 |
DUKES COUNTY HEALTH COUNCIL
Minutes
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Call to order
Dedie Wieler, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:35AM.
Attendees included: Tom Bennett, Eleanor Beth, Julia Burgess, Jacque Cage, Tad Crawford, Stephen Danzig, Valerio DeStefani, Jay Ferriter, Judie Flanders, Janet Holiday, Chris Knowles, Sarah Kuh, Rex Jarrell, Ron MacLarne, Patsy McCornack, Karen Meeks, Cyndi Mitchell, Gayle Poggi, Oceana Rames, Connie Teixeira, Susan Wasserman, James Weiss, Dedie Wieler, Terre Young , guest, Rob O’Connor
Vote to approve the Minutes of the October 2009 meeting: Moved and seconded with the request to change the spelling of Connie Teixeira’s name; minutes approved.
Treasurer Report: Julia Burgess: There has been no financial activity and the Health Council has $500. budgeted for committee work.
MVH Community Health Initiatives: Ron O’Connor joined us from the Regional Center for Healthy Communities to discuss the hospital’s need for the rearrangement of dollars as the RFP was revised per the requirements of DPH. The MRI addition to the overall project results in an increase of money to offer the community. There has been a new shift in regulations to look at these areas; chronic disease management, the elimination of racial disparity, and promoting wellness in the home, workplace, school or community.
Today’s work would focus on;
- understanding the bucket of money,
- reviewing the needs of the island,
- looking again at the RFP, is it too broad?
Ron spoke with DPH and asked how they would be able to assist us look at the dollars and spend it in the right place. Our job is to figure out the community’s most important needs.
Dedie explained the hospital’s own money for community needs:
- $500,000. Innovative approaches to new or existing mini-grants, and/or longer term grants.
- $925,000. new physicians, expenses, support enhance ( spent)
- $175,000. Collaborative effort of 6 town health departments to create emergency alert systems
- $400,000. Behavioral Health
- Additional dollars are available from the addition of the MRI, $86 or $87,000.
This leaves $1.1 million to be allocated, and some dollars, (5%) will also go to the Southeast Center for Healthy Communities, per DPH requirements.
This group will help with the writing of the RFP, with decisions made with DCHC, DPH, and MVH input, assessments, coordination and coalition. Discussion followed concerning inclusion of other community groups, town board and island public health groups. The decision was made to make this process as inclusive as possible. The meetings will be open to all Health Council members, the commissioner of Public Health, and members of all towns Boards of Health.
Our job will be to identify a base of data from community needs assessments and develop data driven goals which point to the needs in the three areas of focus; chronic disease, community wellness and the acceptance of ethnic diversity.
The next three months the Health Council will be focused on this work. It was suggested that the money be released to Behavior Health as so much work has been completed. A DoN needs to be developed and then the RFP for the remaining money. The next meeting will be held on December 17th at 8 am.
The next Dukes County Health Council meeting will be held on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 7:30 in the Public Safety Building in West Tisbury.
Dedie adjourned the meeting at 9:23AM. Respectfully submitted, Terre D. Young
| |
