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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Health June 6 20001 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Board of Health June 6, 2000 The meeting was called to order at 12:35 p.m. by Council Chair Marlene Dawson in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Also Present: Absent: Sam Crawford None Barbara Brenner L. Ward Nelson Dan McShane Connie Hoag Robert Imhof 1. INTRODUCTION Chuck Benjamin, Health and Human Services Director, thanked everyone for attending. Several staff members would be available for questions. He introduced John Worland, Public Health Advisory Board Chair. 2. PUBLIC SESSION No one spoke. 3. COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS STRATEGIC PLANNING Kay Guirl, Community Health and Wellness Division Manager, stated she wanted to talk about the strategic planning process they've been going through for the past three years. The department requests approval from the Board of Health to write the community health and wellness component of the three -year plan in a different format. The three -year plan as written has goals, objectives, indicators, and activities, and has been well received by the councilmembers. They would like to do it differently to convey a public health message with priorities for services. Core public health functions include assessment, policy development, prevention, access and quality, and administration. In the public health improvement plan, they identify prevention as the focal point for all public health services. Prevention includes promotion and protection, reducing susceptibility or exposure to health threats, and early detection, treatment and containment of disease. Ten essential public health services include monitoring health services; investigating disease; mobilizing communities to address public health problems; Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 developing and supporting policy development that encourages and supports services and programs to address priority issues; enforcement of laws and regulations; educating the public to empower them to be more responsible for their own health care; linking individuals to resources in community and providing those resources that are not otherwise available in the community; workforce development; evaluation of programs; participation in some practice -based research. They started the strategic planning processes three years ago. Phase one was a review of the current status. They developed the four -step process used to identify and transition three services to the community. They will continue to use that process to assess services for transition. Also in phase one, Community Health and Wellness worked on outcome measures for its programs. The outcome measures they developed were those they could be held directly responsible for. In the past, the three -year plan as written had broad goals, with objectives related to outcomes or things they would like to see happen but cannot be held solely and directly responsible for. They wanted to develop outcome measures that the department can communicate to everyone, including funding sources, the community, and the County Council. They will provide reports, documentation, and measures to show they have accomplishments. Phase two is the phase in which they are looking at the role of community health and wellness (CHW) in providing public health services. They developed the CHW mission statement. Also in phase two, they identified what it would take as a community to address the ten essential public health services. In the packet, there is a copy of the document that identifies the ten essential services. They also looked at the specific activities that the division would provide. Phase three identifies the structure. They are in the middle of phase three now. They expect to have a recommended structure for the division and a recommendation on the implementation process by the end of June. In looking at their structure, they want to ensure that services are provided. The new component would be community -based teams that are interdisciplinary teams located in a geographic area or community. The teams work with resources in the community. They had discussions with senior services to provide population -based classes. They want to have a good balance of population -based services and individual services. They also want to support a community response to priority issues. They envision that the interdisciplinary teams would conduct a needs assessment for the community or geographic area they are assigned to, and work with the community on doing the assessment and also prioritize some issues or concerns of the area. Those would help guide the population -based and other services that the team would provide. They also want the structure to be non - categorical, which means not organizing staff according to cost center. The staff would operate as generalists. They would be cross - trained in all the programs and services that would be provided. It would provide back up services for those on leave. People could step in and do other tasks. Now, the staff is specialized. Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 2 1 Phase four is implementation. The strategic plan will include training, team 2 building, and the transition process. It will take a minimum of six months to get 3 through that phase of preparation to move into the geographic teams. They have 4 to address the fiscal year (FY) 2001 budget and three -year plan. They would like to 5 propose that the Community Health and Wellness component of the three -year plan 6 be as demonstrated in the example for Community Health and Wellness: Violence 7 and Injury Prevention, on packet page eight. The three -year plan will be non - 8 categorical and not related to a cost center. This would give the overall view of 9 what each program would do in response to priority issues. Under each issue will 10 be the ten essential services and what all the programs will do in response to that 11 goal, in the specific programs. In order to maintain accountability for the cost 12 centers, they will pull out of the overall plan for each cost center the specific work 13 plan and specific issues. It will be put together so, at the end of the component, 14 they can put together the budget indicating all costs, revenues, and the budget for 15 that cost center for 2001. 16 17 Nelson questioned how the lead is taken as they work together in a 18 collaborative effort. They have to have a product and benchmarks. He questioned 19 how they would make sure the units are doing their share. Guirl stated the 20 supervisors will supervise the community -based teams. 21 22 Brenner asked the reason that the violence and injury aspects were put 23 together. They are different. Injury is an innocent thing, such as carelessness, and 24 violence is intentional. Guirl stated the same responses will impact those areas. 25 They can also name them intentional and unintentional injury. 26 27 Brenner questioned whether they expect the same tools will be used. Guirl 28 stated the same interventions with families would be used. When working with 29 families, they want to strengthen the family unit and reduce access to guns by 30 working with the families to ensure the guns are locked up. 31 32 Hoag stated she liked the format. She questioned who determined the 33 priorities. Guirl stated they have not yet decided the priorities. For instance, 34 instead of saying they are going to reduce unintended pregnancy as a priority, they 35 would like to pick out specific targeted areas of concern when working with families. 36 The targeted areas of concern would demonstrate the public health concern, but 37 doesn't get communicated effectively now. Violence and injury, in their statistics, is 38 an area of concern. She saw that as becoming a priority. Other options, such as 39 promoting health behaviors, can be a priority. 40 41 Hoag questioned the process for putting together the priorities. Guirl stated 42 it would come from the division when developing the three -year plan. They will 43 have to take the overall public health issue priority areas, based on the data 44 collected countywide. That will probably change once the teams are out there and 45 conducting their own small community assessments. 46 Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Benjamin stated they are looking for whether or not the Council supports the new format. A lot of time and resources will be spent in putting the three -year plan in this new format. Hoag asked what the old format was based on. Benjamin stated it is from the Public Health Improvement Plan, the ten essential services, and the new proposed public health standards. Hoag asked if they will take that information and organize it into the new format. Guirl stated that is correct. Benjamin stated they have always run the three -year plan through the Public Health Advisory Board and the Board of Health, who would still have review of the priorities. Nelson moved approval of the new concept in health management for the Community Health and Wellness Division. It is a good idea because they utilize sources available within the community. Dawson asked about page three, item seven. She asked how they would provide health care when other services are unavailable. Guirl stated the tuberculoses (TB) clinic is an example. Treatment is not available in the community, and is a public health service that the department would provide. Dawson asked if they propose to expand beyond that. Guirl stated no. They are trying to move away from doing the services that are otherwise available in the community, such as the sexually- transmitted disease (STD) and international travel clinic. Motion carried unanimously. Guirl provided information requested at the April Board of Health meeting (on file). 4. CHARGING FEES FOR CONSUMER SERVICES POLICY Benjamin read the Health and Human Services (HHS) mission. The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) statutes that govern the Board of Health allow establishment of policy, fees, and funding and sets the direction for public health programs. This is a policy on what program they would or would not charge for, as a public health entity. The Board is approving the policy. He presented the entire policy, but will concentrate on only two sections. Subsection 13, on packet page 14, says that they are prohibited from charging fees for certain services because they have a contract to provide those services, or a grant that says the department must accept those monies as full payment. Those services are the Women, Infant, Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 4 1 and Children (WIC) program, maternity support services, maternity case 2 management, child protective services, and other state programs that prohibit 3 collection of fees. 4 5 The department also does not charge frees for services related to children 6 with special health care needs, including home and office visits; consultations by 7 phone; communicable disease investigations; HIV counseling and testing for 8 targeted risk groups; and tuberculosis skin tests for selected populations. The 9 reason they don't charge a fee for the last two items is because they are the high - 10 risk populations. HHS needs to reach out to them. Fees should not be a barrier to 11 protecting the community's health. Regarding the communicable disease 12 investigation, it would be difficult. The question is whom they charge and for what 13 services. It would be counterproductive to do an epidemiological investigation. 14 They are trying to get the real facts so they can get to the basis of the outbreak 15 and prevent other people from getting sick. A fee in that situation would be a 16 barrier. Regarding consultation by phone, people call for many reasons. They 17 don't charge a fee for that. It would be impossible to administer. They feel 18 strongly that a program for children with special health care needs be at no charge 19 because the families are already responsible for other medical bills. The County 20 should not burden those families any more than they already are. 21 22 There are certain educational components they don't charge fees for, 23 including educational sessions outlined in the three -year plan or in program 24 policies. An example is the bloodborne diseases policy, goal one, objective one, 25 activity one, to provide four educational programs to at lease six drug and alcohol 26 mental health treatment programs. Another example would be outreach and 27 education to high -risk populations. When they are trying to reach out to those 28 components of public health, it would be a barrier to HHS to provide the service for 29 a charge. An example of where they charge is a presentation to an association or 30 professional organization. 31 32 Based on the County strategic plan, the HHS services mission, the 33 establishment that some fees would be barriers to protecting public health, and the 34 fact that some fees are prohibited due to arrangements by the payers, the HHS is 35 asking the Board of Health to approve the charging of fees for consumer services. 36 37 Imhof moved to approve as proposed. 38 39 Hoag questioned whether they are less likely to have people come forward if 40 they charge a fee for HIV counseling and testing. They are excluding particular risk 41 groups, but will charge a fee to other people. Guirl stated HIV counseling and 42 testing is a community collaborative effort. HHS is targeting the high -risk 43 population. Other service groups also provide counseling and testing. Other clinics 44 use a sliding fee scale. 45 46 Hoag stated it is difficult to get a person in the door to get that done in the 47 first place. They should not have to pay for it. It is an obstacle to someone doing 48 it. Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Benjamin stated they could monitor that area, but HHS is currently only doing the high -risk monitoring. If it is an issue in the community with the other providers, HHS would address it. Dawson asked how they would identify high -risk people. Benjamin stated HHS identifies the behavioral lifestyle. Guirl stated HHS collects information on individuals, not including names, such as the risk factors. A lot of people will go into Planned Parenthood and other areas with a concern of one instance in which something happened, and are not considered a high -risk person. Also, HHS gets about $15,000 in the consolidated contract for HIV testing. That money is spent quickly. Hoag asked how they would know if people are not getting tested. Guirl stated they would have to let people know there is a sliding fee scale. Hoag stated they don't use a sliding fee scale for a TB skin test. That is in the County's best interest to keep an eye on. Guirl stated that contrary to HIV, TB is required by an employer. They would bill the employer. Hoag stated that if they are using a sliding fee schedule, the employer would still pay for it. Guirl stated the test costs $5, which is a minimum charge. They also have policies the clinic staff can use to decide whether or not to waive a fee for instances such as a homeless individual or someone who has symptoms and the HHS wants to conduct the test. Hoag asked the benefit of not having a sliding fee. Many people are in the position of not having $5 to spare for a test. Also, she questioned whether an employer would still be billed if there is a sliding scale. Guirl stated HHS could bill the employers if there is a sliding fee scale. If one came in the clinic with symptoms, the staff is authorized to institute a sliding fee scale. Hoag asked the benefit of having a sliding scale. Business would pay anyway. Guirl stated the majority is coming in for employment, educational, or other requirements. They are not a high -risk population. Hoag stated she didn't support that policy. She moved to remove TB skin tests from page 13, item four, "...NOTE:... Immunizations, TQ Te Environmental..." Dawson stated Councilmember Hoag is asking staff to do additional paperwork to find out if the patients are qualified. They have already addressed the instances where they can make exceptions. She didn't want to see a sliding fee scale on a $5 fee, due to the extra staff time that would be required. Brenner asked how many TB tests are requested each year. Benjamin stated they do many. Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Guirl stated she estimated 1,000 TB tests are done per year. They conduct a screening clinic three or four days per week. Hoag asked if it would add a considerable amount of paperwork. Guirl stated it would. They would have to identify all family members, their gross monthly income, and go through the calculations. Hoag asked if the people attending the clinic would already have that information on file. Guirl stated most of them would not. Hoag withdrew her motion. Nelson asked about the unified fee schedule. Benjamin stated that has already been approved for this year. Motion carried unanimously. (Clerk's Note: Imhof left the meeting at 1 :10 p.m.) S. TOBACCO USE PREVENTION ACTIVITIES Hoag stated she found a tobacco promotion insert in Popular Mechanics, magazine that children read. Benjamin stated Christine Gregoire, Washington State Attorney General, already filed a suit that the tobacco companies violated the settlement order in advertising in children's magazines. There was a decision by some tobacco companies that they will withdraw advertising from the magazines that Gregoire named in her lawsuit. The good news for Washington State is that it has Gregoire, who makes this a top priority, as its attorney general. list. Hoag asked Benjamin to see if Popular Mechanics is included on Gregoire's Benjamin stated Popular Mechanics is generally not considered a children's magazine. Hoag stated teenagers and young boys generally read it. Crawford stated he had to leave the meeting, but he supported any use of tobacco funds being put toward any tobacco prevention programs. (Clerk's Note: Crawford left the meeting at 1 :15 p. m.) Joe Fuller, Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, stated tobacco is responsible for over 430,000 deaths in the U.S. Proportionately, the amount of people who die from cigarette smoking and tobacco use is overwhelming compared Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 to everything else. Tobacco is the only commercial product that, when used as intended, results in death. It is a legal drug. There is an idea that tobacco is less harmful. Carol Wetherill, Tobacco Prevention Coordinator, provided a brief overview on prevention and control efforts in Whatcom County, services provided by HHS and other agencies, and the tobacco settlement. Key components are activities provided by the tobacco prevention program, maternity support services, WIC, and child health. Key components of the program are monitoring and assessment, community education and prevention, and policy development. Monitoring and assessment involves retail compliance checks with the Liquor Control Board and fire department. (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.) Wetherill stated they also collect data for the state. Hoag stated a large group of kids at her son's school wrote in a wrong birth date on their application, so the photographer automatically used the year supplied, which made the kids look like they were over 18. The kids used the student identification cards as identification to get cigarettes. The principle got wind of it and punched holes through the year on the ID cards so it couldn't be seen. She suggested alerting the schools and the stores to not accept student identifications. Wetherill stated they do retailer education to inform the stores about valid ID and what a valid ID looks like. Student identification cards are not valid. Wetherill continued to state that they do community education at health and safety fairs. They also act as an information resource center. They have many videos, pamphlets and visual aids that are available to people to check out. They coordinate anti - tobacco events in the schools and the community, such as the Great American Smoke Out and Kick Butts Day. They also participate in counter - advertising through media such as billboards, newspapers, and radio. They do retailer education to let stores know to check for valid ID and post signs saying they don't sell tobacco products to minors. They also just produced the first smoke -free restaurant guide, which includes coupons. Brenner asked if the restaurants are 100 percent smoke free. Wetherill stated they are. They are planning to do an updated guide. Wetherill stated the most active event is Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) program which is peer education to middle school children. Nelson asked if all school districts participate. Wetherill stated all but Nooksack and Meridian School Districts. This is the first year for TATU. They asked 10 to 12 kids from each high school to do training and work with people in their own schools. Those two schools did not make it to the two dates for training. They will notify the schools earlier this year. Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Hoag asked about Lynden Christian. Wetherill stated they are also interested. Wetherill continued to state that media literacy is a component of community education. Kids from Whatcom County go to state activities, such as the Washington State Tobacco Prevention Youth Summit. Smoking cessation counseling and referral for pregnant women is offered, as is counseling on the impact of smoke in the environment on young children and children with special health care needs. Policy development includes policy advocacy. Other services include activities sponsored by various agencies, such as the American Cancer Society, who sponsors the Cancer Relay and is conducting a needs assessment in which they will have developed into a county profile by late next fall. In addition, they helped fund counter - advertising. COMMIT focus is outreach to pregnant women, health professional education, smoke free workplaces, and lobbying. Life Quest at St. Joseph's Hospital implements and conducts an adolescent cessation class. The Lummi Tribal Health Center has community outreach, training and presentations, information fairs, and stop- smoking support groups. The public schools participate in TATU and youth cessation days and other anti - tobacco days. Treatment agencies participate in prevention and control efforts through their education and cessation work. The Washington State Liquor and Tobacco Control Board works closely with the County in doing the retailer compliance checks and education. Western Washington University also provides cessation and medication to their students, as well as education and outreach. Currently, HHS will conduct a needs assessment and provider survey to determine other local prevention and control efforts. They want to see if there are gaps in services or if there are duplications of effort. Other collaborative agencies include GlaxoWellcome, the Northwest Washington Medical Bureau, the Washington State Medical Association, and the Whatcom County Medical Society. Regarding the tobacco settlement update, Washington State Department of Health received $15 million. They have not decided how to disperse the funding to the counties. They decided that every component of the state plan would be implemented. A request for application will be available by June 15. Counties will need to follow best practices. A community forum scheduled tonight is to educate people about what is going on in the community and the state. They will ask for input on community needs. The northwest region is below the state average for sixth graders who have tried tobacco. Usage triples between sixth and eighth grades. For those who use tobacco during their entire lifetime, their first use also triples between sixth and eight grades. In 1997, about 23 percent of the adults in Whatcom County smoked. Fifteen percent of the stores in Whatcom County sold tobacco products to minors, which is above the state average. Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Nelson moved to approve Whatcom County as the lead agency to apply for funding. Hoag asked if there is any information for teenagers who are smoking and want to quit. Wetherill stated St. Joseph Hospital has youth cessation classes. They have a contract with the Bellingham School District, not with the county schools, to send kids to the program when they are caught smoking on campus. Anyone can take the classes at the hospital. Group Health and Northwest Medical Bureau cover the cost of the classes. The schools would love to implement cessation programs, but there is no time. Blaine High School has a cessation program. It is difficult when kids are being expelled from school when caught. Brenner questioned whether this is constitutional when they weren't able to do the tobacco legislation. Benjamin stated it is. The statewide Tobacco Council looked at tobacco prevention programs nationwide. States have successful programs. The Tobacco Council developed a Washington State plan and adopted the best practices where the other states recognized successful outcomes. Brenner stated that when the Board of Health adopted the tobacco legislation, it was told it was legal. Before going down that road, she asked to run it by the attorneys. Hoag asked what road Brenner is talking about. Benjamin stated he is referring to the ordinance they already did. The Tobacco Council priced the plan at $26 million. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggested it would cost $39 million. They only have $15 million. They can still go ahead with the community plan. He didn't know if the state will extend funding to all counties or target specific counties to accomplish the plan. That is unknown. The good news is they are working closely with all providers in the community. They have the public health matters meeting. They will meet on June 15 with COMMIT to put together the community plan. Dr. Covert - Bowlds approved the County being the lead agency. Whatcom County will have a community plan based on services currently available, that will locate gaps, and that can address those gaps. Brenner stated she was surprised there is not an outrage about the state holding on to the rest of the money. Benjamin stated legislators are being educated about that. He doesn't support the legislature's decision on the budget. He wished there were money to do the entire plan. Brenner stated the County needs to lobby the legislature. McShane stated the adult use in the County has risen. He questioned why. Wetherill stated they don't have that information. Benjamin stated there is now a statewide plan that identifies best practices. They have to develop a Whatcom County plan based on best practices. He hoped Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 that by implementing the best practices, they would have an impact on smoking rates. They won't see results over night. Wetherill stated 90 percent of current smokers started when they were under the age of 18. Washington State now has $15 million, part of which will go into evaluations. Brenner asked if the charts on youth tobacco use mean that these kids are regular smokers, or have only tried it. It seems like part of being a kid is experimenting. She questioned how they know this means the kids are regular smokers, rather than the kids who have experimented. Wetherill stated it takes 10 to 12 cigarettes to be addicted. Brenner stated she wanted to see data on which kids are regular smokers. She can't imagine a kid not experimenting. Wetherill stated they don't have all the data because some schools decline to participate in the surveys. Hoag asked how they measure the adult use. Wetherill stated the hospital is going smoke free. Every physician asks the hospital patient if he or she smokes. Benjamin stated HHS is on a committee called Community Health Improvement Consortium (CHIC), comprised of hospital representatives, local physicians, and HHS. There is an electronic connection between the three groups. They are developing a community health record that includes physician practices and hospitalizations. They have agreed to ask behavioral lifestyle questions of patients. All information will be on the information system so there will be more accurate and reliable community information in the long term. Hoag asked the source of the numbers that are being used now. Wetherill stated the state, which does a survey, provides the numbers. Hoag stated part of the ordinance banning signs was declared unconstitutional. She asked if any of it was salvageable. Benjamin stated that is a question to ask the Prosecuting Attorney. Wetherill stated they can't use anything related to health in banning tobacco advertising. Hoag asked Benjamin to run the question past legal counsel. Motion carried unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS Brenner asked for HHS's opinion about the needle exchange program not working, as referenced in an article in Reader's Digest. She asked that HHS look into it. Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 (Clerks' Note: McShane left the meeting at 1 :47 p.m.) Benjamin stated he would give an update on this issue. He cautioned anyone from making a decision based on the article. There were always studies going on. Brenner stated someone who was supportive of the program did this study. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription These minutes were approved by Council on , 2000. ATTEST: Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Marlene Dawson, Council Chair Board of Health, 6/6/2000, Page 12