HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Health July 17 20181 Whatcom County Council
2 Board of Health & Public Health Advisory Board Joint Meeting
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4 July 17, 2018
5
6 CALL TO ORDER
7
8 Council Member Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. in the
9 County Courthouse Fifth Floor Conference Room 514, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham,
10 Washington.
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12
13 ROLL CALL
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15 Present: Tim Ballew, Barbara Brenner, Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd,
16 Todd Donovan, Satpal Sidhu, Rachel Lucy Cecka, Lindsey Karas, and
17 Sue Sullivan.
18 Absent: Tim Ballew, Tyler Byrd, Barbara Juarez, Les Seelye, and Ray Wolpow
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20
21 AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOME, INTENDED OUTCOMES FOR TODAY, INTRODUCTIONS,
22 GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPATION
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24 Buchanan welcomed everyone.
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26 Lucy Cecka described key outcomes for the day.
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28 Regina Delahunt, Health Department Director, gave a staff report on the details of
29 the key outcomes and agenda items.
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31 Holly O'Neil, Crossroads Consulting, introduced herself as the meeting's facilitator
32 and described the process for today's meeting.
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34 Meeting participants introduced themselves and their public health topic of interest.
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36 AGENDA ITEM 2: OVERVIEW OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT (CHI)
37 PLANNING PROCESS, DISCUSSION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT (CHA),
38 LOOKING AHEAD (TO) DEVELOPING THE COMMUNITY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT
39 PLAN AND HOW THE PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD (PHAB) AND HEALTH
40 BOARD WILL BE ENGAGED IN THAT PROCESS
41
42 Erika Neurenberg, Health Department, gave a staff report on the community health
43 assessment, including the update process, purpose of the assessment report, methodology
44 for selecting indicators, equality versus equity, health determinants, physical environment,
45 health behaviors, healthcare indicators, forces of change, qualitative versus quantitative,
46 and the variety of data sample sizes and availability of data.
47
48 The meeting participants and Health Board.staff divided into small discussion groups
49 to discuss one of the key determinants of health. Each group then reported on their
50 discussions:
51 Healthcare: more coverage doesn't equate to access. They need indicators
52 that give accurate information on access for different groups.
Board of Health, 7/17/2018, Page 1
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• Demographics, quality of life, health outcomes: They need more analysis on
the data they have to identify discrepancies. The community is becoming
more diverse, and the population is getting older. Healthcare access doesn't
equate to healthcare quality. There is a significant racial disparity in life
expectancy. There is also a significant gender disparity in depression.
• Physical environment: Local versus state demographics. Certain areas don't
have appropriate parks and other positive physical environments. The PHAB
and Board can better - address traffic safety. They must include Lummi Nation
and Nooksack Tribe data in the statistics. Overuse of sanitizing products
inhibits natural resistance against certain germs. People should donate
money instead of non - nutritious canned food during food drives.
• Social and Economic Factors: The gap in graduation rates and homeless
youth. They need more granular data to get a better sense of what's
happening in the community. There may be concerns about potential
deportation of undocumented residents resulting from at attempt at
healthcare access.
• Health Behaviors: Drug and alcohol use rates are down. Adult obesity rates
are up. Discuss how to use the successful elements of the national campaign
against tobacco to address other health behaviors. They must find out about
Skagit County's success with their syringe program.
Neurenberg continued the staff report on next steps.
(Clerk's Note: The Board and PHAB took a break at 2:32 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.)
AGENDA ITEM 3: REVIEW ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES OF PHAB, THE HEALTH
BOARD, AND THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The meeting participants and Health Board staff divided into small discussion groups
to discuss how to strengthen linkages to advance community health priorities. Each group
then reported on their discussions, which included:
• Finding mutual and common interests
• Ensuring good communication among the groups
• Include the Public Health Advisory Board in community forums and hearings
• Distribute the Roles and Responsibilities matrix to each new member of the
PHAB and Board of Health
• More frequent reports at the Council's Public Health and Safety Committee
• More frequent informal discussions among staff and the members of the PHAB
and Board of Health
• Increasing the Health Board members' awareness of their role as members of
the Board of Health
• Whether the current local public health structure and PHAB structure is
effective
AGENDA ITEM 4: THE EVOLVING ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AS A "HEALTH
STRATEGIST"
Delahunt gave a staff report on the evolving role of the Health Department. Board
members and staff discussed:
• Staying flexible to respond to community needs
• Transition of services to private providers
• Early childhood development
Board of Health, 7/17/2018, Page 2
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• Reducing barriers to access, such as for undocumented workers and
preexisting conditions
AGENDA ITEM 5: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF POLICY WORK IN THE EVOLVING ROLE OF
PUBLIC HEALTH, AND HOW WE WILL WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP A POLICY
AGENDA FOR WHATCOM COUNTY
Buchanan reported on the PHAB policy priorities, which are early childhood
development, affordable housing and homelessness, substance abuse and addition, criminal
justice and incarceration, food access and food systems, and public health system and
services.
Lucy Cecka and Buchanan continued the staff report on the PHAB policy priorities,
including model programs in other jurisdictions; efforts to combat homelessness; and an
upcoming recommendation from PHAB on how to plan around food systems.
Meeting participants discussed the housing levy and other revenue sources; Council
approval of the expansion of the East Whatcom Regional Resource Center, which will be
used to expand the food bank in the area; economic development in the east county area;
senior services; replacing a food bank distribution system with a monetary food card
system; and how to prioritize all the strategies.
WRAP -UP AND EVALUATION
O'Neil summarized the day's discussions.
comments.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no public comments.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 4:17 p.m.
Meeting participants provided closing
The Gmripcpl��ap P�byed these minutes on September 11, 2018.
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Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
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Board of Health, 7/17/2018, Page 3