Minutes
Board of Health · from the Town's website · 1 page · 18 KB
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Minutes WINTHROP BOARD of HEALTH EMERGENCY MEETING JUNE 2, 2020 5:30 PM REMOTE PARTICIPATION: A. Weins, Host AGENDA: The Parc at Harbor View and COVID-19 Protocols BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair: Bill Schmidt; Vice-Chair: Astrid Weins; Member: Susan Maguire. TOWN of WINTHROP: Meredith Hurley, Director Public Health and Clinical Services (6:11 pm arrival) REASON for EMERGENCY MEETING: M. Hurley observed two staff members without face coverings while at the facility after being notified of a resident testing positive for COVID-19. PUBLIC COMMENT: Note: In accordance with HIPPA, to protect residents’ PHI (protected health information) their names will not be recorded in the minutes. Family members of a resident at Parc addressed the ten questions submitted via email to M. Hurley and A. Weins. The questions summarized their concerns regarding Parc’s COVID-19 testing protocols, plans for isolation, adequacy of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), proper housekeeping policies and procedures, communication with family re: notification of COVID-19 cases, as well as the Board of Health’s plan to ensure the facility is in compliance. Chair Schmidt explained that the Board of Health has limited purview over Assisted Living Facilities given they are certified by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA), and Ms. Hurley responded to those that fall under her domain. Both M. Hurley and A. Weins have been in contact with the facility’s management company, Frontier Management. A. Weins motioned to issue a fine of $1,000 to the facility based on Ms. Hurley's incident report, which describes a violation of the Governor's Order and the Winthrop BoH Emergency Order that facial coverings MUST be worn at all times in common areas of residential facilities of more than 1 unit, seconded by Ms. Maguire, all in favor. Document referenced: List of questions submitted June 2, 2020 by family of a Parc resident. Action Steps: 1) TESTING Ms. Hurley and EMS will be retesting the entire facility starting with the residents and staff on the Memory Unit , while the remaining units and staff will be tested as soon as additional test kits are available; results are to be expected within 48-72 hours via the state lab. It is expected that the facility will honor their responsibility to inform all affected families of the testing results, likely via email. 2) INFECTION CONTROL MANUAL Ms. Hurley will be in touch with the facility and the managing company, Frontier Management. They will provide their Infection Control Manual, which should inform us about their prevention plans, compliance control, isolation plans etc. It is expected that they will provide this plan to Ms. Hurley ASAP, who will then share it with the BoH. The facility reports no shortage in PPE required for operation under the current conditions. 3) ESSENTIAL BUSINESS UNDER COVID-19 REGULATIONS The BoH will check with the administrative offices to provide us with Parc's documentation which should include their plans to ensure compliance with the Governor's COVID-19 orders regarding the operation of essential businesses. 4) FINE The incident report and violation/fine citation will be shared with both Frontier Management as well as the Executive Office of Elder Affairs who oversees Assisted Living Facilities. It is expected that the EOEA will follow up with a compliance check. In addition, the BoH is committed to ensuring (through its agents and if necessary through its members) that full compliance is in place. The BoH emphasized to the callers that it takes this situation extremely seriously, and will take up this topic again at their next meeting which will take place virtually via Zoom on June 9, 2020 at 6 PM. The agenda will be posted on the Town website. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Schmidt motioned to adjourn at 7:00 pm, seconded by S. Maguire, all in favor. Respectfully submitted, Susan Maguire