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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-10 - Minutes - Fayetteville City Board of Health 10/11/2023 4:30 p.m. Room 326 & Virtual Meeting Members: Hershey Garner, Lenny Whiteman, Huda Sharaf, Gary Berner, Stephanie Ho Ex-Officio Members: Meredith Lowry, Richard Taffner, Lance Reed, Lioneld Jordan, Brad Hardin Health Officer: Guest: Stephen Boss Meeting Location Information: City Hall Room 326 REGISTRATION LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_W4BqtyEjTlKhw8ARMsuSUw Webinar ID 857 3252 9349 1. Call to Order and Roll Call – Hershey Garner, Chair 2. Approval of the July 12, 2023 minutes a. Approved by Stephanie Ho i. Seconded by Gary Berner 3. Covid 19 a. Cases a. Huda Sharaf stated cases started peaking a few weeks ago, but nowhere near previous years, now seeing a decline b. Testing a. Hershey Garner questioned tracking of numbers for RSV and Influenza i. Lenny Whiteman stated he did not have numbers. Will share with the board via email b. Gary Berner stated a couple weeks before school started, Community Clinic data in Washington and Benton County were seeing a concerning rise. Positivity rate jumped from less than 5% to over 30%. Testing was increased and they continued to see high numbers. Mid-September to October numbers really dropped off and numbers are back down to a 5% positivity rate i. RSV is low ii. Steady increase in Flu iii. Patients have not been acutely ill iv. Flu has not gone down like Covid c. Hershey Garner questioned if it is due to higher penetrance with Covid Vaccinations as opposed to flu 2 d. Gary Berner stated less flu vaccines have been giving out the last couple of years e. Hershey Garner stated he would like to see data for Influenza, Covid and RSV over the last three or four months, and year to year. He stated he feels we are out of the pandemic phase, and this is going to be an issue we are going to have to deal with. It is no longer a stressor issue on the health care like the last three years. f. Gary Berner stated the little blip in July-August was nothing compared to previous surges as new variants came out g. A discussion continued regarding collecting data for Influenza, Covid and RSV c. Hospitalizations a. Huda Sharaf asked Lenny Whiteman if WRMC is seeing a decrease in hospitalizations i. Lenny Whiteman stated WRMC had seen a slight increase since July 1. July - seeing one to two patients a day 2. August - seeing an average of 5 patients a day 3. September into October has decreased 4. Larger activities such as football games 5. Trend is going back in the right direction 6. Nothing compared to the levels and ICU numbers that were being seen in early 2022 d. Vaccinations a. Gary Berner stated he is excited about the Beyfortus RSV vaccine especially in the infant population. He stated the clinic was able to get flu vaccinations for children in record time this year e. Dashboard a. Hershey Garner stated he did not believe the dashboard is being updated b. Huda Sharaf stated last she knew a public health intern was assigned through the NWA Council, but last word was is it did not take off c. Hershey Garner stated he feels the four data points will be able to give all the data needed for Fayetteville 4. Washington County Sheriff’s Office Healthcare Provider a. Sarah Moore stated she spoke to the board in 2022 when the Washington County medial contact quickly came up for bid. She stated the bid had not come up for bid in 5 or 6 years previous and the same provider Karas Health Care provided service 1. Due to the quick time period in 2022 and during the holiday time period, a lot of providers were not able to participate in the bid process 2. Karas Health Care retained the medical contract for $2.4 million 3. Contract states mental health care is supposed to be provided at the facility 4. Sherriff Cantrell stated despite some conversations about the quick time frame this would be bid again in the next year. He recently stated, it will not go out to bid until 2024 5. She spoke about the federal lawsuit regarding consent of treatment around Covid that was filed with the ACLU. She stated it is now settled but not sure of the full agreed terms. 3 6. Folks that were detained stated they did not give consent to the medications that were provided when being seen by Dr. Karas team during the treatment of Covid 7. Has been contacted by individuals in her Ward who have expressed outstanding concerns about their loved ones being detoxed from things like fentanyl without medical intervention, very little inaction with staff, and concerns about serious mental illness 8. Population runs about 800 and about 30% are Fayetteville residents b. Huda Sharaf questioned the bid process and asked if it could be moved up earlier c. Hershey Garner stated he felt the Quorum Court would want to have a dog in the fight, tax dollars are being spent without bid d. Beth Coger stated she contacted 13 different agencies across the country asking them to bid on it. A couple she contacted stated they would have to look at the jail, study data, no one could make an intelligent bid in the time period the County had it up. She stated at the time it was her understanding they would bid it again this year but when it was brought up at a County Services meeting the Sherriff said no, it would not be bid this year. e. Hershey Garner questioned if the Quorum Court could request for it to be rebid f. Beth Coger stated she could bring a resolution to that effect g. Hershey Garner stated he felt there are two issues 1. Adequacy of the care for the inmates, which is what the board would be looking at, 2. The physical responsibility for taxpayer dollars to get what they are paying for and getting a responsible rate would be the Quorum Courts responsibility h. Sarah Moore asked if the board would consider submitting an encouragement letter to the County. Competitive bidding allows for many providers to participate. i. Beth Coger stated she spoke with Sheriff Cantrell asking if he would do away with or lowering the $20 co-pay for those incarcerated to see the doctor. She was told no one is denied medical service. She said she is not aware if the people in jail who need medical care are aware of it. j. Huda Sharaf questioned if it is standard operating procedure within County jails k. Beth Coger stated yes, it is for Benton and Pulaski County. The State of Department of Corrections charge no more than a $5 co-pay l. Hershey Garner stated there is a significant difference between an inmate having an issue they want someone to address and charging a copay. There should be no co-pay when you take someone off the street m. Beth Coger stated mostly what she hears about are people that are in jail and not feeling well. Their families are struggling to keep money in trust accounts so they can have something from the commissary. n. Gary Berner stated as this comes up for re-bid, he would like to see 4 or 5 bids, and see data behind the quality and value of the work o. Huda Sharaf stated there should be some oversight, checks and balances in place 4 p. Hershey Garner stated the County should have a guideline as to when the RFP needs to go out and it should be longer than 30-90 days to allow folks to put together their information q. Beth Coger stated she is not aware of any oversight r. Gary Berner stated he appreciates the awareness and need to make sure all people are cared for and have the best access to good care s. Huda Sharaf stated if any information comes up, please share it with the board 5. Dr. Sharkey resignation from Board of Health – Effective 9/25/23 a. Hershey Garner stated Marti Sharkey provided an incredible service and thanked her for her work and service to the citizens and community at large b. Huda Sharaf echoed Hershey and stated she served as a great point person. She filled her role and then some as the City Health Officer. Huda questioned what the plan would be moving forward? c. Hershey Garner stated he would like to follow up with the Mayor. He stated no longer being in a pandemic situation he is not sure there is a lot for a City Officer to do d. Lance Reed stated he was disappointed that Dr. Sharkey was not adequately compensated for her hard work during the pandemic 6. Other a. Huda Sharaf spoke about a locally acquired Malaria case that was being reported on the national news in Saline County 7. Adjourn