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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-2020 MAY 27 2020 MINUTES Deschutes County Health Services Public Health Advisory Board MINUTES MINUTES June 24, 2020 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. via Zoom videoconferencing Facilitator Keith Winsor, Chair Staff Coordinator Tom Kuhn, Community Health Manager Scribe Lisa Michael Next Meeting June 24, 2020 – via Zoom videoconferencing Topic and Lead Introductions and approval of the April meeting minutes Tom conducted roll call to start off the meeting. Charla motioned to approve the minutes as submitted, which were seconded by Sharity. Unfinished Business Tom said that due to limited time, he will defer the Health Heroes award update until a later th date. He also announced that Hillary’s last day will be June 19and that she is unable to attend today’s meeting due to a prior commitment. Tom will make sure to invite her to a future meeting. UPDATES: Rebeckah informed everyone there is a Central Oregon resource directory available that is updated on a daily basis both in English and Spanish versions. https://www.centraloregonresources.org/ 2020 Central Oregon Health Equity Report Channa informed the board they can access the contents of the report either by reviewing the Deschutes County website at www.deschutes.org/healthdata or through an email link she can send to the Board. This report includes an Executive Summary, which links to state and national priorities, community level data (from the RHA), Central Oregon health equity results, surveys from Health Services staff and community partners, and action plans from all three Central Oregon counties. Channa mentioned that feedback from PHAB would be much appreciated. Data collected for this report comes from various studies including the County Health Rankings, American Community Survey, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Oregon Public Health Assessment Tool and the Central Oregon Regional Health Assessment. A 2019 summary of results from community partners revealed that only 46% of those surveyed agreed that local health departments create and distribute materials appropriate for cultural, linguistic and literary needs. Channa said that DCHS is taking measures to work on this. “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 8/4/20 The Executive Summary states that health departments should take the lead in addressing environmental, social and economic factors that impact health, and they should also work on improving the creation and distribution of materials centered around cultural, language and literacy needs of the community. The assessment also highlights the importance of workforce development strategies to assure hiring, retention and promotion of diverse staff. Channa briefly went over equity questions that came up during the planning process and how this framework ties in with the BARHII concept. This report includes regional data and is now being implemented. COVID 19 update Jill Johnson, Communicable Disease Supervisor, discussed where Deschutes County is situated regionally and on a statewide level as far as COVID-19 cases. Currently, there are 120 cases in Deschutes, of which 90 have recovered and no deaths have been reported. Reports shows that half are male and half female and that there has been a recent rise in cases due to multiple households holding social gatherings. Jill explained what presumptive cases means (being around people either with the virus or those who are symptomatic for 15 minutes or more). Jill said they are tracking 4 areas of cases, which are people who have been traveling, the elderly, the 20-29 age group and people who have been social gathering. Jill explained that DCHS is using a tiered plan for contact tracing. Recently, 10 DCHS staff were currently working on cases and St. Charles is training 6 staff for monitoring on their end, although Jill said we can have 30 contact tracers per the OHA. The OHA has 100 trained staff and several volunteers helping out to conduct statewide tracing. DCHS has posted three positions currently for one health educator and 2 RN’s. COVID 19 Testing Testing has expanded considerably with almost 1,000 tests conducted the week of May 10 up from 268 the week of April 12. So far approximately 5,000 have been tested locally. St. Charles offers drive-thru testing M/W/F; however, a provider order is required to do so. Patients must also first make an appointment. There are several testing sites around town at many clinics, urgent care centers, BMC, St. Charles, etc. th OSU is conducting a study the weekend of May 30 and will have several contact tracers randomly testing 600 plus people in several neighborhoods in Bend but only for surveillance purposes. Antibody testing has not been approved by OHA and is not being used to confirm any COVID cases at the moment since there is still too much that is unknown. Key to Oregon is putting a study together to reach out to 150k Oregonians to monitor their symptoms for up to a year and will provide all the supplies to do so to all test subjects. The board had a lengthy discussion about the testing options and results. The state lab, OSU and Willamette Valley Toxicology are processing the bulk of the tests with local labs processing about 20%. Dr. Jenny Faith is updating the figures every few weeks on how Deschutes County is doing compared to the rest of the state. Dr. Rob Ross heard that China has a 14% reinfection rate. It is still unknown how long immunity lasts and what level of antibody is protective. There are clusters of entire households becoming infected, which may increase with the upcoming holiday. Dr. Jason Jundt also noted that COVID testing is required before any surgeries or major procedures can be done. “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 8/4/20 To date there are no cases in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF’s). Kari Coe is working with all 33 of these facilities in our region to assist with development of surveillance testing plans. Jill mentioned that OSU will be conducting a COVID sewer study and will have the capability to test downstream from LTCF’s, hospitals, jails and other locations where people congregate. She informed the board that DCHS had 10 staff focusing solely on tracing, and has since scaled back to 5; however, we are in the process of hiring new staff in case of a surge. OHA has given permission to hire up to 30 tracers, but right now since the caseload is low, we are holding our own. Tracers do not have to be RNs or have certified baseline knowledge. Pamela said she would send out the OHA COVID dashboard link so the board can review all the data. Adjourn at 1:24 p.m. Board Members Present: Keith Winsor, Rebeckah Berry, Charla DeHate, Tanya Nason, Tami Pike, Sharity Ludwig, Dave Huntley, Jim Powell, Steve Strang, Jason Jundt, Robert Ross Staff Present: Tom Kuhn, Pamela Ferguson, Lisa Michael Guest Speakers: Channa Lindsay (staff) and Jill Johnson (staff) RHA- Regional Health Assessment PHAB – Public Health Advisory Board DCHS – Deschutes County Health Services BARHII – Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative CD – Communicable Disease OHA – Oregon Health Authority BMC – Bend Memorial Clinic OSU – Oregon State University LTCF’s – Long Term Care Facilities RN – Registered Nurse “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 8/4/20