WC CWF Health District Board Minutes - 10/25/2002,
LA,
WICHITA FALLS - WICHITA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD
PLACE: Wichita Falls- Wichita County Public Health District
TIME: 12:15 p.m.
DATE: October 25, 2002
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: C.J. Lippard, Chairman
Beverly Stiles, Ph.D.
Susan Strate, MD
Kathy Sultemeier, D.V.M.
Gregory Stockton
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Larry Rains, D.D.S.
Diane Stewart, R.N.
HEALTH DISTRICT Barbara J. Clements. Director of Health
REPRESENTATIVES: Reuben A. Warren, Jr., Assistant Director of Health
Arthur J. Szczerba, M.D., Medical Director
WICHITA CO. REPRESENTATIVE: Joe Miller, County Commissioner
WICHITA FALLS CITY COUNCIL: Mike Norrie, Councilor
WICHITA FALLS CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:
MINUTES:
I. Call to order
C.J. Lippard, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 12:25 p.m.
II. Approval of Minutes
Moved by Dr. Stiles, seconded by Dr. Strate and carried that the August 23, 2002 minutes be
approved after the addition of a corrected third page.
III. Next Meeting Date
After discussion, it was decided to change the next regularly scheduled meeting date from
December 27, 2002 to Friday, January 3, 2003 due to the Christmas holiday.
RECEIVED IN
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
Date
By Time
Page 1 of 5
IV. West Nile Virus — Roy Ressel, Environmental Health Coordinator
Greg Stockton commented on the article in the Times Record News concerning West Nile in
the Wichita Falls area. The case was actually in Childress, TX. Dr. Sultemeier stated there
had been 50 cases of horses diagnosed with West Nile and quite a few that have died.
Mr. Ressel reported on the following Vector Control activities related to West Nile virus:
The City of Wichita Falls is fortunate in the fact that no human cases of the virus have been
confirmed to date.
Vector Control has recently revamped the maps used for larvaciding. There have been
30,030 larva sites investigated with 2,416 treated. The trucks used 2,152.7 gallons of
adulticide and 43,098 briquettes distributed. A total of 2,434 complaints were received and
follow -up done. A total of 49 birds were sent to a Wisconsin lab for testing; a large number
of blue jays, some crows and one chicken. Five blue jays tested positive in Wichita County
and one in Archer County. It is confirmed that 18 horses have tested positive and 8 were
euthanized as of this date. It was reported that 2 horses died that had been vaccinated.
Vector Control has driven a total of 51,546 miles this season. The City recently purchased
another truck and one Ultra -Low Volume (ULV) sprayer, making a total of seven trucks
equipped for spraying. The program also has one ATV. Approximately 12 traps have been
placed in over 20 areas for mosquito identification and mosquitoes are collected from these
weekly. Aspirators are used for live trap catches and mosquitoes from these traps are sent to
TDH each week for testing. Blood from the sentinel chicken flock is collected and sent to
TDH for testing approximately every two weeks. To date, all tests from the chickens have
been negative. Mr. Ressel commented that a hard freeze would be very beneficial in
slowing down mosquito activity.
Part time Vector Control employees hired for the season are usually terminated by the end of
September. This year, City Personnel Department has allowed us to keep these employees
on an as- needed basis.
Mr. Ressel emphasized that the best way to prepare for mosquito season is educating the
public. Eliminating breeding areas as previously stated goes a long way in reduction. Dr.
Sultemeier suggested considering a booth at the Home and Garden Show to reach the public
and distribute literature.
Director's Report — Barbara J. Clements, Director of Health
1). Restaurant Inspection Scores on the Internet.
Ms. Clements presented information to the Board about a request from the City of Wichita
Falls Public Information Office (PIO) to post restaurant inspection scores on the City's web
page. She said that this is becoming a more common practice with a number of cities
around the state and in other states.
Page 2 of 5
The initial request from the PIO came more than a year ago. At that time, the District
requested the initiative be tabled until the Environmental Health Division moved from a
manual to a computer based inspection system. The inspection portion of Environmental
Health is now about 75% automated and the PIO has once again asked if the District would
post this information. Ms. Clements commented on how this is presented in Austin. There,
one of the television media outlets posts a weekly listing called `Food for Thought' where
they list the top 10 and bottom 10 restaurant scores for the week.
Dr. Strate expressed concern that the public would not understand what those scores would
mean and this could be detrimental to the restaurant.
It was discussed how often those scores would be made public, would it reflect when the
inspection was conducted and how to make the public understand the inspection process.
Discussion also included the man -hours of keeping the pages updated and information
current.
Mr. Ressel stated that the inspection reports are open records and that the public can
examine any report that they wish to see. There are very few requests through his office to
see these reports.
Mr. Norrie asked what the benefit would be in putting this information on the Internet. Mrs.
Clements stated that the Public Information Office felt it would be of interest to the public,
especially visitors.
Mr. Ressel stated that the food inspectors are very diligent in their work and that tickets are
being written for infractions. He also commented that Municipal Court has been very
efficient in placing cases on their calendar. Fines have increased and now may run up to
$2000 per infraction.
Motion made by Dr. Strate and 2 "d by Dr.
meeting for further discussion and /or decision.
2). Public Health Emergency Planning.
Stiles to bring this subject back to a future
Ms. Clements reported that the Emergency Preparedness staff has been hired and the work
on completing the grant objectives is on schedule. From the large Public Health Emergency
Preparedness Committee, several subcommittees are now meeting with the first task being to
set goals and objectives necessary to complete the work on the Public Health Emergency
Plan by August 31, 2003. Individually, the subcommittees are working on sections of the
plan where they have specific expertise. Board members were invited to volunteer for a
subcommittee in their area of interest. Ms. Clements commented on the excellent response
the District has received from professionals in the community who have volunteered in this
effort. Dr. Strate is working with the laboratory subcommittee group and Diane Stewart is
assisting with the plan for volunteers and credentialing.
Page 3 of 5
One of the first tasks is to develop two plans for smallpox vaccination. The first plan is for
"post- event" vaccination. Post -event is described as measures to be taken in the event that a
case of smallpox is confirmed. In this plan, which must be submitted by 1 December, the
Health District would be responsible for vaccinating approximately 200,000 people in less
than 10 days. The TDH Regional office in Arlington is working with us to complete the
plan for our area. The second plan is for "pre- event" vaccination. Pre -event planning
includes vaccination of hospital and public health workers to prepare a cadre of workers
who would be charged with vaccinating additional healthcare workers, and providing patient
care and case investigation in the event of a confirmed case of smallpox. It is anticipated that
we will vaccinate fewer than 100 employees in this pre -event initiative. Many issues are yet
to be worked out before the plan is submitted.
Ms. Clements commented that although there are emergency preparedness plans currently in
place, they do not adequately address all the components necessary for an effective,
coordinated response to an event such as a smallpox outbreak.
3) Overall Grant Funding:
The Board was provided with a summary of expected grant revenue for FY 03. The report
reflects an increase of grant funds with the addition of the Bioterrorism funding and a 100%
increase of HIV Prevention monies. Ms. Clements credited the hard work done by staff in
acquiring additional funds in a very competitive environment.
4) Pertussis Outbreak:
Pertussis is currently a big problem in Texas. In a state where we normally see less than 200
cases reported each year, as of this date there are 850 confirmed cases of pertussis with at
least 300 pending confirmation results. Ms. Clements reported that we have only one case
reported so far in Wichita County. Pertussis seems to be coming back with a vengeance.
Dr. Szczerba stated that he had seen an increase over about the last 5 years.
Mrs. Clements stated that through 1999, the average number of cases reported annually was
about 299 cases, and then in 2001 the number increased to 327. Dr. Szczerba discussed that
there are more children in daycare now than in years past and therefore more exposure.
Mrs. Clements also discussed the increased emphasis on reporting and surveillance since
Sept 11, 2001 and the impact this is having on increasing reportable disease numbers
throughout the state.
VI. Other Business
Dr. Strate stated that she and Dr. Carr recently attended the Health Authority training
sponsored by TDH in Austin. She said the meeting was very informative and the printed
materials provided very valuable information. She also reported that they had an
opportunity to meet Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Commissioner of Health. She said Dr. Sanchez
expressed an interest in the arrangement whereby local health departments and family
practice residents collaborate or contract with one another to provide public health services
and indigent care. Dr. Strate commented that Dr. Sanchez related the difficulties TDH has
in finding individuals to serve as health authorities in certain areas of the state.
Page 4 of 5
Dr. Strate also reported that the Residency just completed a program review and received
their notice of 4 years full accreditation. She added that they are working with UT
Southwestern now and are excited about new things that are happening in the program.
Excused absences: Dr. Rains is traveling out of town and Diane Stewart also.
Mr. Greg Stockton offered that Buddy Ray's would furnish lunch at the January meeting.
VII. Adjournment
It was moved by Dr. Sultemeier and seconded by Greg Stockton that the meeting be
adjourned. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Diane Stewart, Secretary
Public Health Board
Page 5 of 5