WC CWF Health District Board Minutes - 02/26/2010l
WICHITA FALLS - WICHITA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD MINUTES
February 26, 2010
Wichita Falls - Wichita County Public Health District
1700 Third Street - Parker Conference Room
Wichita Falls, Texas
MEMBERS PRESENT: Board Members
Richard Sutton, M.D., Chair
Bryan Press, Vice Chair
Robin Moreno, M.T., Secretary
Clay Clark, D.V.M.
MEMBERS ABSENCE EXCUSED:
David Carlston, Ph.D.
Tracy Hill, D.D.S.
Lauren Jansen, R.N.C.
Lou Franklin, R.N., B.S.N.
Amy Cone, M. P.A.
Not Present
Kevin Hugman
Not Present
Woodrow "Woody" Gossom
Director of Health
Assistant Director of Health
Health Authority
Assistant City Manager
Council Liaison
County Judge
I. CALL TO ORDER & INTRODUCTIONS
Chair Dr. Sutton called the Board of Health meeting to order at 12:15 pm after a quorum of members was
attained.
II. APPROVAL OF JANUARY 2010 MEETING MINUTES AND ABSENCES
Dr. Sutton called for the review and approval of minutes from the last meeting held on January 22, 2009.
Bryan Press introduced a motion to approve the minutes as presented and Robin Moreno seconded the
motion. Motion passed unanimously.
At this time it was noted the excused absence of Dr. Carlston, Dr. Hill and Lauren Jansen.
III. HEALTH BOARD APPOINTMENT
Dr. Clark, a practicing veterinarian, was sworn in by Judge Gossom as a Healtl r]Board df b&
r_
IV
IV. RE- ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Dr. Sutton remained as Chair and Bryan Press remained as Vice Chair. Dr. Sutton nominated and elected
by acclamation Robin Moreno as Recording Secretary.
V. OVERVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Ms. Franklin introduced Susan Morris, Zoonosis /On -Site Sewage Facilities Administrator to give a
presentation on Environmental Services of the Health District. Ms. Morris recently took on the additional
duties of the position vacated by Fernando Tezaguic, Environmental Health Administrator. Ms. Franklin
explained that she is in the process of evaluating the positions and divisions. Ms. Morris is a Registered
Sanitarian and first came to work at the Health District as an inspector.
Ms. Morris presented the January 2010 organizational structure of the two Divisions.
Prior to February 2010, there were 7 full time employees in the General Environmental Health Division:
Administrator, Assistant, Supervisor, 4 Inspectors. The Zoonosis /On -Site Sewage Facilities Division had 14
full time employees: Administrator, Assistant, Dispatcher, 2 Supervisors, 2 Inspectors, 7 Animal Control
Officers, as well as 12 -15 seasonal Vector Control Workers.
In February 2010, the two divisions merged and downsized from 21 full time employees to 19 due to the
departure of the General Environmental Administrator and lay -off of one On -Site Sewage Health Inspector
due to outside service area changes.
Ms. Morris extracted from a year of reports the following Food Establishment Data
Process 1 (no cooking, prepackaged, basic convenient store): 228 establishments inspected twice a year
Process 2 (to cook and serve the same day not reused, snack bars): 208 establishments inspected three times a
year
Process 3 (full service, cooks and reheats): 214 establishments inspected four times a year with the exception of
schools twice a year due to not open year round
15 Mobile units inspected 3-4 times a year
Sub category within a food establishment (United Market Street as example with a bakery, deli, catering, meat
market, and fish market): 43 Bakeries - 30 Deli's - 16 Meat Markets - 6 Fish Markets - 37 Snack Bars - 55 Soft
Serves - 9 Catering Permits
2,927 Routine Food Inspections - 525 Follow -up Inspections
130 Complaints (priority always investigated)
253 Temporary Event Inspections
49 Food samples taken - 23 surface area swabs - 327 Soft serve samples - 75 re- samples sent to the Lab
3 citations (5 citations so far this year)
5,216 lbs. food condemned (this year over 6,000 lbs. condemned due to loss of electricity in Electra)
110 English & 23 Spanish Food Handlers classes: 2,543 in attendance - 2,152 took classes on line
5 Soft Serve classes: 110 in attendance. Permit required with two consecutive test failures the machine is closed
down and a retesting fee is now charged due to the expense for all the testing. The machines grow bacteria and
are inspected 4 times a year.
Inspection Data from other permitted facilities done by Environmental Health.
3 Foster Homes
52 School Facilities
29 Ambulances (City contracted to assure compliance with requirements)
12 Studios - 121 Body Art Inspections
43 Day Care Facilities - 94 Routine - 3 Follow -up - 2 Complaints
43 Lodging Establishments - 151 Routine - 16 Follow -up - 27 Complaints - 72 Water Samples - 246 Swabs
122 Pools and 18 Spas in the City and County inspected monthly when in operation
922 Routine Inspections - 136 Follow -up - 336 Compliance - 3 Complaints - 587 Water Samples
6 Pool Schools -114 in attendance
2
Ms. Franklin remarked after collaboration with the Texas Lodging Association on the ordinance Wichita
Falls is the first in the state of Texas to pass a Lodging ordinance which has been good for the community.
Since the ordinance passage, it has been used as a model ordinance for other communities.
Dr. Sutton asked about the requirements and type of health inspections of body art tattooist. Ms. Morris
replied that the requirements are to go through hands on training, providing who they worked for and how
long, take the blood borne pathogen class and pass the national test. Inspections are done once a month to
check the facility, needles, and ink.
Ms. Morris went on to present the years numbers for Zoonosis (Animal Control).
120 permitted facilities (anything from a pet fancier to groomer to pet store to livestock)
11,296 complaints - 5,136 loose animals -1,453 animals in traps (can be cats, skunks, dogs, anything, more than
half of the complaints are people not confining their animals)
202 Animals quarantined
71 Heads sent off to test for rabies - 22 skunks tested positive for rabies (only test those animals that had
exposure to other animals or people since it is a $30 shipping charge for each head sent off for testing)
50 Citations issued (this would be at -large no shots, no tags)
4,126 Animals impounded at the Humane Society - 367 Reclaimed - 2,907 Euthanized - 852 Humane Society took
control to find homes
2,333 Licenses sold
136,969 miles driven with 7 trucks (originally began with 5 trucks)
Ms. Morris also is the local Rabies Control Authority for the city, county, and unincorporated areas with the
exception of Burkburnett, Iowa Park and Electra where the Police Chiefs are their Rabies Control Authority.
If anyone is bitten or scratched by an animal and goes to a hospital for care, the hospital is required, by law,
to report the incident to the Rabies Control Authority. The Authority is responsible for quarantining the
animal; home quarantines are allowed if the animal meets certain established criteria.
An a -file process is being worked on that would give the option to purchase licenses at the vets office but
Animal Control would remain to take care of the tags.
In an attempt to generate revenue, a majority of animal friendly apartment complexes have been given the
paperwork and requirements for tagging animals so they may become more aware if an animal is
vaccinated and licensed. If a tagged animal is out and the owner can be located, animal control will
typically get the animal back home. If not, the animal is transported to the reclaim center.
Ms. Franklin replied to a question posed by Mr. Hugman regarding the timeline of the new Animal Control
facility. She advised that the facility plans are almost complete and that Von Gallagher, the Construction
Manager -At -Risk, is to furnish the guaranteed maximum price the first of next week. She also stated that
the time frame from breaking ground to project completion should be about 8 months. The Animal Services
Center will be located off Henry S. Grace Freeway at Kimball and Hatton Road on the front of the property,
and the Humane Society leased space at the back of the property to build an adoption facility.
Ms. Morris reviewed the numbers of Wichita County permitted On -Site Sewage Facilities (OSSF) that
include the city owned leased lots at Lake Arrowhead and Lake Kickapoo.
622 Aerobic Treatment Units (ATU) sprayer aeration
566 Standard Systems
146 Evaporation/Transpiration (ET) similar to a standard system
4 Low Pressure Dosing (LPD) goes out into the ground through pressure
25 Chambers used in place of gravel on a standard system
125 Inspections on residences to be sold
92 Final Inspections
229 Other Inspections to check for compliance on.. a variation of different things such as emergency repairs
3
27,403 miles driven with 2 City trucks and 2 Inspectors, now down to 1 Inspector
The Supervisor will help with inspections and review plans within the 30 day allowance from the State. The
plan review is a complex process that is usually completed within a week, but can sometimes take longer
based on the complexities.
Another project handled by the division is mosquito control. Last year the division received 1,323 calls for
service, investigated 2,397 sites, and treated 1,269 sites. The most expensive and least effective method of
mosquito control is roadside spraying; a total of 2,291 gallons of Adulticide was used last year. The spray is
broken out in tiny microns measured out under a microscope and dispersed at 6 to 8 ounces per minute at
such a low rate it is not suppose to kill butterflies or bees. The cheapest vector control method is public
education and physical control. BTI briquettes are the next cheapest control method. Employees used a
total of 41,367 BTI's not including those that were given away. The BTI's are given to citizens as they come
in; they help contribute to vector control as seen from the drastic drop of complaints. The county has been
mapped to include locations where there is standing water, ditches, and roadside trenches that seasonal
vector control workers follow to distribute briquettes and set traps with 6 trucks and 1 ATV with sprayers
27,687 miles were driven. The collection of 204 pools of mosquitoes from the traps sent to Austin had 4
test positive West Nile Virus in 2 locations with no human cases. In Wichita County last year, 16 of the 40
different species of mosquitoes were identified.
Ms. Morris presented the following revenue breakdown.
Projected Revenue
$
353,050
County contribution
$
40.000
Total Revenue
$
393,050
Salaries & Benefits $ 908,885
Expenses $ 432.706
Total Expenses $ 1,342,591
Cost of Combined Programs, Revenue Less Expenses $ 948,541
Salary & Benefit Savings (February- October) $ 39,722
Expense Savings $ 3,344
Savings Realized by Combined Programs $ 43,066
TOTAL COST AFTER SAVINGS $ 905,475
Some salary savings is due to not replacing Mr. Tezaguic and the lay off of one Inspector; before the salary,
benefit and expense savings, this year's budget was actually $ 32,834 less than last years. Everything is
being done to find ways to save money, to generate revenue, and continue to provide quality services to the
community.
Ms. Cone committed to put all this in perspective of just how busy the Division is there are 7 Animal Control
Officers, 2 On -Site Sewage Inspectors, and only 4 Health Inspectors that handle food and lodging
establishments, body art studios, schools, foster homes, daycare facilities, pools and spas.
VI. COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS
Ms. Franklin stated the University of Wisconsin released the County Health rankings last week. This is the
first time such a ranking was done on a national level. The results are available on the county health
rankings web site for review and comparison.
There were 221 ranked counties of the 254 counties in Texas. Wichita County scored well at 4 for clinical
4
care but health outcome scored 153. Ms. Franklin discussed this drastic difference in the ratings and
mentioned that only a small part of what occurs in health occurs in a physician's office; what a person does
with the information and how they choose to use the information occurs outside the physician's office. It
has to be a personal choice to make those healthier choices to live a healthier life.
The Health District is working with Midwestern State University to compile data from the county health
ranking and National Public Health Performance Survey done in the fall of 2009. This compiled information
will be used to provide us with a comprehensive picture of the health of our county to tailor the goals and
improvements of public health.
Ms. Franklin expressed the Health Department does a really good job with the funds and resources
available. The staff is phenomenal, passionate at what they do and does a great job.
VII. NEXT MEETING DATE
April 23, 2010
VIII. ADJOURN
Dr. Sutton requested a motion to adjourn. The motion was made by Dr. Clark and seconded by Robin
Moreno. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
'U �A -
Richard Sutton, M.D., Chair, Bryan Press, Vice Chair, or Robin Moreno, M.T., Secretary
Public Health Board
5