Lake County Board of Health met July 28

By Kristine Gonzales-Abella

Nov 11, 2021

Lake County Board of Health met July 28.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

1. Call to Order

President Sashko called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Present 9 - Member Rheault Ph.D., Member-at-Large Hagstrom D.D.S., Vice President Ehrlich M.D., Member Schultz, Secretary DeVaux, Member Johnson Jones Ed.D., Member Cesnovar, Member Maine and President Sashko

Absent 3 - Member Belmonte D.O., Member Mittl Pollina Psy.D. and Member Simpson 2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Approval of Minutes

3.1 May 26, 2021 Meeting Minutes

A motion was made by Member Johnson Jones, seconded by Member Cesnovar, that the May 26, 2021 minutes be approved. Voice vote taken, all in favor, motion carried.

Aye: 9 - Member Rheault Ph.D., Member-at-Large Hagstrom D.D.S., Vice President Ehrlich M.D., Member Schultz, Secretary DeVaux, Member Johnson Jones Ed.D., Member Cesnovar, Member Maine and President Sashko

Absent: 3 - Member Belmonte D.O., Member Mittl Pollina Psy.D. and Member Simpson 4. Public Comment to the Board

None

5. Awards, Recognitions, Appointments and Reappointments

5.1

Reappointments - Sashko

President Sashko announced that Members Cesnovar, Maine, Sashko, and Simpson were recently reappointed by Chair Sandy Hart and the Lake County Board for another 3-year term beginning July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2024.

This matter was presented

6. Presentations

None

7. President’s Report

President Sashko reported the following:

1. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will be conducting a virtual site visit August 3-5, 2021, which is just next week, so staff will be busy finalizing preparations. He will be attending the opening meeting Tuesday, August 3, at 9:00 a.m. 2. Notification was sent to all Health Department staff today that an Employee Engagement Survey will be available to them in mid-August. The survey takes

approximately 15 minutes to complete and has previously provided the leadership team with valuable feedback on creating the best future for our team of dedicated employees. 3. The Mental Health First Aid Class will resume. This class produces additional certified personnel able to assist those with substance use-related crises and behavioral health issues. The class is Thursday, August 12, 2021 from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, for up to 20 participants. It is a 3-year certification. Registration is available at www.mentalhealth.today/register, password: Organization21. He will send the link to the BOH members to share with anyone who may be interested. Thank you to Lake Behavioral Hospital for sponsoring the free lunch for that day.

4. LCDOT will have an informational meeting at 4:00 p.m. on August 4, 2021, to discuss the new coordinated paratransit system in Lake County. The meeting will be held at LCDOT, 600 W. Winchester Road, Libertyville. This was a passion of former Board of Health member and County Board member Steve Carlson for many years and clearly part of our mission to provide access to care. Member Maine added that the direction from the County Board's Public Works, Planning and Transportation Committee is for Lake County to take this over and have a unified system, removing the responsibility from the townships and villages. It is estimated to cost $1.5-2M per year and may include the multi-county municipalities (i.e., Barrington, Buffalo Grove), though that has yet to be determined.

5. The Health Department recently issued a press release on schools and masking, and how they continue to be aligned with CDC and IDPH, and continue to encourage COVID-19 vaccination for those eligible, especially the student population.

6. Emily Young has been named the new Marketing and Communications Manager following the departure of Hannah Goering. Emily previously worked with a non-profit and was and continues to be a key part of the Communications Team during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mark Pfister, Executive Director, announced that he just received a Teams chat from Sam Johnson-Maurello, Director of Behavioral Health, informing him that the Mental Health First Aid class is already full. President Sashko noted that the great relationship with Lake Behavioral Health Hospital continues through the recurring monthly meeting, that they have new psychiatry staff, and have a stepped up program out of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago.

Mark Pfister added that the COVID-19 positive case numbers in Lake County are starting to creep up. Yesterday, CDC came out with additional guidance for when we reach substantial or high transmission. Today Lake County is at 5.2 cases per 100,000 per week, substantial is 50 cases per 100,000 per day. McHenry County just entered substantial transmission and have always been a little ahead of Lake County with incidence and positivity, so we know it's coming. This is something we are concerned about and we are requiring masking in all public and health care areas, per CDC. Approximately 70% of Health Department staff is fully vaccinated, unfortunately, the greater numbers of unvaccinated are in Physical Health and Behavioral Health, so he and the Executive Team have decided to issue a declination form asking all staff to state if they are fully vaccinated, if they intend to become fully vaccinated by September, or if they are not going to get the vaccine. He and the Executive Team are also considering moving ahead with a potential COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees, as is currently done with the flu shot. After putting the flu shot mandate in place, staff flu vaccination is now at 95%. For the remaining 5%, they either have a medical or religious exemption, or end up leaving the Health Department. Member Maine asked if this is because the State currently allows religious exemption for certain other required immunizations. Mark stated yes and that there was a bill requiring all providers to enter vaccinations in to the iCare system so that there was a true Illinois vaccination registry but it didn't get done because some of the components of it went in to the Medicaid Omnibus bill. We are going to re-run that bill in the next legislative session. Member Maine stated that the CDC is using technical language for a general audience, and asked if the Health Department is translating it when it issues guidance and recommendations. Mark commented that this has been a great wake up call for public health, specifically CDC, as they have made several missteps in their communications. For example, when the Johnson & Johnson vaccine issue came up, we saw a dramatic reduction in all three vaccines due to the way it was messaged. Another example, when CDC issued its most recent school guidance, they used the word "should." "Should" means a duty or obligation, but should is not shall, so people are debating what that school guidance does or doesn't mean. What the Health Department has been trying to do with CDC messaging is to put it in infographic form, as pictures can work better than words. Member DeVaux asked if there has been a change in the status of the vaccines from temporary to permanent. Mark explained that we are expecting that Pfizer and Moderna could be fully approved/licensed as early as August or September, but the FDA has said they will take action on the Pfizer vaccine by January 2022. That doesn't preempt that it could be approved before then, so again another messaging issue. And the CEO of Pfizer is saying there is going to be a need for booster shots, but CDC is saying that the ACIP has only taken up booster shot consideration for those that are immunocompromised, so ACIP can't make that recommendation until the FDA authorizes it.

This matter was presented

8. Action Items

8.1 The State of Illinois, Department of Public Health (IDPH) - COVID-19 Contact Tracing 2020 - $3,000,000 - Grant Amendment Approval - Kritz

Lisa Kritz, Director of Prevention, reviewed the information provided in the agenda packet.

A motion was made by Member Cesnovar, seconded by Member Schultz, to approve IDPH additional grant funding and emergency appropriate $3M in LCFY21. Roll call vote taken, all in favor, motion carried.