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Health Director's Report February 2020 • COVID-19 (formerly known as Coronavirus)—NC Department of Health and Human Services continues to provide guidance to partners regarding COVID-19. OCHD participates in weekly conference calls with the State and our communicable disease staff is in constant communication with DHHS about returning travelers from China. Currents risks to NC remain low. There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in NC at this time. The State Health Director has issued a temporary order requiring all physicians and laboratories to report any suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infections to their local Health Department. NC Emergency Management and NC DHHS are working in coordination with the newly established NC Coronavirus Task Force(established last week by Governor Cooper) to develop response plans for the different scenarios that may unfold. • January 30,2020 -Cardinal Innovations met with Local Health Directors to share their new Charter. The new structure is modeled after Oregon; this is the structure they moved to in 2012 during their implementation. The Charter includes an Operations Council,Provider Partners Council, Community Advisory Council, and Regional Health Council(5 total). Orange County is part of the Central Region. I have made our appointment to the Operations Council(Informatics Manager—Juliet Sheridan)and Board of County Commissioners(BOCC)is reviewing applications for appointments to the Community Advisory Council. We had robust conversation about the Cardinal Assessment Reports and how we could incorporate their assessment results into local CHA Reports and vice-versa,how we can share our CHA results with Cardinal. There was consensus to explore a data repository where data can be shared. • Census 2020—Staff and I continue to work with the County Census Complete Count Committee to prepare for Census 2020. April 1st is the official Census Day. Several Be Counted Sites have been identified throughout the County to give community members access to computers so they may complete the survey. Be Counted Sites are scheduled to open up March 12,2020. They will remain open until July 31,2020.For a list of Be Counted Sites visit: hLtps://www.orangecouqtnc.gov/2302/Be-Counted-Sites . If you have meetings scheduled between now and the first week of April,we ask that you remind folks to complete the Census. OCHD Communications Manager,Kristin Prelipp developed videos to explain the importance of the Census and the benefits for the County. All the videos,including versions in English,Kinyarwanda,Burmese,Karen,Mandarin and Arabic are here: https://www.orangecountVnc.gov/2092/Census-2020 • Opioid Task Force Meeting—To date we've had 2 official meetings. Great attendance at both meetings. The group is learning about existing local efforts to address opioid/substance use disorder and identifying gaps and additional resources. During the January meeting,UNC Medical Center gave a very detailed presentation about their Opioid Stewardship Program started in 2017 at the Medical Center. In 2018 the program has spread to 11 other hospitals in the health care system. Program activities have led to a decrease in prescribing by providers and increased both patient and provider education to include screening,treatment and disposal. The group also heard from the NC DHHS Injury and Violence Prevention Branch. Orange County data was presented—3 million pills dispensed in 2018; 2017 shows a spike in opioid related deaths (from 1-2 deaths per quarter to—5 deaths per quarter). Some of the new metrics for the Opioid Action Plan 2.0 include prevention of future opioid addition by supporting children&families, advance hard reduction, address non-medical drivers of health, eliminate stigma, address needs of justice involved populations, expand access to treatment&recovery supports,track progress and measure impact,and reduce the supply of inappropriate Rx and illicit drugs. During the recent February meeting, the group heard from Orange County EMS and some of their efforts via the Community Paramedic Program. There are 2 full time Community Paramedics. In 2019,EMS distributed 35 naloxone kits and 11 syringe kits. 13 of the 62 patients served refused hospital transport. The next task force meeting is scheduled for March 16, 2020; 8:30am— 10:00am, location TBD. Representatives from the Opioid Task Force will attend the March 5th Behavioral Health Task Force Meeting to share task force goals and evaluate if the there is any overlap between the two groups.