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HomeMy WebLinkAbout200820 - Minutes, Community Health Adv.Washington County Community Health Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes August 20, 2020 Opening This meeting of the Washington County Community Health Advisory Committee was called to order at 7:33am by Heidi Kendall, Vice -Chair, via virtual meeting. Present Earl Stoner, Jennifer Foltz, Heidi Kendall, Dave Chisholm, Rich Eichelberger, Rob Ferree, Cyndi Powell, Douglas Spotts, MD and Peggy Pugh. New Business Discussion for New Chair Position Michael Reyka is no longer with Meritus and no longer a member of this group. We need to select a new chair. Dr. Spotts seems an ideal and willing candidate. We will discuss further and vote on this selection at our next meeting. We, as a group, also need to discuss inviting/recruiting additional members to join this group. To be discussed further at next meeting. Roundtable Discussion, Impacts of COViD-19 • Mental Health — Heidi At Shepherd Pratt they have been conducting meetings/therapy sessions via Zoom/teleheaith. This has been very challenging, needs more/better IT infrastructure in place. On -site services and group gatherings have been halted until regulations and guidelines indicate it is safe to resume these activities. For now, they have opened their Day Program and crisis bed services. Future Projections: will likely include a hybrid model of smaller, in -person gatherings and virtual/telehealth meetings. Also of note, we are experiencing an increase in substance abuse prevalence. • Public Health — Doug Spotts, MD (Meritus) Discussed multiple examples of partnerships that have contributed to the County's response and management of COVID. Partnerships with Health Department to set up incident command. Meritus has been working to set up more telehealth hubs for increased access. Future Projections: Meritus is doubling down on its Bold Goals. They want to continue to remove barriers to access. October, they plan to kick off campaign to lose 1 Million pounds as a County. They are planning to establish a fresh food market downtown and hope to expand this initiative with best practices for storing and preparing fresh foods for better health. Meritus just opened a new infectious disease facility with 20 negative pressure rooms. The facility was constructed in only 4 months! • Public Health — Earl Stoner (Health Department) Initial Response included surveillance and mitigating immediate threats. This was especially true of nursing home environments. Now, the focus is on mitigation, prevention and contact tracing. Moving forward, the focus will be on enforcement and vaccination planning. The state of Maryland has been told November 1st is the earliest we can expect to see a vaccine. The enforcement piece is a new/non-traditional role for the Health Department. They field and investigate complaints RE mask wearing and social distancing. It has been all hands on deck! • Economic Development/Local Business Report — Rob Ferree Bowman Development hasn't missed a beat in the pandemic and has remained open and operational. On the industrial side, the market is very strong and continues to grow. For small businesses, they are struggling. The Bowman Group has lost 2 restaurant businesses so far and the hotel/hospitality industry has been hit hard. He said the PPE assistance helped, and the County Grant was beneficial to small businesses. On a macro level, he feels like the County is doing well, all things considered. We are even seeing some business expansion, but there are many businesses that are hurting and that may not survive this pandemic. • Government — Rich Eichelberger County government buildings are closed to the public, but still operating at 100%. Some staff are teleworking or coming into the office in rotating shifts. Some of the changes the government has put in place in response to COVID will likely become permanent. Overall, they're still seeing some activity in residential and commercial sector projects. • Education — Peggy Pugh —162 new teachers starting this school year. They are being split into two groups for training/orientation, primary and secondary school levels. Buildings have been adapted with directional arrows and new ways for moving through the school buildings have been developed. To start the school year, teachers have a choice of whether to teach from home or from their classrooms. A small, ad hoc committee is being formed to identify metrics to determine when it will be safe to bring students back into the building and how to mitigate fears of staff, parents and students. They are partnering with Comcast, AT&T, Antietam Cable and other suppliers to increase connectivity and access for students to be able to learn online. • Emergency Services — Dave Chisholm EMS and Fire Services are doing fine. They PPE situation is ok, for now. Introduction of New Members Peggy Pugh, Associate Superintendent replacing April Bishop on this committee whose position with WCPS has changed. Meeting Adjourned at 8:33am. Motion made by Doug Spotts, MD. Seconded by Cyndi Powell. All in favor. Next Meeting • Thursday, September 17th, 2020 from 7:00am-8:00am (Earlier start because Day of Caring). • Then we will return to meeting on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 7:30am-8:30am. We will meet virtually for the foreseeable future. Minutes Submitted by: Approved by: