Will County Public Health & Safety Committee met Aug. 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
Chair Judy Ogalla called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Judy Ogalla | Chair | Present | |
| Donald Gould | Vice Chair | Present | |
| Gloria Dollinger | Member | Present | |
| Mark Ferry | Member | Present | |
| Debbie Militello | Member | Present | |
| Beth Rice | Member | Present | |
| Laurie Summers | Member | Present |
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Mrs. Rice led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. WC Public Health & Safety Committee - Regular Meeting - Jun 7, 2018 9:00 AM
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Laurie Summers, Member SECONDER: Mark Ferry, Member AYES: Ogalla, Gould, Dollinger, Ferry, Militello, Rice, Summers
IV. MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS
1. Approved BOH Minutes 04-18-18 (Susan Olenek)
2. Approved BOH Minutes 05-16-18 (Susan Olenek)
3. Sunny Hill Nursing Home Updates - May 2018 (Sunny Hill Nursing Home Updates - May 2018)
4. Sunny Hill Nursing Home Updates - June 2018 (Sunny Hill Nursing Home Updates - June 2018)
V. OLD BUSINESS
1. Opioid Update
(Dr. Kathleen Burke) Dr. Burke reported over 75 lives have been saved with the Narcan program. We are on a trend to have more deaths this year than last year, because of fentanyl. Every death this year has been a fentanyl based death. Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and often it is not recoverable. It means we need treatment and that is our focus, adding more treatment facilities in the community. Today you will see the in the Health Department report areas of concern our community has regarding drugs in certain districts. This is great data and an opportunity for us to strategize on how to manage these specific areas. Some I expected and some I did not. It is perception, not necessarily reality, but we need to deal with that. I sent out an article about dental work, dentists and opioids. The ADA is doing a great job trying to manage this, because they are a big distributor of opioids. They have been putting policies in place to address it. I wish the AMA was as responsive.
Mrs. Ogalla added her children were given opioid based medicine when they had wisdom teeth pulled.
Dr. Burke added for the adolescent population dentists are the greatest prescribers.
Mr. Brooks asked what would dentists’ use if they stopped prescribing opioid based drugs? Would the replacement become as addictive as well?
Dr. Burke replied no, we know you can manage acute pain with Motrin, Tylenol and a combination of both.
Mrs. Summers stated using ice on an injury, it is another form of pain control.
Dr. Burke continued we need to teach adolescents that all pains do not need a pill. I acknowledge adults with a fear of pain are different.
Mr. Gould asked what is the number of deaths related to overdoses?
Dr. Burke replied the deaths were over 85 last year and with prescription drugs it was 95. We might hit 100 deaths this year.
Mr. Gould stated I noticed in the statistics, the Coroner breaks it down with the specific chemicals in the drugs causing death.
Dr. Burke stated we have a very progressive Coroner. Some communities don’t do that; partly because they don’t have the necessary labs.
Mrs. Summers stated I had concerns from some 20 somethings they are seeing an uptick; specifically in the eastern end of the County. The girl who brought this concern to me, has two jobs, but she also tends bar. Are we still getting into the bars to train with the Narcan?
Dr. Burke answered I have not specifically focused on the bars. Usually the coalitions invite me into the bars; that is what happened in Wilmington. If someone mentions it to the owners, that is what we need to get into the bars.
Mrs. Ogalla stated before the opioid public symposium we went to all the bars and the owners were interested in learning. It would be something good to do.
Dr. Burke added there are other policy issues we could talk about, whether they include that in the specific training the bartenders have to have. Including opioid training would be good, but often the bartenders complain about the training they have to have.
VI. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
VII. NEW BUSINESS
1. Discussion Re: Groundwater Shortage
(Sue Olenek) Ms. Olenek stated at the June County Board meeting, Mr. Walt Kelly from the Illinois Water Survey presented comprehensive information on the desaturation of the sandstone aquifer in the northwestern part of Will County. I heard the presentation in 2017 and it concerns me. I spoke with Mrs. Ogalla and asked to have a presentation to the Public Health & Safety Committee. I asked Mr. Tom Casey, Director of Environmental Health and Mr. Brian Scanlon geologist to give a short presentation. We are fortunate to have a skilled geologist work in our department, who has been with us for 23 years. He has a great deal of expertise, not only in the Will County area, but also regionally. We also have Ms. Kate Nelson, a coordinator in Environmental Health and Ms. Trisha Kouts, Supervisor of our laboratory and analysist all the water samples.
Mr. Casey reviewed the attached PowerPoint presentation.
Mr. Ferry asked how deep is these wells?
Mr. Casey replied it could be 100 to 800 feet deep. Typically residential wells can vary between 120 to 200 feet.
Mr. Scanlon added the two principal shallow aquifers are the sand and gravel, commonly seen in the southwest part of the County, Wilmington and Godley. The Silurian limestone is generally tapped for residential supply down to 400 feet. At 400 feet, you hit a layer of mudstone or shale which acts as a barrier for surface recharge to the lower sandstone units. The lower sandstone units are encountered at about 600 feet. Below that, where the larger cities get their water would be at 1,400 feet. These are deeper sandstone units that are recharged in areas of the state where the bedrock unit is at surface grade, typically, the St. Peter’s sandstone can be seen at Starved Rock State Park. It takes a lot longer to recharge the deeper aquifers because it comes from further away. There are large aquifers with tons of capacity, but we are at the point we exceed the recharge capacity and are destroying the aquifer. The shallow aquifers can easily be recharged throughout the year with rain and snow melt.
Ms. Olenek stated a misconception is people think when they water their grass the water goes back into the ground. We are not able to recover the water because the recharge areas are miles away.
Mr. Scanlon stated the shallow aquifers are recharged throughout the year, but the deeper sandstone take tens to hundreds of years to recharge.
Mr. Carey continued reviewing the PowerPoint. If desaturation continues the entire aquifer may become unusable by 2050.
Mrs. Ogalla asked are there ways to supplement the water supply?
Mr. Casey replied one option is Lake Michigan water, but it is more expensive to pump into Will County. Local rivers are a possible alternative. Having it mandatory for large industries to reclaim their water. Offered homeowners who show they have cut down on water usage incentives.
Mr. Gould stated the Will County Water Commission was established in 1971; 47 years ago we were told this could happen. A conflict developed between the City of Joliet and other communities and the commission was dissolved. Now, 47 years later the communities are getting together and talking. We saw at the County Board meeting Joliet is the largest user of the aquifer. Their options are Lake Michigan or Kankakee River water. After DuPage County went on Lake Michigan water the aquifers come back. Shorewood will be on Lake Michigan water in two years. As other communities move to Lake Michigan water hopefully the aquifers will start to come back.
Mr. Scanlon stated it comes down to urban planning and looking ahead instead of saying what should we have done. It will come down to water restrictions and a sliding scale for water costs, the less you use the lower the price of water. Another option is cisterns to catch rain water for use and the Health Department should work with industry to develop something where it would be cost effective for the residents to catch rain water.
Mr. Scanlon explained his participation in the Northeast Illinois Water Protection Planning Committee, education in schools to cut water usage and sealing off abandoned wells.
Mr. Gould asked are the communities in Kendall County doing anything?
Mr. Scanlon answered not to my knowledge; they are a member of the Northeast Illinois Water Protection Planning Committee.
Ms. Katie Nelson stated Ms. Kouts and I are representatives on that Committee. There was discussion at the last meeting, we know the situation and we need to work on how to study it. We have some information and we need to look at how to handle the situation. Kendall County started off doing the well management project to see where wells are in use and they were entered into the GIS system. This allowed them to see where ground water is being utilized the heaviest. They don’t have option for Lake Michigan water yet. The distance makes it costly and there are restrictions on the amount of water that can be withdrawn from Lake Michigan. This year will be one of the biggest focus years of our Committee.
Mrs. Summers asked have you talked to people in Arizona to see how they do conservation?
Ms. Olenek responded the Health Department has not. I don’t know if anyone on the Regional Planning Committee has.
Mr. Scanlon added we had drillers who left the state and began operations in Arizona. They say it is all about storage. Whether they pump all night is a condition of where they are drilling.
Mrs. Summers stated Arizona offers tax incentives for capturing rainwater. The University of Arizona catches water coming from the air conditioning units. Maybe we need to step up our conservation and start thinking in those terms.
Mr. Scanlon stated it is a mindset; they are doing that out of necessity. We are going to get to the point, so we do need to slow down and protect the resources.
Mr. Carey stated there are places in Texas that allows gray water use; water from the shower and hand sinks to do watering.
Mrs. Ogalla suggested the Committee and Health Department come up with suggestions for the public to conserve water.
Mr. Scanlon stated the Village of Oak Lawn put in a new pumping station and increased the price of water the further away from the station residents lived.
Mrs. Rice stated if people are not interested in conserving from a resource or quality of life standpoint, look at it from an economic standpoint and how expensive it will become. I would like to see this discussion pushed forward on solutions; what should we do.
Mrs. Ogalla stated it would be good for you to put together different things the County Board could consider for new businesses coming in and put that into planning.
Mr. Palmer stated the group Mr. Gould mentioned has started meeting and County staff has attended meetings. It may be helpful to have someone from that group give a presentation. Joliet is actively moving toward a solution and now is better than never to have the conversation.
Discussion took place regarding making water conservation an educational piece from the Health Department.
A discussion took place about the price of water in the various communities and the cost of infrastructure.
Groundwater Shortage Presentation (Handout)
2. Discussion Re: Health Department Strategic Plan
(Sue Olenek) Mrs. Ogalla stated a few months ago, Ms. Olenek put together an information packet by district about different concerns and issues, but we never had time for a conversation. I asked Ms. Olenek to come back and give a presentation.
Ms. Olenek introduced Ms. Jenny Gorsik, Health Department Manager who coordinates map functions. She worked with her staff to create these reports and infographics.
Ms. Gorsik stated we are required, every five years to do a community health needs assessment and plan. Ten years ago we coordinated with all the local hospitals to do this collaboratively throughout the County and now do this every three years, based on the regulations of the hospitals. We do an assessment of all health data, we survey the community and look at forces of change and we do a summit to evaluate the local public health system. This time we looked at the survey results and wanted to communicate them differently. We worked with our GIS to look at the social economics of different zip codes and how they are so diverse throughout Will County. The community survey was done in 2017 and taken by more than 1,500 residents. We took the information and broke it down by County Board district. We wanted to give you information in a way that is important to you. We are a healthy county. According to county health rankings which scores every county in the U.S.; in the State of Illinois, we ranked ninth in health outcomes. When you look at health behaviors and different communities, it is definitely not equal across all areas. We wanted you to have this information to show how we fulfill our requirements for the community assessment and plan.
We also wanted to give you information specific to your district.
Mrs. Rice asked is the lack of grocery stores with healthy food reported as a senior issue because of the population reported or was it a question asked?
Mr. Gould left at this juncture.
Ms. Gorsik replied many senior issues were common. In our data we look at food deserts and grocery stores per population and who access to healthy foods along with the percentage of low income residents with access to healthy foods. From that data we created a food access committee specifically looking at how to get healthy foods to people. They not only look at grocery stores, but also making food pantries healthier by having community gardens on site and doing evaluations of the food to make sure they are providing meat, fresh fruits and vegetables. Until we can figure out how to get more grocery store in the area, we have been doing mobile food pantries. There were 15 scheduled with five targeted at senior living facilities. Senior Services found when seniors go to the grocery store, they can only bring two bags into the car and they are only allowed to go once a week. They sought funding to bring them onto the facility and volunteers went to their apartments to help them put their groceries away. With other funding we targeted low income communities. Good access is an issue throughout the County.
Mrs. Ogalla asked how do you get this survey to the residents? How do you get people to participate? When you look at the size of Will County 1,500 participants is not a large number.
Ms. Gorski replied it is good participation for a community survey. DuPage, which is listed as the healthiest county in Illinois, had only 1,700 people participate. We did a lot of social media, e-mailing to partners, the Will-Grundy Medical Center passed out paper copies. We tried to ensure a response from every zip code and to make the responses to match the demographics of Will County. Usually a majority of participants in a survey are seniors, women and those with higher income levels.
Mrs. Ogalla stated when you do this survey next time, let the County Board members know when the survey is going out so we can promote within our districts. This was a really good report to understand what people are feeling.
Ms. Olenek added additional information can be provided.
Ms. Gorski stated we will begin putting together the next round of surveys in the next few months. If there is anything you would like to see included, please let us know.
3. Renewing Contract for Diabetic Supplies for Sunny Hill Nursing Home (Rita Weiss)
RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] TO: Will County Board MOVER: Mark Ferry, Member SECONDER: Gloria Dollinger, Member AYES: Ogalla, Gould, Dollinger, Ferry, Militello, Rice, Summers
VIII. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
Mrs. Militello reviewed the attached information from the NACo Conference, DEA 360 Strategy.
Mrs. Summers stated I sit on the NACo Healthcare Steering Committee. We need Dr. Burke out there next year to speak on what Will County has done. She is above the curve on this issue and has a lot to offer. We discussed a Resolution to the government regarding long term health facilities. I voted no and it did not pass, because it was about taking away regulations, but they were not specific on which regulations. That is not a good thing. I voted yes on the Resolution to get reimbursement back to outside sources for VA members. They are sending Veterans to other areas and doctors, because the backlog is so great within the system and there is a backlog in the VA being paid.
NACo DEA 360 Strategy (Handout)
IX. PUBLIC COMMENT
Dr. Burke stated on August 30th there will be an overdose awareness day at the New Lenox Village Hall from 5:30 to 7:30. I will be doing Narcan training and there will be other activities.
X. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT / ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mrs. Ogalla reviewed the attached information on mental health webinars. Mrs. Traynere asked me to mention on September 8th there will be a climate march in Joliet.
Webinar Information (Handout)
XI. EXECUTIVE SESSION
XII. ADJOURNMENT
1. Motion to Adjourn at 9:58 AM
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Debbie Militello, Member SECONDER: Mark Ferry, Member AYES: Ogalla, Gould, Dollinger, Ferry, Militello, Rice, Summers
https://willcountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=3059&Inline=True
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