WC CWF Health District Board Minutes - 05/12/2023 WICHITA FALLS-WICHITA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD MINUTES
4,41.,G6uNn'Peoo May 12, 2023
Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District
1700 Third Street—Clements Conference Room
tin Wichita Falls, Texas
PublicHealth
Prr.¢ r.nnnl r.Pi..Ire.
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Keith Williamson, M.D., Chair Physician—City Appointment
Paris Ward, M.A.B.S. Citizen At-Large—City Appointment
Jered Harlan, D.V.M. Veterinarian —City Appointment
Melissa Plowman Restaurant Association—City Appointment
BOARD MEMBERS EXCUSED ABSENCE:
Nichole Jefferson, RN , Registered Nurse—City Appointment
Tonya Egloff, D.D.S. Dentist—County Appointment
Raymond Forsythe Citizen At-Large—County Appointment
OTHERS PRESENT:
Amy K. Fagan, M.P.A. Interim Director of Health
Robert McBroom, M.D.,FACP Health Authority
Henry Anderson Intern City Manager
Jim Johnson County Judge
1. CALL TO ORDER
Dr.Williamson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:08 pm after a quorum of members attained.
11. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND ABSENCES
Dr. Williamson called for the review and approval of the March 10,2023 minutes.
A motion was made by Melissa Plowman to accept the minutes and Paris Ward seconded. The minutes were
approved unanimously.
Excused absences noted for Dr.Tonya Egloff, Raymond Forsythe & Nichole Jefferson.
Ill. Overview of Health &Wellness Division
Dr. Williamson introduced Brandi Smith, Health and Wellness Administrator.
Brandi said there are about 50 employees in the Division and they provide a vast array of services to
our Community.
1) Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinic (STI) saw 423 clients last year. Through DSHS, the STI
clinic is able to provide more medications directly to clients at the time of their visit instead of
having to give them a prescription to fill. This increases compliance and cure rate among
clients by preventing costly medications out of pocket.
2) The Tuberculosis (TB) Program saw 18 clients in the past year. Of these, 1 was identified as
having active TB and completed the required course of treatment. The remaining 17 clients
were diagnosed and treated for Latent TB Infection (LTBI). The TB program collected 25 T-
spot tests, which is the blood test that determines TB infection and completed 579 TB skin
tests throughout the year. TB staff work closely with Midwestern State University Vinson
Health Center to provide TB education and guidance as well as outreach and testing to
students.
3) The HIV Prevention Program provides routine and targeted HIV testing and education to
priority populations such as Faith Refuge, Faith Mission, The Salvation Army, The Recovery
Center and Helen Farabee's substance abuse programs in surrounding counties. Staff
performed 251 HIV tests, which resulted in 2 new HIV positive individuals that were linked to
medical care. The Program also identified 42 new Syphilis positive cases and provided
treatment referrals to these individuals.
•
4) Disease Intervention & STD Surveillance Program (DIS) works in partnership with the
community to assess, plan and implement effective public health strategies to reduce the
spread of HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis and other sexually transmitted diseases in Wichita County.
Since March of 2022, the DIS team has investigated 82 individuals with 29 of those being
women of child bearing age.
5) Immunizations Clinic: Last year, 3,715 individuals received services from our clinics to include
3,209 people being seen in the immunization clinic. Approximately 5,243 vaccines were
administered with 740 of those being influenza vaccines. The Immunization staff conducted
25 vaccination outreach clinics and 43 vaccine education outreach events at various locations.
6) Epidemiology, which covers infectious disease surveillance and reporting received 212 reports
of infectious disease; of those, 126 were investigated based on case criteria set by DSHS.
The Wellness side is comprised of 5 distinct grants who are responsible for six programs with the
shared goal of improving community health.
1) Eat Well promotes healthy choices at local restaurants and has 21 restaurants, 2 grocery
stores and 7 hotels at 46 locations. The restaurants and grocery stores offer 139 approved
menu items.
2) Health Promotions Program (HPP) provides free and high quality health education for the
community. HPP addresses the top health concerns based on community feedback and
current data. Available programs include Breathe Well Tobacco Cessation classes, Diabetes
Prevention classes and Diabetes self-management workshops. During 2022, HPP facilitated
14 diabetes workshops (6 sessions each)for 71 participants. The tobacco cessation program
provided individual consultations and group classes for 8 participants.
3) The Community Clinical Health Bridge Project (CCHBP) uses the Live Well website to provide
resources and other information to the public and provides Chronic Pain Self-Management
classes. Last year the staff completed 5 Chronic Disease workshops (6 sessions each). The
interest (and need) for these classes has increased and we currently have a waiting list for
participants wanting to attend. Our CCHBP staff also hosted 10 cooking classes at various
locations throughout the community educating more than 90 people on how to make healthy
recipe modifications.
4) The Texas Healthy Communities (TXHC) Program recognizes cities for having environmental
and policy infrastructure and practices in place that are public health priorities for reducing
cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke and other chronic diseases.
5) The Health Equity Program provides community engagement in targeted communities. Staff
meet with community organizations to develop relationships while building cross-sector
partnerships. The Health Equity staff partnered with All Hands Cultural Community Center,
2
Texas Agri-life and the Abilene Recovery Center to develop a Demonstration Garden to
address food insecurity in the community. To date, the garden has produced over 150 pounds
of produce and has fed over 55 families. The Health Equity Program attended 83 events,
interacted with over 5,000 people and facilitated 4 vaccine clinics.
Questions:
Judge Johnson asked about the wait list for the Chronic Disease classes, if it was because of staffing
of lack of space.
Brandi said they are waiting for the materials to come in to schedule the Chronic Pain classes.
Judge Johnson said as part of the renovation at the Court House they will have a Multi-purpose event
room on the 5th floor available later this year and they would like to offer it. It might be a challenge if it
is outside of normal business hours, but they could work through it. He said reach out later about it.
Amy said we would love to get County employees in the programs. Before COVID there was a need
for the Chronic Disease and Diabetes Prevention classes. Thank you so much.
Brandi mentioned that we have nurses taking blood pressures of our staff. We offer that because we
are also part of the community.
Amy said we are also doing that at the Farmers Market and telling people about the classes we offer.
Dr. McBroom said they have referrals from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for TB & STI
screening. We have 2 or 3 a month and it is easily managed. Most of the STI's have been negative.
We have had several positive LTBI's. Also, easily managed. But, there is a big disconnect between
border states and what the Fed's really have in mind. Are we prepared for a potential influx? Maybe
we need to look at our policies since title 42 has expired and see if there is anything we need to alert
ourselves to as far as in house or county policies.
Dr. McBroom stated we have a lot of great county and city services. What is our relationship with
Helen Farabee? Because he sees more and more mental health issues being more of a crisis.
Amy stated that Helen Farabee has a Focus Group that we have participated in from the beginning. It
started in 2012 and was paused during COVID. Three months ago we reached out to the group and
they are meeting monthly now and we have staff that attend to help coordinate care.
Amy said she has made it mandatory that staff be trained in mental health first aid. This helps us
recognize when people are in crises and how to refer them into services.
IV. ACTIVE LIVING PLAN
Amy introduced Karel Davis. She is the Program Manager for Texas Healthy Communities Grant.
Karel said the Active Living Guide is an overview of the various aspects of all walks of life in Wichita
County. There are 10 sectors:
1. Business & Industry
2. Community, Recreations, Fitness and Parks
3. Education3
4. Faith-based settings
5. Health Care
6. Mass Media
7. Military
8. Public Health
9. Sports
10.Transportation, Land use and Community Design
The "Active Living Guide" was initially created in 2014/2015 as a project of the Texas Healthy
Communities grant. Its initial title was "Active Living Plan".
3
It was shelved for a few years, but was revisited in 2020/2021. She started asking for volunteers from
each sector to help edit this large project. We had to meet virtually, which was a very difficult task.
The Department of State Health Services sent templates that were a format suggestions. There was
one that looked like a magazine with pictures.
During a meeting with Health District leadership, Lou Kreidler, former Director of Health, suggested
changing the name to Active Living Guide.
From April, 2022 — November, 2022, the "Active Living Guide" went through an extensive
overhaul/rewrite and was streamlined to its current format/style.
The Health District leadership approved the final version of the Active Living Guide in November, 2022.
The future plan for this Active Living Guide is to be placed on the websites of Wichita County
cities/towns: Wichita Falls, Burkburnett, Electra and Iowa Park. It will also be placed on
LiveWellWichitaCounty.com, and the goal is to place it on the Wichita Falls Chamber and Commerce
and Convention &Visitor's Bureau websites, as well.
Amy added information about exercise and engaging people in their own health. The Guide gives a
lot of good information.
V. NEXT MEETING DATE
Next meeting will be July 14, 2023.
VI. ADJOURN
Dr. Williamson adjourned the meeting at 12:55.
Sig ature ` l
Print-Keith Williamson, MD, Chair, Tonya Egloff, D.D.S., Vice-Chair, Paris Ward, MA, BS,
Secretary
4