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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH August 25, 2005 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 3 August 25, 2005 we see and the number of staff and space that have to support those patients and then look at the projected growth of what the patient load is going to be graphically. The point was made that the number of underserved population is growing in the county and the department has limited space to serve these needs. One way to do this is extended hours, which would mean increased staffing. It is anticipated that the Board will discuss the complete draft of the plan at the September meeting. The goal would be to forward a complete copy to the Board of Commissioners for a possible joint meeting this winter. This would allow the staff to utilize the strategic plan for budget preparation beginning in December. B. Food, Lodging, Institutional Inspection Program Review Report The state office periodically conducts program reviews to assess the quality of service provision and compliance with rules although there has been no review for the Food and Lodging Program in over 20 years. It is recommended that a review be done every 5 years. The Environmental Health Director requested a program review of the Food, Lodging and Institutional Inspection Program in 2004-2005. The Regional Environmental Health Specialist conducted the program review from January through April of 2005. The report was distributed detailing the findings of the program review. Several recommendations were made by the Regional Specialist as a result of the review to strengthen the program, most of which can be accomplished quickly and easily. The major recommendation made is that the program needs an adequate number of staff to carry out an effective program. The recommendation in the report is for two additional staff positions. The point was made that three additional staff positions would be ideal, one supervisor and two environmental health specialists, to do some of the prevention that we need to be doing. During an epi investigation, environmental health specialists, especially in the food and lodging area, have been key in all of our investigations because they have the interviewing and questionnaire construction skills that are core to our epi team. C. Health Department Buildings as Non-Smoking Campuses The legislature passed a law that allows local governments to establish policies that prohibit smoking within 50 linear feet of the local health department. Current county policy establishes smoke-free environments within county buildings, however allows smoking outside the buildings. This would allow the county to establish policies that restrict smoking within 500 linear feet of the buildings where the health department is located. That would, at this point in time, include the Whitted Building, the Southern Human Services Center and the Carr Building. All three of these buildings have other county departments located in them as well. The county is governed by an Ordinance passed in 1993 by the BOCC and subsequently “Smoking Control Rules” were established and passed by the Orange County Board of Health in 1993 and amended in 1999. The staff of the Health Department has approached management staff many times with