Approved Minutes of September 20, 2023

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MINUTES-Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH September 20, 2023 management of disease. Two specific structures she mentioned were the piloting of a medication assistance program for primary care patients and to provide support in between medical appointments and use of the Modivcare program, a ridership program partnering with Uber and Lyft to address transportation barriers for patients. • Ms. Kemske also highlighted: 1. the Primary Care Bag Initiative, which gives patients a bag of supplies to help monitor blood pressure and Diabetes; and 2. the Diabetes Prevention Program, which supports participants in performing 150 minutes of physical activity per week and in achieving 5% body weight loss, both of which are evidence- based Type II Diabetes prevention strategies. • Ms. Kemske shared that while New Employee Orientation offers an opportunity to promote nutrition services to new county employees, staffing issues have served as a barrier to providing them. In response to Mr. Bagby's question about whether there are wellness classes available for employees, especially physical activity classes, Ms. Kemske said that the Orange County Wellness Committee recently relaunched and she expects to see fitness classes starting again soon. Ms. Kemske also affirmed that Orange County government employees receive a discount at the local Sportsplex in response to Commissioner Bedford's clarifying question. • Dr. Jonnal prompted Mr. Bagby to ask about the vending machines in Orange County Government buildings — Mr. Bagby feels that there is a lot of `junk food' in vending machines that encourage people to make poor food choices. Ms. Kemske replied that unfortunately the OCHD does not control what is in the vending machines, though there's previously been a partnership to address this, and that at the end of the day it's about money and negotiating cost with the vending machine companies. • Dr. Jonnal asked whether Ms. Kemske knows anything about insurance companies covering the cost of healthy food options, as this is something she has heard of and would like to have an option to offer her patients when they say they can't afford healthy food. Mr. Bagby shared a personal anecdote about receiving healthy premade meals covered by his insurance after a past surgery and Dr. Steube expressed she'd also heard of something similar. Ms. Kemske said this was not a service that she was aware of, but that she'd be happy to ask a colleague at UNC and share back. B. Refugee/Immigrant Update Chinyere Ekenna, Communicable Disease/Refugee Health Nurse, presented the annual Refugee/Immigrant Health Update. Ms. Ekenna explained the distinction between a refugee (one who flees their home country due to violence or persecution and is unable/afraid to return) and an immigrant (one who elects to leave their home country for other opportunities) and then provided an overview of the state of refugees and refugee health in Orange County. Below are some highlights of her presentation: • Ms. Ekenna shared that refugees living in Orange County are from all over the world. Recently, new benefits have been extended to refugees from certain countries, including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Cuba, and Haiti. OCHD has received and screened 52 refugees since December 2022. Of these, 13 were refugees from Ukraine. • Sharing demographic information about refugees arriving to North Carolina, Ms. Ekenna said that around 1,000-4,000 arrive per year and there is an even split between males and females, nearly half(44-47%) are under 20 years old, and most (80-90%) do not speak English as their primary language. • Ms. Ekenna explained that there are two different medical screenings available for refugees: 1. a mandatory immigration exam prior to departing their home country, which S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda&Abstracts\2023 Agenda&Abstracts/ September Page 6