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Home My WebLink About200109 - Minutes, Community Health Adv.Washington County Community Health Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes January 9, 2020 Opening This meeting of the Washington County Community Health Advisory Committee was called to order at 7:30am by Michael Reyka, Chair, at 100 West Washington Street, Suite 1115, Hagerstown. Present Commissioner Randall Wagner, Michael Reyka, Earl Stoner, Jennifer Foltz, Heidi Kendall, Dave Chisholm and Jeremy Mose. Old Business State diabetes plan: The State's plan was shared via email prior to the meeting. Michael facilitated a review and discussion around how the county might participate in the state's overall plan — aligns with population health concepts. Discussed statistics for county regarding obesity — weight is increasing, not decreasing. Need a societal shift specific to obesity (like the shift in smoking or receiving FLU vaccine. A lot of good work is being done, but it doesn't seem to be moving the needle in the right direction. Social media, availability of fast-food, and other trends were discussed as influences in the obesity issue. The county collaborating with the local health system is a good start — need to decide where we want to go as a community. Michael shared some of the current and impending Meritus initiatives, priorities and bold goals for the community (reduce new cases of diabetes by 50%). The new CEO is very much committed to promoting positive change within the community that improves health and wellness. Polystyrene update: Earl provided a summary/update. Effective 7/1/20, The ban prohibits businesses and schools from selling it or providing it. Businesses can store it or use it if it's going to be shipped out of state. Earl stated that a waiver is available through MDE (up to one year waiver). Each county will enforce and may impose a penalty up to $250 (process involves giving notice, 3 months to comply, fine or not, notify MDE). MDE doesn't impose fines — fines are local. Even if we don't impose a fine, the county still needs to report the situation to MDE. There are inexpensive alternatives to polystyrene. MDE will be pursuing education and awareness. Local county issues: education, determining enforcement, decision regarding whether to fine. Question: what are the detrimental effects of the product? Response: it doesn't decompose well. It's toxic and it fills of the waterways as litter. Tacoma Park went completely polystyrene -free and has an expansive folder of educational materials. There are two Maryland manufacturers of polystyrene — not sure how they will be addressed or the impact on their business. While local businesses that use polystyrene are aware, additional information, reminders and communication is necessary. More discussion to follow regarding intervention. FLU update: Cases of FLU are increasing across the state (map distributed, week ending 12/28/19). Seeing the same in Washington County (its peak FLU season. Routine precautions reviewed (FLU vaccine, masks, hand washing). Discussion occurred around individuals that refuse the FLU vaccine (inaccurate fear of getting the FLU from the virus) and typical responses/interventions (ex: mask) and changing policies around employee compliance. Reminder that the FLU shot each year is an educated guess regarding which virus/strain will impact society that particular year — still recommend getting the vaccine. Group member background/expertise: The group will share individual backgrounds to assist in developing a committee roster of skillsets to assist in responding to need and opportunities. It won't be shared outside of the group. Rather, it will serve as a resource for the group: Communication: How do we want to communicate with the community? Last discussion involved possibility of County Commissioners forwarding community complaints to the chair of this committee. Suggestions include twice a year public forums in a large room with published topics ahead of time. First topic possibility — opioids. Motivation is to prevent group initiatives and conversations from becoming static — need to keep building momentum within the committee. Could combine the forum with one of the scheduled meetings. PR should attend the forums. Need a few topics that will attract the community. The goals are for the community to hear what's important to the community. Include Healthy Washington County representatives. Recommendation - Bring PR in to assist - invite to next meeting on 1/23/19 to discuss options and resources and how to notify the public. New Business Geologic Study: Earl provided a summary of the first County DOH sponsored workgroup meeting. The initial meeting discussion revolved around history/background (ex: old feasibility study, changes to the environment, etc.). Also reviewed post -study interventions to determine if improvements had occurred. Water and sewer: The two go hand -in -hand. The largest component is the public water zones - will remain a topic for this group for now. The wells around the county typically have water reports that are undesirable. The DOH has regularly scheduled update meetings with installers, contractors and real estate organizations. Water quality and radon have become widespread issues across the region in recent years. Concerns from community: A few county complaints were received recently related to sewer odors emanating from the Sharpsburg treatment plant. Randy received one compliant which he directed to the DOH. Since being elected, Randy has received three complaints about rabies policy. The local policy is a state policy. A local woman was bitten by a fox last week. The veterinarian and dentist have dropped off from this group. Michael will follow-up with Krista Hart to discuss the roster and options for recruiting a replacement. The rabies policy will be shared for the next meeting. Next Meeting • Thursday, January 23rd, 2020 from 7:30am-8:30am Minutes Submitted by: Approved by: