Orange County NC Website
MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH <br />February 25, 2009 <br />Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 8 February 25, 2009 <br /> b. Meetings with Dental and Medical Safety Net Providers: The Health Director and <br />senior staff met with Dental and Medical Safety Net Providers in two separate <br />meetings in mid February. Summaries of those meetings will be provided to the <br />Board members in March. <br /> <br /> c. Update on Pertussis at Carrboro Elementary School: An order was given to place <br />all 4th graders, kindergarteners, and bus riders on a certain bus route on antibiotic <br />therapy due to an outbreak of pertussis. As of February 17, 2009, all children <br />have complied with this order and have provided proof of antibiotic therapy to <br />school officials. Judy Butler, Community Services Supervisor was at the school <br />when students returned after antibiotic therapy to assist school personnel with <br />the verification process. At the end of the day only 10 children were without <br />antibiotics but were in the process of acquiring them. These children returned to <br />school the next day in compliance. While these cases were all in vaccinated <br />children, at some point in the future the Board may wish to look more closely at <br />the status of unvaccinated school children (religious and medical exemptions) to <br />determine whether any potential policy action is either necessary or possible. <br /> <br /> d. Letter from DENR regarding residuals management: The Aquifer Protection <br />Section of the Division of Water Quality recently issued a letter to county health <br />departments explaining the residuals (biosolids) management program in the <br />state and encouraging counties to be active and aware of the permitting and <br />notification process. A draft memorandum from the Commission for the <br />Environment to the Commissioners was also provided to the Board. The CFE is <br />recommending a task force on the issue. <br /> <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz asked what kind of monitoring process was in effect. Tom <br />Konsler stated that we are the only county in the state that has a monitoring <br />process for biosolids applications, however, due to staff limitations it is impossible <br />to monitor all applications so it is only by spot checking, but he felt that the <br />majority of those using biosolids were now following the guidelines set forth simply <br />because of the possibility of environmental health staff arrival during the <br />application process. Early in the process there was much more non-compliance. <br /> <br /> Board members agreed that participation in a multi-disciplinary task force would <br />be acceptable, however the CFE suggested memorandum of agreement with <br />the Health Department and the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) should be <br />negotiated between the health department and DWQ based on available <br />health department resources. <br /> <br /> d. Media clips: News articles featured in local newspapers on public health issues <br />or with health department involvement were provided for the Board’s <br />information. <br /> <br /> e. Health-related Bills introduced in General Assembly: A listing of health-related <br />bills that have been introduced by the State Legislature to date was provided to <br />Board members. Members were asked to notify the Health Director of interest in <br />further discussion of pending legislation so the discussion could be scheduled for <br />an upcoming meeting.