DEKALB COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

DATE: NOVEMBER 29, 2011

 

 

BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT

Linda Liston, MD – President

Jesus Romero – Vice President

Kevin Buick, JD - Secretary

Dennis Diemer, DVM

Tim Duez, DDS

Karen Hagen, RN, MS

Todd Latham

David Phillips, MD

Scott Starkweather

Paul Stoddard

E. Sue Thompson, RN, MS

Staff Members Present

Jane Lux, Administrator

Bette Chilton, Director of Personal Health Services

Brenda Courtney, Director of Administrative Services

Marcy Zanellato, Director of Health Education

Greg Maurice, Director of Environmental Health

Lisa Hardcastle, Director of Home Care

 

CALL TO ORDER

 

The DeKalb County Board of Health meeting of November 29, 2011, was called to order at 7:30 PM by Dr. Linda Liston, President.

 

MINUTES

 

Full Board

On a motion by Scott Starkweather, seconded by Dr. Tim Duez, the Board of Health Minutes of the Meeting for September 27, 2011, were approved. Motion carried. 

 

On a motion by Todd Latham, seconded by Scott Starkweather, the Board of Health Executive Session Minutes of the Meeting for September 27, 2011, were approved. Motion carried.

 

Nominating Committee

On a motion by Dr. Tim Duez, seconded by Sue Thompson, the Board of Health Nominating Committee Minutes of the Meeting for October 12, 2011, were approved. Motion carried. 

 

Division Reports

 

Public Health Administrator – Jane Lux

 

The DeKalb County Board adopted the 2012 DeKalb County Budget at the November 16, 2011 meeting.  Mrs. Lux compared the Health Department request to the recommended and approved amounts.

Mrs. Lux reported on the preliminary fieldwork the auditor began in November to start the work for closing out the financial statements for 2011. Mrs. Lux also reported on grant payment delays of four to six months, similar to last year.

 

Mrs. Lux reported that Community Cares Clinic (CCC) started seeing patients at the Health Department in mid- November and the collaborative arrangement is going very well.

 

The hearing for the vicious dog case discussed at the September meeting had a satisfactory resolution.  However, the issue of payment for boarding costs is yet to be resolved, and an ongoing motion is awaiting a hearing date. The case illustrates the difficulty in relying upon penalty fees for program funding.

 

Mrs. Lux noted the accomplishments of our “Earth, Wind and Flu” mass dispensing exercise that we conducted in conjunction with a flu clinic. Mrs. Zanellato explained the extensive requirements of the Emergency Preparedness grants, and the impact on all Divisions is evident in Division reports.

 

Mrs. Chilton met with school district nursing staff about the challenges of meeting the need for childhood immunizations included in school health requirements with our decreased capacity this year. Increasing the challenge, there is a new requirement for next school year for students entering 6th grade to get a booster dose of Tdap vaccine. In addition, all students in grades 7 through 12 must have a Tdap booster. We have begun planning, and will update the Board in January.

 

Late summer and fall pose the greatest staffing challenges in the Personal Health Services Division due to the disproportionate increase in demand from school health requirements and flu shots. We envision the need to expand our capacity to provide immunizations. 

 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) published the final Medicare Home Health rules for 2012 that include a 2.39 percent decrease in Medicare reimbursement. This is after a 5.2 percent decrease in 2011. We have previously discussed challenges in Home Care. Reduction in Medicare funding compounds other factors of market competition, regulatory issues and the impact of the economy on the health care sector.  As revenue and caseload decline remain concerns, we are proceeding with our planned consultation from Terry Cichon, business and management specialist with FR&R Healthcare Consulting.  We are compiling financial and operational data for her review.

 

Mrs. Hardcastle has coordinated an Open House on November 30th for Home Care and Hospice month, and Board of Health members are invited. While Mrs. Hardcastle had secured commitments to attend from Representative Robert Pritchard and Senator Christine Johnson, they had to return to Springfield for a legislative session. Last week, Mr. Pritchard was able to visit the Home Care program and accompany a nurse on a patient visit.  

 

Environmental Health – Greg Maurice

 

Mr. Maurice highlighted the selection of Mrs. Christel Springmire for a 2011 PRIDE award from the City of DeKalb Citizen Environmental Commission. She received the award for her work as Solid Waste Program coordinator to promote and expand recycling in DeKalb County.

 

Mr. Maurice reported on our new Holiday Lights recycling program. We arranged for eight drop-off locations throughout the county.  In addition, we held a successful electronics recycling event on October 1st, at which we collected 50,000 pounds of electronics and 1,200 pounds of batteries.

 

Personal Health Services – Bette Chilton

 

Mrs. Chilton reported on the Division’s collaboration with the Emergency Preparedness team to implement the “Every Day Use” model. The team planned, implemented and evaluated a successful medication dispensing exercise while providing flu vaccinations to over 700 Northern Illinois University employees on September 20th.

 

Mrs. Chilton reported on fall utilization trends in all Division programs, as it is a time of increased demand, an ongoing challenge with reduced resources.

 

Home Care – Lisa Hardcastle

 

Mrs. Hardcastle explained the Acute Care Hospitalization (ACH) Rate that is tracked by CMS. Our plan is to reactivate a Quality Improvement Committee to develop and implement protocols to decrease our ACH rate. This measure is especially important in today’s competitive Home Care market because hospitals are looking to partner with Home Care and other post acute care providers that meet this performance measure to keep patients out of the hospital. One aspect of health care reform is a negative impact on reimbursement to hospitals for re-hospitalization of patients with certain conditions within thirty (30) days. 

 

Dr. Liston asked for further information about marketing visits. Mrs. Hardcastle explained that her report includes visits to physicians and hospital and long term care discharge planners. The purpose of the visits is to seek ways to work with providers to improve care of mutual patients and to let providers know what DeKalb County Home Care can do to assist them with a successful home care experience for their patients.

 

Health Education – Marcy Zanellato

 

Mrs. Zanellato reported on the extensive NIU flu exercise which met requirements for two of the Emergency Preparedness grants. There are a number of requirements and standards we have to meet including compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). During the clinic, we were able to test a new rapid dispensing model developed form lessons learned during H1N1 clinics. We were able to increase our “through-put rate,” the number of people vaccinated per worker per hour, from 24 to 40. The State standard is 36.

 

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) rolled out their “Got the Dot” initiative. The materials include yellow dot decals placed on vehicle windows to symbolize the “golden hour” after an accident when increased medical history information can improve the outcome. Participants fill out a form with medical information that is kept in the glove compartment for easy access by first responders. IDOT chose health departments to promote and distribute the materials. Mrs. Zanellato submitted a public service announcement for promotion explaining that interested individuals can pick up the materials at no charge.

 

Financial Data

 

Kevin Buick moved to approve the Financial Statements for September and October 2011, seconded by Tim Duez.  Motion carried.

 

Jesus Romeo moved to approve the Claims for October and November 2011, seconded by Tim Duez.  Motion carried.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

1.  Letter of Support for Maternal and Child Health

 

As previously reported, The Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA) resumed its Maternal and Child Health Section to advocate for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) in Illinois. They produced a “white paper” report and Executive Summary outlining the problem and recommending a solution.  Mrs. Lux requested Board of Health approval for Dr. Liston to sign a letter to our two legislators on behalf of the Board. The letter states that the DeKalb County Board of Health recommends that a new office for the Maternal and Child Health program be established by statute in the Illinois Department of Public Health. Currently, Illinois’ Maternal and Child Health system is divided among three state agencies, resulting in multiple negative impacts at the local level.

 

After discussion, Kevin Buick moved that Dr. Liston sign and execute the letter in support of the consolidation of this program, seconded by Dr. Phillips. Motion carried.

 

2. Nominating Committee Report, Sue Thompson.

 

  The Nominating Committee met October 12, 2011, and recommends the following:

 

Nomination of Board of Health Officers for 2012:

 

Kevin Buick, President

Paul Stoddard, Vice-President

Todd Latham, Secretary

 

Recommend to the County Board the reappointment of Paul Stoddard as the County Board representative for a fourth one year term from January through December 2012.

Recommend to the County Board the appointment of three new members to the Board of Health for a three year term from January 2012 through December 2014:

Dr. Ronald Feldmann, physician member
Andrea Mitchell, community member
Roger Faivre, community member

 

Kevin Buick moved to approve the recommendation for appointment of Ronald Feldmann, Andria Mitchell and Roger Faivre to the Board of Health for the term January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014, seconded by Jesus Romero. Motion carried. 

Kevin Buick moved to approve the recommendation for reappointment of Paul Stoddard to the Board of Health for the term January through December 2012, seconded by Todd Latham.  Motion carried.

 

Scott Starkweather moved to nominate the slate of officers for the one year term from January 1, to December 31, 2012, as follows: Kevin Buick, President; Paul Stoddard, Vice President and Todd Latham, Secretary, seconded by Dr. Phillips.  Motion carried.

 

3. Recognition of retiring Board Members

 

Mrs. Lux recognized Dr. Linda Liston, Jesus Romero and Scott Starkweather for their six year service to the Board of Health. Mrs. Lux expressed deep appreciation for the time and expertise voluntarily given by these members.  

 

Correspondence and Announcements

 

See highlights as noted.  In addition, Mrs. Lux commented on the very nice notes sent by Home Care patients with donations.

 

Adjournment

 

On a motion by Scott Starkweather, seconded by Tim Duez, the Board of Health adjourned at 8:11 PM.  Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

________________________________________________

Kevin Buick, JD, Secretary

DeKalb County Board of Health