Approved Minutes of August 23 2023

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MINUTES-Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH August 23,2023 Regarding the EG.5 COVID-19 variant, Ms. Stewart shared that there has been an increase in hospitalizations but no increase in deaths at this time, and that at this time there is no change in COVID protocol at OCHD. Additionally, the health department has masks and tests available to distribute to community members. The FDA has extended the expiration date for the tests by one year. Media items were in the packet, which focused on Orange County's events, our involvement in various efforts, and various public health topics. B. Health Directors Report Ms. Stewart presented her report to the Board. Below are brief highlights of her report. • There is an upcoming community event, Building Community & Health, in Northern Orange County. The event will take place on September 24' from 2-4pm and will provide education around opioid and substance use disorders, including distribution of Narcan and a CPR demonstration. • At the end of September, the North Carolina Public Health Association will host its Fall Educational Conference in Concord, NC, which many OCHD staff members will be attending. • The OCHD's vacancy rate is 7.9%, with about 10 open positions. • Board of Health Subcommittee meetings will begin reconvening in September, with meetings for two of the three subcommittees scheduled. • The Health Promotion and Education Services (HPES) department is actively working on the CHA and are currently working to schedule listening sessions to review the primary data with community members. Ms. Stewart added that if any board members chose to attend a listening session it would serve as an accreditation benchmark (for engagement with community members). Ashley Rawlinson, Compliance Manager, added to the update on the CHA. She shared that primary data collection is winding down and that we have received approximately 350 convenience responses and around 110 household/random responses for roughly 450 total responses. She shared that there have been several diverse focus groups held for the CHA, including with formerly incarcerated individuals, Gateway residents, Spanish-speaking individuals, and an upcoming one with individuals with substance use disorders. Ms. Rawlinson also reiterated that the county is in the process of scheduling listening sessions for the fall, adding that the department is performing preliminary analysis on the collected data and will schedule the sessions once this analysis is complete, and added that the final document will be written during the winter. Vill. Adjournment A motion was made by Dr. Aparna Jonnal to adjourn the meeting at 9:03 p.m., was seconded by Dr. Bruce Baldwin, and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health Meeting will be held September 20, 2023, at the Orange County Health Department, 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, NC at 7:00 p.m. S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda&Abstracts\2023 Agenda&Abstracts/ August Page 9