March 26, 2024 Board of Health Meeting Minutes

Otero County Board of Health Meeting

March 26, 2024, 11:00 am
Otero County Courthouse, Rm. 107
La Junta, Colorado

Members Present: 
Dr. Paul Yoder, President and Medical Officer
Dr. R.J. Nelson, Vice President
Dr. David Trujillo

Member(s) Absent:
Lindsey Hart
Mark McCuistion

Ex Officio:
Richard Ritter, BOH Secretary, OCHD Executive Director 

Commissioners:
Rob Oquist, Otero County

OCHD Attorney: 
Nate Shultz, J.D.

OCHD Staff:
Marie Mora-Menges, Nursing Program Director
Chris Coffield, RHC
Arlene Cooke, OUD/SUD Program Director
Su Korbitz, Environmental Services Program Director
Dee Leyba, CTC Program Director
Dr. Janell Maier, Disease Prevention & Control/EPR Program Director
John Miller, Business Manager
Donna Starck, STEPP Program Director
Brandie Graham, PRSS Trainee

Minutes

1. Call to Order: A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by Dr. Yoder. 
2. Public Notice Posting (Pursuant to C.R.S. 25-1-509(2)(f), C.R.S. 24-6-402 (2)(c)(I), & C.R.S. 24-6-402(2)(c)(III)): The 2024 BOH meeting schedule was posted on the BOH website on 11/30/2023, and this agenda was posted in the designated public locations in all OCHD offices and on the BOH website by 3/22/2024.
3. Public Comment: There were no public comments for items not on the agenda.
4. Consent Agenda (ACTION ITEM)
   1. Approval of Minutes
      a. January 30th, 2024, Regular BOH Meeting (Previously sent on 2/15/2024 & 3/21/2024)
   2. Contract Ratification (Pursuant to C.R.S. 25-1-508 (5)(k) & C.R.S. 25-1-511 (3))
      1. 2023-2024 CDPHE PHEP Contract Amendment #7
         • Amendment Contract Number#: 2024*0102 #7
         • Purpose: Additional CDPHE PHEP support for OCHD to purchase antibiotics for staff prophylaxis (as required by CCR), non-combustion electrical generators, and auto jump starters for OCHD vehicles.
         • Status: Fully Executed
         • Term: 7/1/2023-6/30/2024
         • Amount: $97,712.00
           • Increase of $24,500 over the previous contract amount of $ 73,212.
      2. Trailhead Institute/AmeriCorps Master Services Agreement Amendment A
         • Purpose: Trailhead Institute’s support for another term of Gypsy Harviston’s AmeriCorps service.
         • Status: Partially Executed
         • Term: Through 8/31/2024
         • Amount: $23,100.00
   3. Approval of Consent Agenda and Approval/Ratification of Items Therein: Dr. Nelson moved to approve the consent agenda and approve/ratify the contents therein, Dr. Trujillo seconded, motion carried.
5. Old Business: None
6. New Business
   1. Budget (Pursuant to C.R.S. 25-1-508 (5)(k) & C.R.S. 25-1-511 (3))
      1. Financial Summary Report (Based upon Tyler Financial Systems reports dated 3/20/2024) 
         • January 2024
           • Revenues: $39,149.44
           • Expenditures: $180,841.11 
           • Deficit: $141,691.67 
           • Fund Balance: $ 2,735,617.17 
         • February 2024
           • Revenues: $69,534.64
           • Expenditures: $139,238.75
           • Deficit: $69,704.11
           • Fund Balance: $2,665,913.06
      2. Approval of Expenditures (ACTION ITEM): Dr. Nelson moved to approve the January 2024 & February 2024 expenditures in the amounts of $180,841.11 & $139,238.75 respectively, Dr. Trujillo seconded, motion carried. 
      3. Preliminary 2023 OCHD Fiscal Performance (based upon Tyler Financial Reports dated 9/20/2023 & 3/20/2024): At the end of 2022, OCHD’s fund balance was $2,599,553.50, and at the end of 2023 the fund balance was $ 2,877,308.84, which is an increase of $277,755.34. Revenues for 2023 amounted to $2,014,073.16, and 2023 expenditures were $1,736,317.82. OCHD received 100.88% of its budgeted revenues and only expended 86.82% of its budgeted expenditures. These are preliminary figures, though, as some revenues may still be accrued back to 2023. The main reason for the increased revenue was federal COVID-19 funding to support the response. The COVID-19 funding was primarily used to support nonsiloed staff that responded to COVID-19. Non-siloed staff are staff that are not dedicated and supported 100% by other programs such as EPR, WIC, STEPP, CTC, and HRSA. This allowed non-dedicated, discretional funds that supported the nonsiloed staff to augment the fund balance. Federal COVID-19 funding is set to end
         beginning July 1st, 2024. Budgeting for federal COVID-19 funds was an extremely complex, complicated process. R. Ritter had to create multiple spreadsheets to accomplish this task.
   2. Personnel
      1. New Personnel
         • Brandie Graham, Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS): Ms. Graham has joined the OCHD team as a PRSS trainee. She will work primarily with RESADA. Welcome Brandie!
      2. Retirement
         • Jo Jancar, WIC Program Director: Mrs. Jancar has submitted her retirement letter to R. Ritter. Her last day with OCHD will be 6/30/2024. OCHD and the BOH thank Jo for her years of service and wish her well in her new adventures!
   3. Public Comment Time Limit (ACTION ITEM): Item #3 on BOH agendas allows for public comment. It also mentions time limits, however the BOH has not formally adopted a specific time limit. After speaking with Otero County Commissioners Knabenshue and Oquist, and consulting with Nate Shultz, R. Ritter recommends that the BOH adopt a 3-minute time limit for public comments, whether or not the public comment topic appears on the agenda, allowing for a total elapsed time of 30 minutes of public comments per meeting. Determining a discrete time limit will circumvent potentially arbitrary and inconsistent time limits. If approved by the BOH, R. Ritter will place a recurring agenda item on BOH agendas titled “Public Comments”, which will have the following statement: “Citizens may address the Board of Health (BOH) on items that are on the agenda or not on the agenda. Items of a personal nature may not be discussed. Personnel-related matters shall be directed through the appropriate chain of command. You will be asked to state your name before your comment. Neither BOH members or health department staff should be expected to engage in discussions or debate with any speaker. The BOH may direct staff to follow up with certain matters. Out of respect for the BOH and others in attendance, please limit your comments to three (3) minutes or less. The total time allotted shall not exceed 30 minutes per BOH meeting unless prior arrangements are made.” Dr. Trujillo moved to approve the public comment time limit and accompanying wording as detailed above, Dr. Nelson seconded, motion carried.
   4. Addendum/Addenda: None
7. Program Reports
   1. CTC, Dee Leyba: General information
   2. DCEP/EPR, Dr. Janell Maier: General information
   3. Environmental Services, Su Korbitz: General information
   4. Nursing, Marie Mora-Menges: General information
   5. OUD/SUD, Arlene Cooke: General information
   6. RHC, Chris Coffield: General information
   7. TEPP, Donna Starck: General information
   8. Vital Statistics, John Miller: No report
8. Executive Session: Not requested nor required.
9. Adjournment: With no further business, Dr. Yoder adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted, 

Richard Ritter
Secretary, Otero County Board of Health
Executive Director, Otero County Health Department