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Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 939
La Marque, TX 77568
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GCHD Monthly
Executive Report
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Phone: 409-938-2401
Fax: 409-938-2243
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| The Executive Report is a monthly summary of key activities and
significant happenings in the Health District overall. This summary of
activities and/or happenings may involve: one of many different
public health
programs, the
Galveston Area
Ambulance Authority (GAAA), the
4C's
federally-funded community health clinics (CHC's), and/or
collaborate efforts among community health partners.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact:
Pisa Lewis , Executive Assistant,
at 409 938-2401, by email:plewis@gchd.org;
or Kurt Koopmann, Public Information Officer,
at 409-938-2211,
by email:kkoopman@gchd.org.
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| March 25,
2004 |
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District
Responds to Gastroenteritis Outbreak |
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District-Wide
Office of Animal Services Summit |
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District
Observes National Public Health Week |
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News Releases
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4C’s
Clinic Updates |
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Notice
of Grant Award |
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Patient Assistance Program (PAP) |
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Eligibility for the County Indigent Healthcare
Program |
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Electronic Patient Referral Tracking System
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Diagnosis and Treatment of SARS |
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Office of Community Health
Programs Updates |
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Senior Health Program |
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National Infant Immunization Week |
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Healthy Communities Access
Program (HCAP) |
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Office
of Environmental Health Services Updates |
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Nuisance Abatement |
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Office
of Emergency Medical Services |
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Galveston EMS |
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Tactical Medics |
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Operational Updates |
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Family Practice Resident
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JCAHO Standards |
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Policies (and Plans) in the
Health District |
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Public Health Preparedness
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Employee Group Health Insurance
Plan |
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| District Responds to Gastroenteritis
Outbreak |
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A national convention
of state troopers was held in Galveston during the last
week of February, with about 150 attendees. The Health
District received 47 reports of gastroenteritis among
these visitors on February 29 and March 1. An investigation
by the Consumer Health and Epidemiology staff determined
that the outbreak was caused by contaminated raw oysters
served at a catered dinner on February 27. The pathogen
was Norovirus. These findings were reported to the Texas
Department of Health and resulted in closure of a portion
of Galveston Bay to oyster harvesting for 21 days by
the TDH Seafood Safety Program. There is risk of illness
carried by several pathogens associated with the consumption
of raw seafood. A more detailed report has been posted
on the District web site. For more information, please
contact Chuck Chambers, Epidemiologist, at cchambers@gchd.org
mailto:cchambers@gchd.org,
or 409-938-2399
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| District-Wide
Office of Animal Services Summit |
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The District's
Environmental Programs will conduct an Animal Services
Summit on Tuesday March 30, 2004 beginning at 9 in the
morning. The Summit will be held at Carbide Park in the
Wayne Johnson Community Center. The purpose of the summit
will be to outline the health district's plans to maximize
its existing programs within available resources and to
hear feedback from the public. County and city officials,
the general public, and all interested stakeholders have
been invited to participate in this important meeting.
For more information please contact Ronnie Schultz, Director
of Environmental Health Programs, at rschultz@gchd.org mailto:rschultz@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2314. |
| District Observes National
Public Health Week |
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The week of April 4-10,
2004 will be celebrated as National Public Health Week.
The District will sponsor several activities during
the week to recognize the contributions made by the
District to improving public health. The annual presentation
of Gold Ribbon Awards for establishments with exemplary
food service will be held April 7th at the Wayne Johnson
Community Center in La Marque. The ceremony will begin
at 7:00 p.m. with greetings offered by Galveston County
Judge Jim Yarbrough, and Dr. Mark Guidry. Earlier the
same day, District staff will conduct the annual Employee
Health Fair at the Nessler Center in Texas City. This
year the fair will be expanded with invitations being
extended to all member cities and county employees.
For more information, please contact Kurt Koopmann,
Public Information Officer, at kkoopman@gchd.org mailto:kkoopman@gchd.org,
or 409. 938-2211.
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News Releases and Press Stories
For more information on any news release or press story,
please contact Kurt Koopmann, Public Information Officer,
at 409. 938.2211 or email kkoopman@gchd.org
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February 26, 2004 the Galveston
County Daily News published a story focusing on the increased
number of coyote sightings in residential areas.
Kurt Koopmann was quoted in the story which can be viewed
at:
http://www.gchd.org/press/2004/02CoyoteDNews.htm |
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There were three (3)
news releases regarding the gastroenteritis outbreak,
1) On March 4, 2004 a press release was issued after
the District's Epidemiologist was informed of a gastrointestinal
illness outbreak among those attending a National Troopers
Conference in Galveston. It was requested that those
individuals affected contact the District so a thorough
investigation could be completed. The press release
can be viewed at:
http://www.gchd.org/press/2004/03DPS.htm
(2) The District issued a press release on March 17,
2004 containing the results of the investigation into
the illness outbreak among conference attendees in Galveston.
The cause of the outbreak was determined to be the consumption
of raw oysters at a catered event sponsored by the National
Troopers Association. Dr. Guidry, Health Authority and
Chuck Chambers, District Epidemiologist were both quoted
in the release. The press release can be viewed at:
http://www.gchd.org/press/2004/03DPSResult.htm.
(3) News 24 Houston aired a story on March 17, 2004
concerning the illness outbreak determined to be caused
by consumption of raw oysters. Kurt Koopmann, Public
Information Officer was interviewed by reporter Mary
Estacion for the story. |
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The District's upcoming
Animal Summit scheduled for March 30th was the
subject of a press release issued on March 19, 2004.
The press release as issued can be viewed at:
http://www.gchd.org/press/2004/03AnimalSvc.htm.
Upon receipt the Galveston County Daily News interviewed
others in the community concerned with animal services
and published a story encouraging the public to attend
this important meeting. The story published in the News
can be viewed at:
http://www.gchd.org/press/2004/03AnimalSvcDNews.htm.
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| 4C’s Clinic
Updates |
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The Galveston 4C's clinic
received its Notice of Grant Award for the grant
year beginning April 1, 2004. This is the 35th year
the Clinics have been funded by HHS. There are no conditions
on the award of $1,581,265. For more information, please
contact Jay Holland, Chief Operating Officer, at jholland@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2260. |
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The 4C's clinics has
re-designed its Patient Assistance Program (PAP).
Patient interest and demand has increased approximately
six-fold since the program's inception. The re-designed
program now focuses on educating patients about the
programs offered by the various drug manufacturers,
assisting patients in the application process and review
of patient applications prior to their submission to
drug manufacturer's programs. For more information contact
Marcia Oatis, Patient Assistance Program Advocate, at
moatis@gchd.org
or 409.949.3405. |
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The 4C's clinic is preparing
to move its care for pediatric patients to an "open
access" model. Under the proposed plan, the majority
of visit openings would be offered to patients daily,
on a "first come, first served" basis. Certain
well child visits will still be made by appointment. Dr.
Murad Dharani, the clinic's pediatrician is excited about
the potential for easier patient access to his services.
The scheduled start date is Monday May 3, 2004. For more
information contact Mike Carr, 4C's Business Manager at
mcarr@gchd.org,
or 409.949.3406. |
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Eligibility for the County
Indigent Healthcare Program continues to be a concern
for all parties involved. The 4C's eligibility program
has instituted a new process where persons applying for
the program are educated about the statutory requirements
for the program and are required to sign an affidavit
affirming the accuracy of their eligibility information.
In addition the office is reviewing options for eligibility
verification that involve more strenuous review of personal
means. A meeting is scheduled for the first week of April
with the eligibility office in Liberty County to review
their successes and see if there is an application in
Galveston County. For more information contact Wendy Jones,
Eligibility Supervisor, at wjones@gchd.org,
or 409.949.3401. |
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The District is entering
into a pilot program using an electronic patient referral
tracking system for 4C's and County Indigent patients.
This program is being developed by Sreedhar Mandayam,
MD, as part of his UTMB Preventive Medicine residency
training experience at the District. The system is designed
to replace a paper-based system with a single source electronic
system for tracking referrals from initiation to completion.
The pilot will begin on Monday March 29, 2004. For more
information, contact Mike Carr, 4C's Business Manager
at mcarr@gchd.org,
or 409.949.3406. |
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Dr. Mayhall, Professor,
Department of Internal Medicine, UTMB, attended the
Medical Care Team meeting on March 10, 2004. He presented
the Team with diagnosis and treatment of SARS
and how UTMB will work with the Health District should
such an event occur in our county. The Medical Care
Team consists of all providers, nurses, nurses aids,
case managers, and laboratory staff. There was a representative
from the pharmacy in attendance along with our Epidemiologist.
For more information, contact Pisa Lewis, Customer Service
Specialist, at plewis@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2260. |
| Office of Community
Health Programs Updates |
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On March 17, 2004, the
Senior Health Program Coordinator and a senior
volunteer attended the College of the Mainland Health
Fair. Information regarding senior health services at
the 4 C's Clinic was given to approximately 500 people.
Four presentations were also given to organizations
enrolling seniors in the Senior Health Corp. Other senior
health activities for the month included the finalization
of plans for a Senior Cooking Nutrition School program
to begin in April, the organization of a coalition to
assist in the application for a Robert Wood Johnson
"Faith in Action" grant, and the enrollment
of eight (8) new seniors in the 4 C's clinic. For more
information, please contact Susan Studebaker, Director
of Community Health Programs, at sstudebaker@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2456. |
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April 25 through May
1 is National Infant Immunization Week. The Health
District is celebrating by opening outreach clinics
each weekday during that week in additional to the regularly
scheduled Immunization Clinic hours. These sites were
chosen because the areas been identified as "pockets
of need", areas where children may be delinquent
in their immunizations. In addition, all three (3) Immunization
Clinic sites will be opened on Saturday, May 1. Immunizations
will be offered free of charge at these event and there
will be prizes and entertainment. For more information,
contact June Gonzales at jgonzales@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2456. |
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GCHD
staff and members of the community representing health
and social service providers are applying for funding
through the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA) for a Healthy Communities Access Program (HCAP)
project in Galveston County. The proposal is for GCHD
to be the lead agency for the project and the Joint
Board Committee on Access To Care to serve as the advisory
coalition. The proposed target population for this project
is "under and uninsured populations with or at
high risk for chronic disease who would benefit from
chronic disease management (diabetes/obesity, HTN, COPD/asthma,
depression/substance abuse)". This funding would
be used to assess community resources and barriers to
health care, investigate methods of improving access
such as electronic referral systems between the major
providers of care, telemedicine, shared electronic medical
records, and establish community prevention programs.
For more information, contact Susan Studebaker, Director
of Community Health Programs at sstudebaker@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2456.
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| Office of Environmental
Health Services Updates |
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About 100 residents attended
a community meeting on March 5, 2004 in the community
of San Leon to listen to law enforcement officials along
with the Health District's Nuisance Abatement
Officer, Garett Foskit, discuss agency responses to
crime problems and general public health nuisances.
One of the problems that citizens expressed during an
earlier meeting held in September was empty abandoned
houses that were allegedly used as crack houses. The
organizer of the meeting told the community residents
that, "This is a problem area and he (Garret) is
working very hard." The Health Department along
with the residents are working to clean up or tear down
these alleged "crack" houses. The residents
had assisted the Health Department locate 50 abandoned
structures that are currently being processed through
the legal system to be cleaned up. For more information,
please contact Ronnie Schultz, Director of Environmental
Health Services, at rschultz@gchd.org,
or 409.938-2314.
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| Office of Emergency
Medical Services |
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Galveston EMS
is setting records for responses to emergency medical
calls each month and February was no exception at 880
for the month. This is the tenth record month in the
last eleven. Total calls for the year 2003 were 12,750.
We are experiencing a ten percent increase in calls,
which could cause EMS to break the 14,000 by years end.
This 10% increase is stretching the EMS very thin. The
optimal solution is to add an additional ambulance 24/7.
This will cost approximately $600,000. We are looking
for solutions. Our comparison to Houston Fire Department
and Montgomery County EMS reveal a two to three times
per capita call volume experienced by Galveston EMS.
Reasons for this high call rate can be based on many
factors and are difficult to pin down. We know we have
a large tourist influx, higher than average age numbers,
and a higher than average poverty rate. We also know
that the increase in calls is among the underinsured
and uninsured as revenue is not increasing. |
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The Tactical Medics
made their debut at Mardi Gras. Tactical Medics are specially
trained paramedics to enter hostile/terrorist situations
to begin care. They are provided special protective equipment
and knowledge to deal with these hostile situations. Mardi
Gras had fewer incidents than in years past, but required
8 ambulances to be on simultaneous emergency calls at
three different times during the Momus parade event. There
were no Mardi Gras related fatalities, however, one patient
received critical head injuries from an assault. The Bike
Team did an excellent job in the parade route locating
patients and keeping ambulance crews out of reduced access
areas. For more information, contact Greg Kunkel, EMS
Chief of Operations, at gkunkel@gchd.org
or 409.621.3141. |
| Operational
Updates |
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The Health District will
provide a Public Health Rotation for a Family Practice
Resident from the San Jacinto Methodist Hospital
in Baytown. Dr. Steven Melcher will begin a three-week
rotation beginning March 30. A schedule has been prepared
for him to visit all the major District programs. For
more information, contact Pam Jahnke, Strategic Plan
Evaluator, at pjahnke@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2256. |
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The 4C's Clinic is preparing
for a mid-cycle Periodic Performance Review, a self-assessment
of compliance with JCAHO Standards. The Review
will be conducted this spring and summer and will be completed
by mid July. This Review is a new JCAHO requirement which
will keep healthcare organizations in a state of continual
survey readiness. In preparation, District staff will
be reviewing and possibly revising policies, procedures
and guidelines; orienting new staff and involving all
staff in compliance auditing activities. Beginning in
the year 2006, all JCAHO surveys will be unannounced.
For more information, contact Pam Jahnke, Strategic Plan
Evaluator, at pjahnke@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2256. |
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The
District is currently identifying and reviewing all
policies (and plans) in the health district,
which will require annual board review and approval.
At the March board meeting, existing policies put into
effect by the CEO will be presented to the board for
ratification. Another list of policies will be reviewed
and revised over the next six months and when completed
will be presented to the board. Finally some documents
are under review to determine the policy-level aspects
which require board review/approval and whether or not
the health district should consider a beneficial policy
statement for board action. For more information, contact
Mark Guidry, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer, at mguidry@gchd.org,
or 409-938-2401. |
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On February
26th the Public Health Preparedness staff met
with the Director of the Red Cross in Galveston to discuss
ways we could collaborate on planning for disasters
and in volunteer recruitment. On February 27th, in coordination
with Community Health Nursing and the Immunization Program,
training in administering the smallpox vaccine was provided
to school nurses and Disaster Medical Assistance Team
(DMAT) members. Training was provided for GCHD staff
in regards to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS)
program on March 10th and March 16th. In the training,
staff were educated on the contents of the SNS, the
various functions and roles needed to adequately handle
the assets and how to distribute the medications and
supplies to the community. On March 23rd, GCHD staff
gave a presentation to representatives from the Centers
from Disease Control (CDC), the Federal Marshall's Office,
the Texas Department of Health, and representatives
from other local health departments regarding our status
of planning for the SNS. While there is still a lot
to do, participants were pleased with the level of progress
we are making in Galveston County. |
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Effective March
1, 2003 the Health District's employee group health
insurance plan (TACHC, EBG) changed third party administrators
from JI Specialties to Entrust, Inc. Effective May 1,
2004 there will be some changes to the insurance plan
which will result in a cost savings to the district. Part
of this cost savings is being passed on to the employees
by reducing the employees contribution from $75 per month
to $50 per month. The insurance plans deductible will
remain at $500 CYD; however, employees will have the option
of contributing an additional amount to have a $200 CYD
deductible. Employees will also be able to pay a reduced
co-pay by utilizing the services of the 4Cs Clinics or
other community health centers. For additional information
please contact Kathrine Hall, Human Resource Director,
at khall@gchd.org,
or 409.938.2230. |
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