|
|
|
|
Health
District Planning Meeting Minutes for New Canaan/Norwalk
|
The meeting was called to order at 5:03 PM in the New Canaan Health Department conference room.
Members Present:
Ms. Betty Karkut Ms. Cheryl Jones Mr. Ken Lalime
Mr. James Cole Dr. Edward Tracey, MD Mr. John Laird
Ms. Carol McDonald Mr. Richard McQuaid Mr. Tim Callahan, MPH Ms.
Dr. David Reed, MD, MPH
Thomas G. Berstene and Christine Hand Parliman, Facilitators
Missing: Ms. Jeanette Olmstead-Sawyer
The minutes from the 6 January were reviewed. Tom noted date
errors and corrections required.
The motion to accept the minutes with the date corrections was made by Dr.
David Reed and seconded by Betty Karkut. Motion approved by the team.
The first order of business was to follow up on the previous discussion of the proposed budget for the Health District. Jim Cole referred to changes to the budget that were recommended after the January 6 meeting, which included the issue of an initial differential in per capita payment, based on the difference in service levels and requirements. David Reed gave details of his investigation of the legality of this approach with Pam Kilby Fox from the State of Connecticut Department of Health. It was decided that an initial differential in capitation, with a proposed 5 year phase-in period would be appropriate for this Health District, and would help to overcome the potential road block in selling the District to the towns.
Jim Cole recommended that the team delay approval of the budget until this information can be added to the proposed budget. Betty Karkut suggested that a proposed per capita cost figure or range would make the budget easier to present to the towns consideration. Tim Callahan and David Reed will create this budget, based on the ’04 actual budget and assumptions of future services offered.
Tom recommended tabling the budget decision until these changes are completed. The team decided on a Budget Approval meeting date/time/place of February 9, 2005, from 5-6pm at the Norwalk Town Hall conference room.
The next order of business was discussion of the Sample By-Laws document presented by Tom Berstene for the team’s consideration. He explained that these By Laws were taken from the West Hartford/Bloomfield By-Laws, with appropriate alterations for this Health District. He noted the need for a unique name for the Health District that would not limit the District to just Norwalk and New Canaan. David recommended collecting name suggestions from the team.
Jim Cole brought up the need to include health emergency responsibilities in the By Laws. Dr Tracey suggestedTracey suggested wording the first sentence of Section 2: Duties of the Board as follows:
“The Board may make and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations for the promotion of general health and for procedures to address health emergencies within the Health District with regard to the needs and wishes of the chief elected officials of all towns and not to conflict with law or with the Public Health Code.”
The team discussed the need for memorandums of understanding whichunderstanding, which defined responsibilities of the Health District more clearly. David suggested these MOUs be addressed later when the District was being formed. He recommended referring to the new National Incident Management System for guidelines.
The team discussed the need for including an employee code of ethics and an oversight process in the By-Laws. It was decided to address this at the forming of the Health District, as well.
Ken Lalime moved to approve the Sample By-Laws with the changes noted and the temporary Health District name. Betty Karkut seconded. The team approved the motion.
The next order of business was to review and act on the Findings
and Recommendations document created by Tim Callahan and Dr. David Reed. Tim
reviewed and explained the document. The following changes were recommended:
Pg 1, 1st paragraph, lastand last sentence: add “and proposed budget and by-laws”
after “Finally, operating guidelines…”
Pg 2, Financial Section, combine the last two sentences using the word “and’
Pg 3, Recommendations section, create and bold the following headers for each
section
q Service levels will improve in both communities
q Local cost for public health services will decrease
q Unique entity will have the ability to influence legislation
q Preempt the movement to require the formation of local health districts
Pg 3, 1st paragraph, add the word “potential” before “ability to influence”
Pg. 3, section 4, last sentence, correct the word “form” to “from”
Pg. 4, Signature page, change the date, day and location to the appropriate.
The team agreed to these changes and will sign the revised document at the
next meeting. Tim stressed the need for all members to attend in order to
have a complete list of signatures.
Tim reviewed the cover letter for the Findings and Recommendations document. The team approved the letter as it stands, with appropriate updates to the date at top and the date of last meeting.
Presentations by the Public
The team welcomed presentations by two members of the public who brought issues.
q Mr. Rob Frangionne represented the public as a resident of New Canaan and
also as a licensed engineering contractor working with various Health District
and Departments across the State. He brought forward the issue of timeliness
of service being affected by the formation of the District as well as the
potential for the increased District budget to be insufficient to support
the additional services proposed.
David responded that the same prompt turn around times were expected in the New Canaan office of the Health District as exist currently. He also indicated that the task force has carefully studied the budget and felt it adequate to support the proposed level of services.
q Ms. Shiela Mathews represented the public as a resident of New Canaan and a board member of the organization Able Child. She read a statement expressing concern regarding the availability of information through the Health District on the dangers of psychiatric drugs for children. She stated that her organization was opposed to the formation of the Health District until recognition of their concerns was guaranteed.
David asked that she forward her statement to him by email and
he would see that it was duly noted and would forward her information to the
Health Board of Directors when it was formed for consideration.
Tim explained that both towns would have public hearings to allow these and
other issues to be addressed. These public hearings would be announced on
the town websites and in the newspapers.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:31pm.
Action Steps:
· Tom will correct the previous meeting minutes and send them to David
so he can post them on the website.
· Tim and David will make additions to the budget document as discussed.
· Tom and Chris will make updates to the By-Laws document.
· Tim will make the recommended changes to the Findings and Recommendations
document and cover letter.
Next Meeting is on 9 February 2005, from 5pm to 6pm, and will
be facilitated by Ms. Chris Parliman. The meeting will be held in the Norwalk
Town Hall Meeting Room.
 |
 |