Approved Minutes of January 24, 2024

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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH January 24, 2024 what is served in the schools can shift the norms of what children will eat, giving the example of her own son, who learned about chocolate and strawberry milk from the school cafeteria and then wanted these at home. • Dr. Stuebe applauded the work that the school system is doing to reduce hunger and asked if they interface with programs like Family Success Alliance (FSA). Dr. Dreher confirmed that the social workers reach out in both directions to partner as needed. Dr. Stuebe asked what the board can do or advocate for to assist the feeding programs, and Dr. Dreher said that she would confer with the social workers and get back to her. B. 2nd Quarter Financial Reports & Billing Dashboard Frederick Perschau, Finance and Administrative Services Director, gave an update on the Health Department budget at the conclusion of the second quarter. He also provided some brief education about the Financial and Administrative Services (FAS) department and their activities and accomplishments over the past six months. Some highlights of his presentation are below: • Mr. Perschau explained that the health department budget is getting back to normal after the pandemic and that the revenue is currently around 45% of the budget (at the halfway point of the year) so it is about what would be expected. • Several specific areas of the financials highlighted by Mr. Perschau included that, while there are always open positions, the majority of divisions are fully staffed; the remaining ARPA/COVID funding is going away; the service revenue is on track in part due to assistance from Medicaid funding and Medicaid expansion; and that three new dental hygienists were hired at half time rather than full, which frees up some funds while allowing the division to be fully staffed. Mr. Perschau also mentioned that the pharmacy supply costs are high this year owing to the unexpectedly high prices for COVID and RSV vaccines, though he reassured the board that pharmacy costs would even out by the end of the year. • Mr. Perschau also touched on several funds being tracked, specifically Fund 27 (Opioid funding) and Fund 30 (multi-year funding from NC Integrated Care for Kids (NCINCK)). • In response to Mr. Bagby's question about vehicle expenditures, Mr. Perschau explained that Environmental Health Services needed a new truck to enable them to haul emergency trailers necessary for their work. Carla Julian, Public Health Nursing Director, clarified that this purchase was made using state funds from the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than county funds. Mr. Perschau said that he would add a clarifying footnote to the report. • Mr. Perschau briefly explained the function of FAS as an administrative and liaison service, including health informatics, medical system services, accounts and billing, human resources, and vital records. He highlighted several accomplishments over the past six months by the FAS department, including new hires to improve and round out staffing, upgrading the health department phone system to improve patient experience, beginning engagement with UNC & Durham County Health Department on EPIC Community Connect, implementing an autodraft payment system, and processing over 3,000 vital records documents (i.e., birth certificates, death certificates, and affidavits of parentage). VIII. Actions Items A. Amendment to 2024 BOH Meeting Schedule S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda&Abstracts\2024 Agenda&Abstracts/ January Page 7