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MINUTES <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH <br /> August 28,2024 <br /> Keith Bagby <br /> Mr. Bagby commented that over the summer he attended a health inspection of Jersey <br /> Mikes in Hillsborough with Stephen Johnston of Environmental Health Services. He said that he <br /> felt he learned a lot from the experience about health and food safety. <br /> Dr. Alison Stuebe <br /> Dr. Stuebe shared that she has enrolled in the Vot-ER (https://vot-er.orq/) program to help <br /> register her patients to vote. She explained that the program sent her a script to help guide <br /> conversations and a QR code on a lanyard which her patients can scan with their phones and <br /> use to register to vote. She said that a healthy democracy and a healthy community includes <br /> civic participation from everyone and asked if the health department was participating in any <br /> similar voter registration programs. Ms. Stewart replied that there is not currently a program to <br /> help register patients to vote at the health department, but that there has been leading up to <br /> past elections and that the health department is open to hosting something for this election if <br /> they are approached by any local organizations. <br /> IV. Priority Committee Updates <br /> Access to Care Committee <br /> Dr. Royce provided the update for the Access to Care Committee. She distributed a copy of <br /> a logic model about the Photovoice project and explained that the goal of the Photovoice project <br /> is to capture qualitative data in the form of photos and words from community members about <br /> their experiences encountering barriers to healthcare. She explained that such data gives a <br /> more nuanced look at people's experiences and will be foundational to the work of the <br /> committee going forward. She provided a brief overview of the logic model and shared that the <br /> committee had discussed aims of the project, the target population, how to recruit people, and <br /> communities to overrecruit from to ensure their perspectives were captured. Dr. Royce also <br /> shared that Medicaid Expansion enrollment numbers are continuing to slow down, with 3,929 <br /> (--58% of the target population) currently enrolled in Orange County. She mentioned that the <br /> committee is trying to consider a potential intervention to reach more eligible people. <br /> Commissioner Fowler said that at her recent North Carolina Pediatric Society meeting, two <br /> members of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) were excited and optimistic <br /> about the Medicaid enrollment numbers to date, as they had already surpassed their <br /> projections. She added that, while it was important to continue looking for missing folks, the <br /> enrollment numbers for Orange County may be better than previously believed. Dr. Royce said <br /> that it is important to get denominator data about the individuals who are newly eligible for <br /> expanded Medicaid to help identify any missing or hard-to-find cases. <br /> Dr. Stuebe asked if it was possible to cross-tabulate individuals using other services (such as <br /> SNAP or WIC) to get a projection of who might be eligible for Medicaid, to which Ms. Stewart <br /> replied that the Department of Social Services (DSS) likely has that information. <br /> S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agendas &Abstracts\2024 Agenda and Abstracts/ <br /> August Page 2 <br />