as the medical director for Mom’s Clinic was made by D. Cofrancesco, seconded by A. Levison and passed unanimously. 

 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

Health Education Reportpresented by D. Culligan:

• Farmer’s market: 7 QVHD-staffed Farmer’s Market exhibits were held during the season: 3 at Hamden Town Center, 2 at Hamden South and 2 in Bethany. The exhibit featured a display on the value of increasing fruits and vegetables in the diet and the wheel was used to feature a particular fruit/vegetable. QVHD worked with some local farmers to give small gift certificates as prizes.
• Hamden Rotary Club-L. Balch and D. Culligan attended a Hamden Rotary Club breakfast in July. L. Balch presented information on the health district and D. Culligan spoke about Mom’s Clinic and thanked them for their continued support over the years. 
• Rabies: It has been a very busy summer with rabies exposure assessments. From July 1 to present, there were 4 positive raccoons and 1 positive bat in Hamden and 2 positive raccoons and 1 positive bat in North Haven. QVHD consulted on all positive cases as well as other potential exposures. QVHD developed a prevention poster that has been distributed throughout district towns (schools, libraries, town halls, recreation departments). A meeting was held for QVHD District Animal Control Officers to discuss roles, responsibilities and communication content with QVHD. The CT Deputy Veterinarian from DPH attended. 
• Bloodborne Pathogens: D. Culligan has been assisting the Town of Woodbridge with a Exposure Control Plan update, and the OSHA required training, personnel classification and Hep B vaccine administration.
• Enterovirus D-68: QVHD has not had any confirmed cases of EVD-68. However, Hamden Public Schools worked with QVHD to draft and co-sign a letter to proactively inform parents. The letter was distributed to all district superintendents for their review. North Haven also chose to send the letter to the elementary schools and post it on the website for upper level schools.
• Oral Health Grant: QVHD has been awarded a two year, $40,000, Oral Health Advocacy from the CT Foundation. The possibility of using a Community Health Worker (CHW) for coalition outreach and building is being considered.

 Report of the Director of Health by L. Balch:

•  The written DOH goals update will be prepared before the October Board Meeting.
• QVHD draft Tattoo regulations have been reviewed by and commented on by QVHD staff, and will be distributed to each Board member to be approved/modified at the October Board meeting in preparation for a public hearing (date to be established). Distribution will be by email with the following receiving by U.S.P.S.:  B. Scott-Moore, J. Donaldson and M. Rochow.
• A draft food service rating system for Class III and Class IV establishments has been developed, reviewed by QVHD staff, and added to the QVHD Environmental Health for Board review/modification at the October meeting in preparation for a public hearing.  The QVHD rating system will include an inspection date and the words “Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor.” Clarification that the rating is for sanitary conditions will be included on the signage. Ratings will be introduced in two stages: 1) Posted on the QVHD website, and 2) Displayed in the establishment window. The Board suggested an alternate location be booked for the public hearing in anticipation of a large response.
• Community Health Assessment:
  • QVHD management staff met with the Executive Director of DataHaven, which is the "data steward" for the Connecticut Data Collaborative, a public- private partnership formed to change the way that Connecticut uses data and has compiled the 2013 Community Health Index for the Greater New Haven area. The index includes District Towns:  North Haven and Hamden as part of the inner ring and Woodbridge and Bethany in the outer ring.  QVHD will work with DataHaven to establish survey questions of interest for the upcoming 2015 Wellbeing Survey being planned. Data will be considered by QVHD in the Community Health Assessment.
  • A coalition, as required by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) in preparation for accreditation, is being formed and will include Board of Directors, New Haven Partnership for Greater New Haven, Town department representatives and community organizations, agencies or interested citizens.
  • Norwalk is the first CT local health department to be accredited.
  • L. Balch will be training as an accreditation inspector for the PHAB and feels the experience will assist QVHD in understanding the documentation requirements.
• There are two Yale MPH students who are doing a health policy project at QVHD. They are working on a project called “Texting for Emergencies” and will be examining issues of feasibility, usefulness and appropriate target populations. 
• As a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant reviewer, L. Balch received my first assignment. Experience with grant application requirements may help QVHD with future applications.
• QVHD participated in Hamden’s National Night Out in August with a Gateway Community Health Worker intern and a DPH State environmental health administrator (Hamden resident). QVHD benefited from introductions, networking and community visibility.
• QVHD presented an annual review of OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens for the Hamden School nurses and included information on emerging infections (Ebola). The annual review for North Haven High School staff is schedule for October.

 At 6:00 p.m, a motion to adjourn was made by R. Ivins, seconded by A. Levison and passed unanimously

Minutes prepared by D. Culligan

 The next regular meeting of the Board of Health will be held October 23, 2014 at 4:30 P.M. at the QVHD office, 1151 Hartford Turnpike, North Haven CT 06473.