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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 3, 2000 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Phyllis R. Privette 4 February 3, 2000 the Adoption Guidelines portion of the Animal Shelter Procedures. This was in response to a citizen complaint regarding the adoption guidelines. After the adoption guideline section is finished, the Committee plans to review all the elements of the contract between the Animal Protection Society (APS) and the County regarding the operation of the Animal Shelter. The Committee will make recommendations to the Board. The current plan is to have the work completed by the March Board meeting. Rosemary Summers noted that the Board of Health would then consider these recommendations and decide whether to forward them to the Commissioners for consideration. Some recommendations may be to the APS. Neither the Board of Health nor the Commissioners can force the APS to make changes in their policies. The Commissioners can decide whether or not to renew the contract with the APS and can include certain stipulations as part of the contract. D. Dental and Personal Health Committee 1. Eligibility and Fee Policies for Personal Health Services The Committee met for the first time this year just prior to the Board meeting. Janet Southerland and Mel Hurston were by common consent chosen as co-chairs of the Committee. A regular meeting schedule was proposed and approved by the Committee. The primary agenda item for the Committee was consideration of eligibility and fee policies for personal health services. The necessity of unbundling costs for Medicaid billing on July 1, 2000 has been one of the prime thrusts for instituting a full billing process for all patients in personal health. The majority of the services have heretofore been free. The Committee and the Board had a fairly extensive discussion regarding establishing a sliding fee scale, establishing fees for all services, the proposed bad debt policy and the concept of a minimum fee that would be charged in allowable programs. Rosemary Summers informed the Board that the department is expecting a consulting firm to conduct a cost study that will allow us to establish costs for each procedure code. This will allow us to propose a fee schedule that reflects actual costs. It was the general consensus of the Board that they wished to act on the specific policies at the same time that a fee schedule was proposed. Since the budget preparation will in part depend on whether the Board supports the concept of charging fees or not, staff requested the Board to provide direction in this regard. Mel Hurston stated that he felt that this was the responsible direction to move in. He felt that everyone should take some responsibility for paying for services and that it was the Board's responsibility to be good stewards of the tax dollars allocated. Establishing fees and a collection policy was a step in the right direction. A motion to support the concept of eligibility and fee policies and the establishment of a minimum fee for allowable services was made by Barbara Chavious and seconded by Mel Hurston. The motion passed without dissent. 2. Reorganization of Personal Health Services Rosemary Summers reported on the reorganization of personal health services utilizing the organizational charts provided in the Board packet. The goal of the reorganization was to clarify the services offered to the public, increasing the effectiveness of staff in all program areas, and to emphasize and highlight the core functions and essential services of the Department. The reorganization was intended to be position and revenue neutral, that is no new positions would be created and no positions would be lost. To the extent possible as duties and supervisory lines are shifted the intention is to leave positions close to their current classification levels as possible. The reorganization will shift resources to create a new division entitled: Health Promotion and Health Education Services Division. It was decided that this was necessary because the