Board of Health

City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 18, 2020 MEETING MINUTES Meeting Call to Order – 5:35 PM Board President Christine Harris read the following Sunshine Law: This meeting, which conforms to the provisions of the Open Public Meeting Act, Chapter 231, and Public Law of 1975 is a regular meeting of the City of East Orange Board of Health. Notices have been filed with our official newspaper, with the City Clerk and posted on regular bulletin boards. The public is permitted to participate at this meeting. After the roll call, it was determined there was a quorum to convene the meeting. Board Members Present: Christine Harris, President Horace H. Henry Tobbia M. Corbitt Deanna Phillips Angela Jones-Williams Council Liaison: Leneus Bergson - absent Board of Health Counsel: Joseph Campbell, Attorney assigned to the Board of Health Health Department Staff: Dr. Griffith, HHS Director Victor Kuteyi, Health Officer Mayoral Staff: None Public in attendance: None Approval of January 21, 2020, Meeting Minutes: Approval unanimous Announcements President Harris: 1. Councilman Leneus will not attend this meeting but anticipates attending future meetings. Councilman Leneus expressed hope that the BOH will continue to attend the Health and Education Meetings occurring bi-monthly. pg. 1 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 18, 2020 MEETING MINUTES 2. The Vaping Health Forum will be held on March 3, 2020, at STEM Academy from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. 3. The East Orange Health Department will be audited by NJDOH on March 3rd. President Harris reminded Board Members to supply a list of CEU’s or attendance to educational seminars to HO Kuteyi. 4. Announced Vice-President Henry is now a Registered Environmental Health Specialist, (REHS). The BOH congratulated VP Henry on his significant accomplishment. 5. President Harris shared on March 5th at the Essex County Fire Academy there will be a seminar on the Coronavirus in Sayreville, NJ. The cost is $89 per person. 6. Thanked Dr. Griffith for moving talking points and flyer forward for the Vaping Forum. Health Officer Kuteyi Updates: 2018 Annual Report Findings HO Kuteyi presented findings from the 2018 annual report to the BOH. He stated the 2018 data is being presented in 2020 which allowed the collected material to be streamlined for accuracy, avoidance of duplication, and ensuring any missing data has been included. The Health Department is also tasked with ensuring the report complies with State regulations. At the State level, Epi-data is presented every two years to allow the same streamlining process. The report is comprised of two main components, the Annual Report Summary and Programs, and Services, which provides details pertaining to the operations of the East Orange Health Department. The Annual Report Summary is comprised of the Activities of the Local Health Department and a Summary of Public Health Activities. The Programs and Services component is comprised of the Summary of Programs and Services for each of the 13 Divisions operating under the EO Health Department umbrella (Vital Statistics, Environmental Health, HIV Testing and Counseling, Nursing, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, Substance Abuse and Treatment, Dental, Health Education, Weights and Measures, WIC, Child and Adult Food Program, Senior Services). It also focuses on staff training and revenue by program. 2020 Health Department Audit HO Kuteyi shared the NJDOH will be auditing the Health Department. We are expected to provide resumes for all Health Department staff with a concentration on Clinical Divisions i.e., Environmental, Nursing, Vital Statistics, and Dental. The auditors have requested a review of employee evaluations; however, they were expecting the State-regulated evaluation. HO Kuteyi explained that our evaluations are administered via Human Resources which takes precedence. President Harris stated due to the advisory status, the City’s Health Department pg. 2 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 18, 2020 MEETING MINUTES complies with Human Resource’s parameters in place of the BOH. HO Kuteyi concurred, expressing the Health Officer is intended to answer to the BOH from the State Level. President Harris mentioned the State is looking to initiate uniformity across the state as procedures vary vastly between the municipalities. Other pertinent requested data includes organizational charts to assess the roles staff members play within the department, the minutes and agenda for the BOH, reports and other written communication with the BOH, EU’s and educational training obtained by the BOH. A Continuous Quality Improvement Plan is another important aspect of the audit and is managed by the Nursing Coordinator. The Continuous Quality Improvement Plan will facilitate programs throughout all divisions with the focus befalling on Environmental and Nursing. The State wants the Health Department to participate in Governmental Public Health Partnerships. A meeting was held with the Essex County Health Officers Association in continuation of our partnership. A Community Health Planning partnership has been established with Essex County Health Officer, Maya Lordo and the EO Health Care Foundation to facilitate the Community Health Assessment. The auditors have required we formulate procedures relating to OEM and emergencies. An on-call emergency response roster is mandatory. There should be a file comprising the information for those who are tasked with being on-call for emergencies, an on-call systems testing record, and policies and procedures on file for emergency communications. The Health Department must demonstrate our ability to use the Red Book. Various changes within the OEM Department created a lack of clarity on who is responsible for maintaining the document, however; we are working diligently with Dave Williams of OEM to establish the testing record. Open Discussion: Continued Education BOH members asked for clarity referencing the CEU’s required of them as BOH members. President Harris stated due to not being licensed for their respective positions, guidelines regulating a set number of obligatory CEU’s have not been stipulated, however, President Harris encourages them to attend seminars. President Harris noted continued education is a requirement for all active members on the Board. Vaping Forum Dr. Griffith announced the vaping flyer will be presented as a part of the Mayor’s State of the City address during a slideshow presentation. The vaping forum flyers will be distributed via bags to constituents at the end of the address. Trustee Phillips was referred to Ms. Barnes and Mr. Proctor of the EO School District by Dr. Watson for assistance with the robocalls and other methods of disseminating materials for the Vaping Forum. Ms. Barnes sent Trustee Phillips a sample of the community service form to amend the verbiage and accommodate utilization for the vaping forum. Once the amendments have been made, we will disseminate the form to students who participated in our vaping forum so they may receive community service credits. pg. 3 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 18, 2020 MEETING MINUTES Dr. Griffith suggested a Vaping Robocall script be constructed by BOH. Once the script is created it will be distributed to Connie of Public Information for final approval before dissemination. President Harris inquired if Ms. Barnes requested a script for the school’s robocall. Trustee Phillips stated a script was not requested, however, she advised her to read the information as detailed within the Vaping Forum flyer. Dr. Griffith stated she usually creates scripts because they are easier to read and helps to avoid leaving room for error during robocalls. Attendance has been confirmed for Karen Blumenfeld from GASP, Kara Gilliam and Keith Furtado of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Dr. George DiFerdinando Jr., MD, of Rutgers and Princeton Universities and Dr. Andrew Berman University Hospital and Medical School. President Harris shared Dr. Berman and Mr. Furtado will both be utilizing PowerPoint presentations. A portion of Mr. Furtado’s presentation is interactive with the rest being informational. His presentation features a young person’s perspective with a game involving vaping flavors and questions. Dr. Griffith advised we remember the age of our audience and suggested that we limit the presentations and power points in favor of a panel that should keep the audience's attention. Trustee Jones-Williams suggested we locate youth who will ask key questions and help engage their peers. President Harris expressed a desire to feature a display of various replica vaping devices to parents and students to promote awareness. President Harris recently learned there is a new type of vaping device which resembles a fat cigar by Phillip Morris named IQOS, THS, an acronym for the I Quit Ordinary Smoking, Tobacco Heating System. Instead of heating the tobacco with fire which reaches over 600 degrees, this system utilizes a heating element that only heats the product to 300 degrees. The tobacco is processed into small nuggets so the level of nicotine being absorbed is reduced along with its by-products. President Harris expressed finding the marketing utilized by the company interesting and states tobacco companies are consistently trying to circumvent legislation surrounding tobacco products. Dr. Griffith concurred stating the tobacco industry is feeding an addiction, therefore making it easier to circumvent the laws. Trustee Phillips expressed a need to structure a format for presenting the forum. Once the structure is created it will ensure proper execution of the forum and allow the assignment of responsibilities. Board members suggested a timeline be established for the 5 confirmed speakers of between 10-15 minutes. The panel will be made up of the speakers to allow an interactive question and answer session with the audience. Trustee Corbitt asked if we would still be able to utilize Ms. Shareef’s videos as discussed in prior meetings. At this time, we would have to review the audio-visual equipment at STEM Academy to determine if that is still a possibility. A walkthrough of STEM would also be needed to assess the school’s amenities. Trustee Corbitt inquired permission could be granted to show commercials relating to vaping. Due to copyright issues, it was suggested maybe the information can be pg. 4 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 February 18, 2020 MEETING MINUTES incorporated into the PowerPoint presentations. Dr. Griffith asked if the BOH has required the speakers to provide copies of their presentations in advance. President Harris stated she ask the speakers to furnish their materials. The BOH requested the Health Department determine the availability of items such as registration tables, tablecloths, name tents, chairs, laptops, index cards, pencils, promotion, and information distribution. Jo-Ann stated these items needed to be discussed with Dr. Griffith for approval. President Harris asked how the New LHCHH Program is going. Dr. Griffith shared the program is going well. The program has 5 new complete applications and is anticipating working towards abating 5 properties. Dr. Griffith explained the process is lengthy but hopefully we can abate the homes to assist in the avoidance of adding to Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention cases where children are being exposed to lead. Dr. Griffith also shared Ms. Marie and her team are doing a great job managing cases locally and now with the additional program, we are making residents aware their home can be screened with or without the presence of a child. President Harris asked if we were going to have any data to tie in infant mortality rates to breastfeeding. Dr. Griffith stated she is not aware if we can draw that link, but we can review the data to see if a correlation can be fashioned. Dr. Griffith praised Ms. Chesney and her team for their program and noted Ms. Blue has been receiving numerous accolades for how the program is run. At the conclusion of Board business, President Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:50 pm. Respectfully submitted, Jo-Ann Mills Board Clerk pg. 5