HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Health April 7 20091 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
2 Board of Health
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4 April 7, 2009
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6 Council Chair Seth Fleetwood called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. in the
7 Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
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10 Present: Absent:
11 Barbara Brenner Bob Kelly
12 Sam Crawford
13 Carl Weimer
14 Laurie Caskey- Schreiber
15 L. Ward Nelson
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18 1. PUBLIC SESSION
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20 Erin Weisenhorn, 4H Council and 4H Student Ambassador, stated a youth program is
21 to get to know local government. They are also working on the same goals that are in the
22 public Health Department Work Plan and Healthy Youth Survey.
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24 2. HEALTH DEPARTMENT 2009 -2010 WORK PLAN - FINAL
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26 Regina Delahunt, Health Department Director, stated the Board of Health and Health
27 Committee have discussed this plan a number of times. The staff incorporated three
28 changes, shown in a handout of substitute pages five, 13, and 27 (on file). She described
29 the changes.
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31 Nelson moved to approve the work plan with the substitute pages.
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33 Delahunt stated significant cuts are proposed in the State budget to public health
34 funding. If the State budget comes out as proposed, they won't have the resources to work
35 on many issues in the work plan. Contact the State legislators to let them know that cuts to
36 public health funding would devastate local public health. It will impact Whatcom County by
37 about $600,000 in flexible funding for public health. Other aspects would impact the
38 community. She read the list of items that are proposed for cuts.
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40 Nelson stated he's concerned about losing the vaccination program. He's tried
41 contacting legislators. They are under siege right now from many people who are trying to
42 get money. The County has a poor chance of getting through to them. Delahunt stated
43 that even an email would work.
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45 Nelson stated they are trying to put the immunization program on the local health
46 programs. The House is trying to get rid of $20 million statewide for local health
47 jurisdictions on core public health. That's in addition to cutting the immunization program.
48 The HPV virus is concerning because they've found that males have an increased risk of
49 cancer. He asked what tools the State will replace that with. Delahunt stated the State
50 pays for all vaccines for children under 18. A federal program provides vaccines for low -
51 income children. The State is working on a program to shift the costs to the communities.
52 The providers in the community won't get the free vaccine for all children other than low -
53 income children. There will have to be a system to charge insurance companies. If not
Board of Health, 4/7/2009, Page 1
1 covered by public or private insurance, a child won't get a vaccine. It will be a system
2 change for providers, not a change to the local health jurisdictions.
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4 Nelson stated 40 percent of Basic Health is being cut. They have to develop a
5 system locally that provides a solution. Have further discussions in the community and with
6 agencies that will help with this. They have to become more creative at this point.
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8 Brenner stated she sent letters to legislators, but didn't hear from any of them. She
9 offered to go to Olympia and find things to cut. There are things at every level of
10 government that aren't critical to life and death. Life and death issues, public safety issues,
11 are critical services. People need to understand the difference between vaccinations and
12 parking lots for parks.
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14 Crawford asked if there is a new cigarette tax, and if the County gets any of that
15 money. Delahunt stated it's a federal tax. There are also proposals to use the tobacco
16 settlement dollars for purposes other than tobacco. The State did cut the tobacco program.
17 The federal government will use the cigarette tax for childrens health issues.
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19 Crawford stated more restaurants are approaching or in compliance with health
20 regulations than ever. A primary concern with a recent case was to ensure that public
21 heath be maintained. The councilmembers appreciate staff efforts to ensure that restaurant
22 dining is safe. The Silver Platter Award results show progress on compliance levels.
23 Delahunt stated staff are trained on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection
24 measures. More facilities want that Silver Platter Award recognition.
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26 Caskey- Schreiber asked if the Whatcom Alliance for Healthcare Access (WAHA) has
27 quantified the number of clients it can serve. She asked if the County should work with
28 WAHA to serve more people to address this State funding shortfall. Delahunt stated she
29 can arrange a presentation from WAHA to the Board. It's very difficult to get on Basic
30 Health. There's a waiting list.
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32 Brenner referenced page 27 of the work plan. The information in the table should be
33 numbers, not percentages. She is not comfortable with the statistic regarding the percent
34 of satisfactory onsite septic system (OSS) evaluations. This is the kind of information that
35 upsets people. There are few failures. Many of these were maintenance problems that
36 would have been discovered if people took the homeowner's class. Distinguish between
37 maintenance issues and failures. She would like to see numbers of systems needing
38 maintenance and numbers of failing systems. Delahunt stated she can change that statistic
39 to numbers needing maintenance.
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41 Brenner moved to amend page 27, # of ;OSS
42 systems that needed maintenance" and inverse the number.
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44 Crawford stated add another line that indicates the number of systems found to be
45 failing and required for replacement. Delahunt stated that is the first item. All those
46 systems that have failed have to get fixed. They always find a way to fix them. Rarely do
47 owners choose instead to vacate their properties.
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49 Crawford stated some folks need to replace their systems, but they haven't been
50 able to figure out how to finance it. Delahunt stated the Health Department always works
51 with the home owners, and they've always found a way. It's not pleasant for people to
52 have to face that fact, but they find a way. If it takes longer than 30 or 60 days to replace
53 the system, they establish. interim steps.
Board of Health, 4/7/2009, Page 2
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2 Fleetwood suggested a friendly amendment to add ,, 4f OSS systems 11 t
3 neededmalrtteriance" and inverse the number instead of replacing the second line in the
4 table.
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6 Brenner accepted the friendly amendment.
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8 Motion to amend carried 6 -0 with Kelly absent.
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10 Nelson moved to amend the first sentence on page 23 "...enters the environment in
11 part from #ailing faded;'..." and goal 1 on page 23, "...from "
..... #a+ltr�g failed, on site...
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13 Motion carried 6 -0 with Kelly absent.
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15 Brenner stated make changes to make sure homeowners classes and the low -
16 interest loan program are up and going. She disagrees that the Health Department is
17 working with everyone. That isn't happening, according to what John Wolpers told her.
18 People are getting extensions. She is getting emails from low- income citizens who aren't
19 able to get the money together. Delahunt stated she was talking specifically just about the
20 failed systems. They are giving people extensions. They are not being heavy- handed with
21 the extension process.
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23 Brenner stated include a sentence in the summary or as a goal that says the County
24 wants to work with residents on page 23 in the work plan. Delahunt stated it's included on
25 the next page.
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27 Nelson asked about the indicators for decreasing pediatric obesity rates on page 15.
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29 Greg Stern, Health Officer, stated they use the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC)
30 Program as an indicator.
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32 Brenner stated they need to work with schools to ensure they provide more
33 opportunities for children to be physical. Delahunt stated they will discuss that during the
34 Healthy Youth Survey presentation. They need to impact more people through policy.
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36 Motion carried 6 -0 with Kelly absent.
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38 3. RETRACTABLE SHARPS WASTE DISPOSAL
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40 Jeff Hegedus, Health Department, stated there is a proposed amendment to the
41 biomedical waste regulations on how to dispose a certain set of sharps. There is a new
42 technology called retractable sharps. The amendment proposes that retractable sharps be
43 disposed of without treatment. He described how a retractable sharp works. He submitted
44 the proposed amendment (on file).
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46 Brenner moved to forward to the full Council for introduction and a public hearing.
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48 Caskey- Schreiber asked why the retractable sharp has to be put into another solid
49 container. It seems like an extra layer of waste.
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51 Regina Delahunt, Health Department Director, stated just the needle case alone isn't
52 crush- proof, like the red bio- medical disposal container. Facilities are required to put bio-
53 medical waste in red, labeled containers.
Board of Health, 4/7/2009, Page 3
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2 Nelson stated a red container meets Labor and Industries (L &I) requirements.
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4 (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.)
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6 Crawford asked if the red container would be labeled differently, only for retractable
7 sharps. Hegedus stated it would.
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9 Nelson stated they will have to educate the public that this is only for retractable
10 sharps.
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12 Weimer asked if the staff checked with waste facility unions about any possible
13 opposition. Hegedus stated he could not talk with anyone at the union. He checked L &I
14 statistics. Since January 1, 2006, there were 13 needle stick injuries statewide at landfills,
15 transfer stations, and garbage haulers. That is about 1 needle stick per quarter statewide.
16 He doesn't know the outcomes of those instances.
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18 Brenner stated she thanks Councilmember Nelson for bringing this amendment
19 forward. It's an excellent idea.
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21 Nelson stated some providers pay $40 per month to pay for the maintenance to
22 autoclave and also the shipping costs.
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24 Motion carried 5 -0 with Crawford out of the room and Kelly absent.
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26 4. 2008 HEALTHY YOUTH SURVEY
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28 Joe Fuller, Health Department, submitted and introduced a presentation (on file).
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30 Nicole Willis, Health Department, read from the presentation on Health and Academic
31 Success and What Influences Children's Behavior.
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33 Heidi Wiersma, Health Department, read from the presentation on the Healthy Youth
34 Survey Overview.
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36 Fuller stated that the County statistics are consistent with the State statistics. Also,
37 there weren't any significant increases or decreases since 2008. He read the presentation
38 regarding substance abuse. Fewer youths are drinking.
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40 Willis read the presentation on physical activity and nutrition.
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42 Brenner stated that when surveying kids, it's not about lying. They have different
43 perceptions.. Don't use the. word 'lying.' About children walking to school, part of the
44 problem is that neighborhood schools are shutting down. She would think that sleep
45 disturbance would be more prevalent with ACE's. When asking about drugs, separate the
46 statistics for marijuana.
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48 Nelson stated there are community efforts to legalize illicit drugs. He asked the
49 impact to youth if marijuana were legalized. Fuller stated a consequence is changing
50 norms. If children have a perception of an activity, they change their normalized behavior.
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52 Crawford stated this is a subject for the Substance Abuse Advisory Board, which
53 includes folks who have been through the full cycle of abuse and treatment.
Board of Health, 4/7/2009, Page 4
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Regina Delahunt, Health Department Director, stated the prevention team does a
great job.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transc iption
The Council approved these minutes on April 28 , 2009.
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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Board of Health, 4/7/2009, Page 5
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