Island County Board of Health

Special Meeting (Joint Meeting with Community Health Advisory Board)

Tuesday April 2 6, 2004

 

 

Members Present:  Commissioners Mike Shelton, William J. Byrd, Mac McDowell; Commissioner Barbara Saugen (Whidbey General Hospital); and Roger S. Case, MD, Executive Secretary to the  Board.

 

Absent: Patricia Cohen, Mayor of Oak Harbor; Captain Susan B Herrold, NC, USN (Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital Oak Harbor)

 

CHAB Members: Mary Anderson, Robin Hertlein, Maria Piper, Toni Kotschwar, David Macys, Kristy Miller, Roger Case, Chari McRill, Joline DeVos, Jamie Kersten, Judy Moore, Chuck Scurlock, Kathryn Stevens

 

Absent: Sharon Little, Megan Roosen-Runge, Mary Long, Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Krista Voigt, Rita Jones, Stephanie Black

 

Call to Order: Chairman Bill Byrd called this scheduled special meeting of the Island County Board of Health to order at 5:32 p.m., and made welcoming remarks to the Community Health Advisory Board members, expressing the Board of Health’s appreciation for the hard work of the CHAB members, and for the hospital’s hosting this special session.

 

CHAB Chair Mary Anderson welcomed the Board of Health members, recalling that next week, April 5-11, was Public Health Week, and that CHAB proposes this month as an ideal opportunity for CHAB to present their annual report to the Board of Health. Mary also welcomed all the Linda Lee Martens Health Hero awardees for the year 2003, and then turned the meeting over to the Chairman of the CHAB Awards Committee.

 

Certificates of Recognition as Health Heroes were presented to the following recipients:

Holly Adams and Larry Tennant for their many hours of volunteer service in having established and facilitated the Island county Meth Action Team

Jesus Rivera for his “above and beyond” support of 3 children as a Big Brother

Elise Miller, an agency nominee, for her local advocacy and education for Children’s Environmental Health issues.

Curtis Hoffman for literally having save the life of an elderly lady by administering the Heimlich maneuver, although himself being wheelchair bound

Sherry & Steve Hoffmire for the many hours involved with creating Special Times for Special Friends – a program of scheduled activities for Children with Special Needs, now entering its 3rd year, and recently recognized as a non-profit organization.

Lenny Marlborough for the many hours of volunteer educational activities to inform all age groups, professional units, social organizations, school and business activities, etc., of the manifestations and dangers of drug manufacture and use in our community.

Linda Lee Martens Health Hero Award youth category co-recipients for 2004 were:

Richard Carter, Steve Lemme, David Marriott, Tony Nicolas, Chad Tacia, and Chris Wichers for their inspiring and challenging marathon-plus 30-mile run to honor their team and classmate Jared Davis who was struggling with a rare form of cancer. Linda Lee Martens Health Hero Award agency recipient for 2003:

Hartman and Olsen Pediatric Dentistry for their work in establishing the local Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) program that provides care for Medicaid designated children through age 5, and for their marshalling support for the Volunteer Dental Clinic for low-income patients upon dissolution of the North Whidbey Community Clinic Dental Program in mid-2003.

 

Linda Lee Martens Health Hero Award adult recipient for 2003:

Ethel Waters, for her 23 years of volunteer service in establishing the local Senior Health Benefits Advisor program (SHIBA)… a program adopted statewide and now called the State Health Benefits Advisor program. Honored nationally by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service for her work in this field, Ethel is a true Health Hero to the more than 4,400 local residents she has assisted over these 23 years.

 

 CHAB Report to the Board:  CHAB president Mary Anderson briefed the attendees on the role of CHAB and of the work of the past year in culling the input of the past 2 years into the four major areas of concern around which CHAB will develop action papers and/or policies to address these concerns:

 

1.      Early Childhood Support & Parent Education 

2.      Chronic Illness & Prevention

3.      Physical Activity

4.      Mental Health

 

EHAT Report to the Board:  The Environmental Health Assessment Team (EHAT) president, Tom Baxter introduced the attendees to the EHAT initiative, why and how the team was appointed, and outlined the work the team has accomplished to date. Four issues were distilled from well over 100 suggested topics, using a program called PACE-EH… Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health. EHAT members Matthew Sullivan and Linda Rhodes then detailed the four leading topics for which the team will develop action reports for policy development:

 

1.      Illegal Dumping

2.      Walkable Island County

3.      West Nile Virus

4.      Water: the arsenic issue

 

Tim McDonald, Health Department Director then thanked Whidbey General Hospital CEO Scott Rhine for hosting this annual joint Board of Health/ CHAB meeting during National Public Health Week, the Board of Health, CHAB members in attendance, and congratulated the recipients of the Linda Lee Martens Health Hero Awards for 2003.

 

Chab president Mary Anderson then adjourned the CHAB meeting, followed by Board of Health President Bill Byrd’s closing comment and adjournment.

 

 

Submitted: ____________________________________________

                  Roger S. Case, MD, Executive Secretary to the Board

 

Minutes approved this 19th day of April 2004.

 

ISLAND COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH

 

 

_____________________________________

          Bill Byrd, Chairman