QUINNIPIACK VALLEY HEALTH DISTRICT

BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES

North Haven, CT

January 22, 2015

4:30 PM

In attendance: J. Donaldson; D. Cofrancesco; R. Ivins; R. Wilson; C. Goldberg; A. Hanke; B. Scott-Moore.    Ex officio: L. Balch; D. Culligan, L. Fox, staff. .  

Not in attendance: A. Levison; M. Rochow; P. Marone; V. Gallo; L. DeNegre; A. Sofair.    

 L. Balch noted that J. Donaldson will be honored for her contributions to the community by the West Haven Black Coalition at a dinner on February 28, 2015 and congratulations were voiced by attendees.

 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Donaldson called the regular meeting to order at 4:40 p.m.

A change in the order of Agenda to allow staff presentations to be delivered before regular business.

 Health Education Report presented by D. Culligan:

• The Rotary Club of Hamden again showed its support for the Hamden SBHC (school based health center) by giving a grant of $1,000.00 to use toward services/needs of students without resources.
• The SBHC (Mom’s Clinic) is still without a nurse practitioner (NP.) Two NPs from other SBHCs are filling in and a third per diem NP is also working periodically. While not ideal, medical services are available to students three days a week.
• January is radon month. To date, QVHD has distributed 35 radon kits along with educational information to the public through print media and the QVHD website.
• Upcoming events: Two earth days (Hamden and North Haven) and “Let’s Move into Wellness” health fair.
• Quarterly meetings were held for the Asthma Coalition, Hamden Partnership for Young Children, Hamden Youth Services Advisory Committee and the Medical Reserve Corps. D. Culligan attended these meetings.
• D. Culligan met with M. Binford, a medical student who is working on a Robert Woods Johnson project for Greater New Haven on pediatric access to care. She is including school based health centers. D. Culligan distributed the report that this group did on adult access and they hope to develop a similar product for pediatric care.

 FOOD SERVICE RATING SYSTEM

• L. Fox distributed a draft of the revised rating criteria for food services. It now has three categories and uses stars. It considers weighted inspection score plus risk factors and 4 point critical violations. It is simpler for the public to understand and takes into consideration the system of scoring that has been devised by CT DPH with which food establishments are familiar.
• L. Balch stated the two goals for the proposed posted rating system are to inform the public of inspection findings and to increase compliance among food service operations. The newly proposed rating system includes the familiar State-wide inspection-score; considers all aspects of food protection operations; focuses particular attention on 12 factors that are associated with increased risk of illness; uses a familiar rating symbol; and should be field-friendly for inspectors.

Following discussion, the Board recommended that the new draft rating system be piloted. An evaluation of the system will presented at the March QVHD Board meeting for consideration of adoption before posting begins.

J. Donaldson commended L. Fox and the staff for their dedicated work on this project.

 APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A motion to accept the December 11, 2014 minutes made by D. Cofrancesco, seconded by C. Goldberg and accepted unanimously.

 FINANCIAL REPORT

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

• Target: 50%; Revenue: 58% Expense: 47%    
• There are no unexpected financial issues at this time and the bookkeeper will be consulted regarding the continuing education item because there may be a reimbursement from APHA missing.
• Salary, FICA and medical are slightly higher than budgeted. Medical insurance price-increase and an employee early-step increase account for the differences.  A motion to place the financial report on file was made by C. Goldberg, seconded by B. Scott-Moore and passed unanimously.

 L. Balch distributed copies of the Financial Annual Report which has been submitted to the State and noted the FY15 deficit was $54,000.00; the fund balance has decreased to $228,000; and projects a FY16 deficit of $60-70,000 despite the increased per capita request to Towns.

 COMMITTEE REPORTS

 There were no committee reports.    

 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

 Report of the Director of Health by L. Balch:

• L. Balch reported on the Martin Luther King event at the Peabody Museum. QVHD participated on Sunday, January 18^th. She displayed jump ropes and friendship bracelets/bookmarks made from recycled plastic bags for the Board. There was an enthusiastic reception among adult attendees and they expressed interest in replicating the product. In addition to the finished products, jump-rope kits and instructions were available as an alternative, and ready to braid plastic strips were available as an onsite activity. L. Balch noted that the project not only taught about reusing a product, but the jump ropes tied into increasing physical activity. She thanked A. Levison, J. Donaldson and D. Cofrancesco for donating bags for the program.  J. Donaldson noted that there were 900 attendees at the MLK celebration on Sunday.           
•  Monitoring of Travelers: QVHD has finished monitoring five travelers from West Africa. There is State funding for monitoring beginning in February, ($500.00 per person) but it is not retroactive. The travelers that QVHD monitored were compliant with the monitoring and did not pose any risk to the community.
•  Legislative Issue: A bill to establish a State task-force to study hoarding resource needs and statewide response protocols has been introduced. In hoarding situations, the public health goal of a clean and safe home often contradicts the time needed for an individual to accept and complete behavioral health intervention. C. Goldberg asked how QVHD learns about hoarding situations. L. Balch responded: families and neighbor complaint of rodents, orders or from concern, and most frequently, from emergency responders whom have noted conditions during an emergency call.
• Strategic Plan: L. Balch presented an overview of the components of the strategic plan. She will have a draft out to Board members over the weekend, either by email for those who have email, or by regular mail on Monday.  

 At 5:40 p.m., a motion to adjourn was made by R. Ivins, seconded by B. Scott-Moore and passed unanimously

 Minutes prepared by D. Culligan, QVHD staff.

 The next regular meeting of the Board of Health will be held March 26, 2015 at 4:30 P.M. at the QVHD office, 1151 Hartford Turnpike, North Haven CT 06473.