MINUTES
DUKES COUNTY HEALTH COUNCIL
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 Meeting
West Tisbury Public Safety Building
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Tad Crawford called the meeting to order at 7:40 a.m. A quorum was present. In addition to Tad, the following were in attendance: Treasurer Terry Appenzellar and Council members Carlin Hart, Charles Silberstein, Nancy Gilfoy, Patrick Donegan, Donald Rose, Frank Honey, Peter Strock, Marni Lipke, Ned Robinson-Lynch, JoAnn Murphy, Paddy Moore, Patsy McCornack, Cathy Brennan, Cindy Doyle, Jane Cleare, Mary Jane O’Connor-Ropp, Antonio Teixeira, Sarah Kuh, and E. Winn Davis (ex-officio). Absent were Vice Chair Jacque Cage, Secretary Kathy Rose, and Council members Ken Chisholm, Susan Desmarais, Mike Dutton, Sarah Greenberg, Ilene Klein, Andy Krickl, Michael LaPolla, Michele Lazerow, Les Leland, Cynthia Mitchell, Fred Rundlet, Bob Sawyer and Tim Walsh. Also
present were Dedie Wieler of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Susan Curnan and Sarita Bhalotra of Brandies University, Council member candidate Rhonda Cohen, and Dukes County Executive Assistant Brian S. Kinal, who took these minutes.
INTRODUCTIONS
With the consent of those present, Tad set the next meeting for Thursday, Nov. 18. He also introduced Rhonda Cohen, who has applied for appointment to the Health Council.
MINUTES
Approval of the Sept. 23 minutes was postponed because several members had not seen them.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Terry Appenzellar said a decision has been made to move certain funds out of County control because of the high overhead charged by the County. Dental funds, Rural Scholar funds and Island Health funds will be transferred to the Foundation for Island Health, she said. Terry said the transfer is not going smoothly because Dukes County Treasurer Noreen Mavro Flanders has asked for the transfer requests to come from the original donors of the funds.
County Manager Davis said donors have given money to the County, and it would be inappropriate to transfer the funds without their approval.
Tad said funds that are not spent down rapidly are hit hardest because overhead charges are applied in each fiscal year. As an example, he said the $12,000 Rural Scholars fund has been charged a total overhead of 25 percent, even though only $4,000 of it has been expended.
Mr. Davis said the County is compelled to charge overhead by an agreement between the County and the Federal Aviation Administration. The agreement specifies that the County will charge all departments for the services it provides to them.
M.V. COMMUNITY SERVICES STUDY
Ned Robinson-Lynch of Community Services introduced Susan Curnan and Sarita Bhalotra of Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Managament. He said Heller is conducting a thorough analysis of Community Services, focusing on both the internal workings and mission of the agency.
Curnan, director of Heller’s Center for Youth and Communities, outlined in considerable detail the methods being used in the study. They include focus groups, surveys of clients, interviews with present and past staff and with Island health care providers.
She emphasized that this is “not a shelf study,” but one that will result in a strategic action plan to guide Community Services. An interim report will be presented by Christmas, with a final report to follow in March, Curnan said.
Paddy Moore said the study seems to coincide with the Health Council’s community network development grant project.
Charles Silberstein said it’s good that Community Services is willing to undertake a self-examination. Tad concurred, and praised the method being used.
Cindy Doyle responded to a conversational point about drug use by Island youths. She said the last Youth at Risk survey was performed in 2003; there was no money for a 2004 study. Curnan said it’s important to keep up data collection. Jane Cleare said data collection isn’t enough; the data needs to lead to a concrete plan.
Marni Lipke made a motion to endorse the Community Services study, Cindy Doyle seconded, and the vote was unanimous in favor. Paddy Moore made a motion to find a way to conduct the 2004 Youth at Risk survey, Patsy McCornack seconded, and the vote was unanimous in favor.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Tad asked members to rank the written proposed goals and objectives, and time was allotted while members made their rankings and submitted them.
PRIMARY CARE WORKING GROUP
Paddy Moore gave a report on the network development planning grant group. She said the grant partners have made a commitment to go ahead with the project whether or not the grant is received. The group has not yet met, but plans to meet soon, she said.
Tad said the Primary Care Working Group will oversee the application for renewing the federal Health Professional Shortage Area designation, which expires in November 2005. The oral health professional shortage designation expires in November 2007, ands the mental health professional shortage designation is uncertain.
COUNTY WEBSITE
Terry Appenzellar has been spearheading the Health Council’s participation in Dukes County’s new website, which will go online in the next month or so. Terry said only the wellness committee’s page is on the draft site now; other committees need to be solicited for information.
Tad and Winn both praised Terry for her work on the site. Tad said the site has an extremely fast search function, and with unlimited storage, it should be excellent for storing some of the Council’s core documents.
There was a discussion about how handy the site will be for posting meetings and other announcements.
On another subject, Tad showed a framed certificate of appreciation from the Lighthouse Alliance. He said the certificate would be displayed at the County Administration Building.
CHRONIC ILLNESS NETWORK
Marni Lipke, Co-Chair of the Chronic Illness Network, gave a report on CIN’s Community Care Project, in which volunteers are matched with chronically ill clients. She said the next training for volunteers would be Nov. 5-6. The program will be inaugurated in December or January, Marni said.
NEW BUSINESS
There was discussion about the lack of flu vaccine on the Island. Several members reported that the vaccine is not available through private doctors. Dedie Wieler said the hospital has received much less than requested. Front-line health care workers will be vaccinated first, followed by pregnant women and the elderly until the supply is exhausted, she said.
In another matter, Don Rose said the Geriatric Access Committee is launching a home safety and accident prevention program. The Dukes County Sheriff’s Office will play a leadership role in the program, he said.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned by acclamation at 9:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian S. Kinal
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