QUINNIPIAC VALLEY HEALTH DISTRICT

BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES

North Haven, CT

October 23, 2008

4:30 p.m.

Attendance: A.McClure; D.Cofrancesco; J.Donaldson; C.Goldberg; A.Levison; P.Marone; M.Rochow; B.Scott; L.Balch, ex officio; D.Culligan, staff; J.Silvestri, staff.

Not in Attendance: L. DeNegre; S.Faris; L.Haddad; V.Masi; A.Sofair.

President A.McClure called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum present. She noted that P.Marones father died and that a card was sent on behalf of the QVHD Board.

Minutes:

A motion to approve the September 2008 minutes was made by D.Cofrancesco, seconded by C.Goldberg and unanimously approved.

Financial Report:

The Financial Report ending September 30, 2008 was reviewed. L.Balch commented as follows:

-         Target is 25%; Revenue is at 33%, Expenses are at 22.9%.

-         With regards to the flu program, revenue is down because the District is not conducting mass vaccination clinics this year. Expenses will also remain lower than budgeted.

-         First payment is in for school based health center and HERR (lead). BT first payment has not been received but is being processed. BT grant should be about $65,000.00 this year.

-         Building Maintenance line item is high. It includes extermination of bees (hive found on outside wall and additional bees found in the attic) and electrical upgrades on lighting and repairs and upgrades noted last month. Area-repaving of the parking lot will occur after the winter season.

-         Equipment Maintenance is high because of a hostile takeover of the computer system which caused the system to crash from high traffic. However, a large portion of this expense will be allocated from the BT funds and the COL increase in per cap funding. In response to a question from P. Marone, it was noted by L. Balch that this line item is projected on pre-determined leases and maintenance costs.

A motion to accept the financial report and place it on file was made by J.Donaldson, seconded by B.Scott and voted unanimously.

Committee Reports:

School Based Health Center:

A. Levison (liaison to Moms Clinic) made a motion that the Board accept the recommendation of the Moms Clinic Advisory Committee to approve the reviewed policy manual, seconded by J.Donaldson and voted unanimously.

There were no other committee reports this month.

Administrative Reports:

Health Education Report By D.Culligan:

-         MOMS Clinic passed inspection by the State of CT, Licensure division and was relicensed for an additional four year period.

-         Distribution of literature on handwashing and cold/flu prevention was distributed to all school nurses within the health district.

-         Qvhd-TIPS, Fall 2008 was printed and will be distributed to schools next week. Focus of the health letter is on cold/flu prevention and renovating homes safely to prevent lead poisoning.

-         The QVHD/VNA co-sponsored Flu Clinics will be completed after the 10/29 Bethany clinic. The VNA will continue with their own seasonal influenza vaccine activities. The co-sponsored clinics have generated approximately the same total number of flu vaccine recipients as QVHD last season, while more pneumonia shots were given. (The VNA follows less restrictive, yet medically acceptable, pneumonia vaccine standards than QVHD did.)   

Directors Report by L.Balch:

-         Lead Prevention Week occurred this month. QVHD prepared copies of pamphlets and booklets which were distributed to 7 paint stores in the district. The slogan for this campaign is Renovation Right, to prevent lead poisoning.

-         State of CT Changes in FOI (Freedom of Information) Regulations mandates that the posting of board minutes appear on a public-sectors website within 7 days. QVHD will post their minutes on the district website, www.qvhd.org, under Board information.

-         An increase in the cost of medical insurance for QVHD staff with family policies will increase by about 20% beginning December 1^st, 2008, to about $25,000.00 per family. QVHD participates in the State MEHIP plan to decrease cost; however the plan currently offered to QVHD employees is a non-standard plan and is approximately 23% higher than a comparable standard plan. Staff education about policy choice will be negotiated with the Union to contain costs. The union contract may not be able to be changed until after June, 2009, however, management may be able to make a change as soon as January, 2009.  

-         Bioterrorism  A focus for this year is to create a Special Needs Registry. After consideration and communications with the State DPH and local responders, a more appropriate approach to address this population is to work through agencies that are already providing services to these populations. State DPH efforts to establish a regional database is being piloted.

-         L.Balch has met with the head of one home health care agency operating within the district and plans on meeting jointly with others to guide their emergency preparedness plan and communications with QVHD in the time of an event. This will also help address issues with special needs populations.

-         L. Balch will be meeting with long term care facilities in Woodbridge in early November to discuss communication and participation in alternate mass distribution for their residents, staff and families in the event of a public health emergency.

Other:

The Board Meeting Schedule for 2009 was reviewed. A motion to accept was made by M.Rochow, seconded by B.Scott and voted unanimously to place on file.

The Board of Health Committees list was reviewed for the 2008-2009 update. M.Rochow, Chair of the Nominating Committee reminded the Board that J.Thorpe had resigned and was replaced with L.DeNegre in the interim.  D. Cofrancesco will review the QVHD Board By-laws and committee criteria will be reviewed at the next meeting.

Motion to adjourn was made by M.Rochow, seconded by B.Scott and voted unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.

Note: There is no scheduled Board Meeting in November. A combined November/December meeting will be held on December 11, 2008. The December 11^th meeting will begin at 4:00 p.m. with the annual QVHD holiday party for the Board, hosted by QVHD staff.

Minutes prepared by:

J.Silvestri, QVHD staff