DEKALB COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

DATE: January 24, 2012

 

BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT 

 

Kevin Buick, JD – President

Paul Stoddard – Vice President

Todd Latham – Secretary

Dennis Diemer, DVM

Tim Duez, DDS

Roger Faivre

Ronald Feldmann, MD

Karen Hagen, RN, MS

Andria Mitchell

David Phillips, MD

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

 

INTRODUCTION OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS

 

Mr. Buick welcomed new members Roger Faivre, Ronald Feldmann, MD, and Andria Mitchell, and they introduced themselves.

 

CALL TO ORDER

 

The DeKalb County Board of Health meeting of January 24, 2012, was called to order at 7:30 PM by Kevin Buick, President.

 

MINUTES

 

Full Board

On a motion by Dr. Tim Duez, seconded by Todd Latham, the Board of Health Minutes of the Meeting for November 29, 2011, were approved. Motion carried. 

 

Division Reports 

Public Health Administrator – Jane Lux

 

Mrs. Lux explained the work over the next two months to close out and finalize our financial books. The final fieldwork by the auditor will be completed in March, and the Fiscal Year 2011 Financial Statement will be presented at the March meeting.

 

Mrs. Lux presented the Fiscal Year 2012 salary, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) and health insurance rates that are effective January 1, 2012, as budgeted.

 

Mrs. Lux has begun planning for our fourth round of the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN), a requirement for certification of local health departments every five years. 

 

The status of the dispute regarding the costs for boarding the dogs that attacked a jogger in June of 2011 is unresolved, as settlement negotiations are still open.

 

Mrs. Lux reviewed the Health Department’s responsibilities with the landfill expansion. One of these is to approve the Perimeter Air Monitoring Plan in conjunction with Patrick Engineering. We received the plan for review from Waste Management, and Mrs. Lux and Mr. Maurice participated in a phone conference with the engineering firm to discuss the plan prior to their review.

 

In both the Personal Health Services and Home Care Divisions, activity and volume increased. We had a number of simultaneous communicable disease (CD) investigations. These are especially challenging because they are resource intensive and we cannot plan for them in advance. However, our public health interventions successfully contained the spread of illness, though prevention is often invisible to the public.

 

In Home Care, new admissions peaked over the holidays due to the increased incidence of patients with pneumonia. While at the high end of a large variance in patient volume, the nurses accommodated the increase in patients. 

 

We have begun our business study of the downward trend in caseload and revenue. Terry Cichon, the consultant from FR&R, reviewed data and determined additional data and information needed for the analysis that will continue over the next several months. Ms. Cichon has indicated the home care industry is struggling, and our concerns are not unique. In the mean time, Mrs. Hardcastle continues implementation of the business plan we developed with the 2012 budget.

 

To follow up on the letter the Board of Health sent our state legislators advocating for a reorganization of Maternal and Child Health services at the state level, Mrs. Lux shared communication with Bob Pritchard that he is supporting the initiative and he thanks the Board of Health for the influential letter. In addition, Senator Christine Johnson called today to express her support as well.

 

Environmental Health – Greg Maurice

 

Mr. Maurice reported on legislation impacting Environmental Health effective January 1, 2012. This includes a Cottage Food Law and a law banning electronic items from the landfill. We will begin promotion of our next Electronics Recycling event, to be held on April 14, 2012.

 

Mr. Maurice reported on the success of our Holiday Lights recycling program. We collected 1,500 pounds of lights for recycling thus far.   

 

Personal Health Services – Bette Chilton

 

Mrs. Chilton reported on the communicable disease investigations that included a school Pertussis outbreak and two tuberculosis (TB) cases, with emphasis on the challenge of increase in staff resources needed.

 

Our flu shot utilization decreased compared to last year, and Mrs. Chilton discussed a variety of factors that influence our flu prevention program. Dr. Feldmann and Dr. Phillips reported similar trends seen in their practices.

We are planning a meeting with countywide school nurses in February to discuss the new Tdap requirement for 6th and 9th graders.

 

Mrs. Chilton discussed the Division outcomes for 2011 and goals for 2012 included with her report.  While it has been difficult to decrease services, our client satisfaction remains very high.

 

Home Care – Lisa Hardcastle

 

Mrs. Hardcastle explained the charts in her report showing Acute Care Hospitalization (ACH) Rate that is tracked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). We have begun to track our data internally for more current data. Our data favorably compares with the national standard, and our internal current data also shows a positive trend. This measure is especially important as hospitals will be seeking to partner with Home 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. This is also known as “pay for performance,” and additional measures will be included. It has been shown that if the ACH rate is improved, other outcomes will improve at the same time. Another important measure, publicly reported, is patient satisfaction survey scores. Mrs. Hardcastle reported on our scores that compare very favorably to the state scores.    

 

Mrs. Hardcastle reported on the work of committees addressing supply management and Quality Improvement, and also on her ongoing marketing visits.

 

Health Education – Marcy Zanellato

 

Mrs. Zanellato reported on Break the Habit, a smoking cessation program that offers counseling and nicotine replacement products in partnership with the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. We are planning a media campaign for March.  

 

Mrs. Zanellato reported on the extensive work involved for our Emergency Preparedness grants. DeKalb is the only county in the state to be in two different regions: Rockford for the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) grant, and West Chicago (collar counties) for the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) grant. While we have benefited from additional networking and support, there are costs as well in time and resources.

 

Financial Data

 

Dr. Phillips moved to approve the Financial Statements for November and December 2011, seconded by Sue Thompson. Motion carried.

 

Dr. Duez moved to approve the Claims for December 2011 and January 2012, seconded by Paul Stoddard. Motion carried.

 

NEW BUSINESS 

1.  Board member resignation and nomination to fill vacancy

 

Sue Thompson announced that she has moved to Rockford, and thus resigned her position on the Board of Health effective after tonight’s meeting.

 

As the 2012 Nominating Committee has not yet been appointed, Mrs. Lux requested that the full Board make a recommendation to the County Board for the nomination of a new Board member. Mrs. Lux presented a potential nominee that has been reviewed by a previous Nominating Committee to fulfill the vacant nurse position.

Christina Jones, RN, MS, is currently the Director of Clinical Services at Kishwaukee Hospital, and has served in management positions with KishHealth System for over twenty years. Her background includes critical care and emergency services prior to her current position. She is a very qualified candidate.

 

On a motion by Sue Thompson, seconded by Karen Hagen, the Board of Health recommends to the County Board the appointment of Christina Jones, RN, MS, for the partial term February 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013. Motion carried. She will subsequently be eligible to serve two additional three year terms.

 

2. Appointment of Standing Committees for 2012

 

The Executive Committee, in accordance with the nomination of officers, is:

 

Kevin Buick, JD – President

Paul Stoddard – Vice President

Todd Latham – Secretary

 

Mr. Buick appointed Committee members as follows:

 

Finance:

Paul Stoddard, Chair

Dr. Dennis Diemer

Dr. Tim Duez

 

Bylaws:

Dr. Ronald Feldmann, Chair

Vacant (to be filled by new appointee)

 

Personnel:

Todd Latham, Chair

Karen Hagen

Andria Mitchell

 

Nominating:

Dr. David Phillips, Chair

Kevin Buick

Roger Faivre

 

Dr. Phillips moved to approve appointment of the Standing Committees for 2012, seconded by Dr. Duez.  Motion carried.

 

3. Proposed Vital Records Ordinance

 

The Health Department is the Local Registrar for vital records, and copies are kept at the office of the County Clerk. The State of Illinois digitized the death records in 2008 and birth records in 2010, and the County Clerk’s office recently completed digitization of all of their records.

 

John Acardo, County Clerk, proposed collaboration between our departments to standardize the fees to the public, enhancing services and avoiding duplication. He is bringing a proposed ordinance to the County Board in February to accomplish this goal. The ordinance maintains the Board of Health’s authority to set fees.  Mrs. Lux shared the proposed ordinance and our support. 

 

4.ommunity Relationships with KishHealth System

 

With shrinking resources in public health, it is important to assure we are in strategic alignment with KishHealth System (KHS) to realize efficiencies and maximize benefit to the community. We currently have ongoing partnerships in several areas with common goals. For example, KHS has agreed to partner with us on our fourth round of the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN), and to share the cost. Their long term plan has a focus on community outreach and prevention, and they have been actively implementing strategies form our last IPLAN.

 

Mrs. Lux would like to discuss long term plans in other areas of mutual concern with Kevin Poorten, President and  CEO, and would come back to the Board for more specific discussion should we want to pursue anything further. Long term vision for Community Cares Clinic (CCC) space and the impact of upcoming health care reform on home health will be topics for consideration. The Board of Health is supportive of such discussion.

 

5. March meeting date

 

The Board discussed attendance at the March 27th meeting, as it is spring break time. Several members will be out of town that week and the following week. Mrs. Lux will check potential alternate dates, and get back in touch with members.

 

6. Recognition of retiring Board member

 

Mrs. Lux recognized Sue Thompson for her four years of service on the Board of Health. We are appreciative of the acute care perspective she shared, in addition to how the economic downturn has impacted inpatient care.   

 

Correspondence and Announcements

 

See highlights as noted. In addition, Mrs. Lux commented on the very nice note sent by Dave Wester, CCC, to thank us for sharing clinic space. The holiday lights program got a lot of press coverage, and Mrs. Lux mentioned the front page story on the CATCH program in elementary schools that emphasizes healthy eating and physical activity. Andria Mitchell was quoted in the article for the participation of her school, Tyler elementary, in DeKalb.

 

Adjournment

 

On a motion by Todd Latham, seconded by Dr. Duez, the Board of Health adjourned at 8:27 PM. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

________________________________________________

Todd Latham, Secretary

DeKalb County Board of Health