Franklin Township Board of Health Annual Meeting – June 13, 2023

The Franklin Township Board of Health held its annual meeting on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, Municipal Building. After the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call, the board approved the prior year’s minutes, heard a brief advisory board report, received a detailed Somerset County Department of Health annual presentation covering 2022 activities in Franklin Township, took public comment, and adjourned. Mayor Kramer noted that the Township Council serves as the Board of Health and is required to hold this annual meeting.

Consent Calendar

• Unanimously approved the minutes of the June 2022 Board of Health annual meeting, with no discussion or corrections. Note: the agenda listed these minutes as June 23, 2022, while the transcript identifies them as June 28, 2022.

Public Comments & Testimony

• The public session was opened for Board of Health/Department of Health matters only. Linda Powell of 22 Buffer Drive asked whether the chronic disease program addresses only cancer; the presenter replied no. No other public comments were offered, and the public portion was closed.

Discussion Items

Advisory Board of Health Report

• Advisory Board representative Jim had no formal report. He invited board members and the public to attend Advisory Board meetings, held the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m., and encouraged more participation.

Somerset County Department of Health Annual Report

• Mike McCarty, deputy director, presented with epidemiologist Hamanchi Patel and consumer health program coordinator Patty Elliott. The agenda called this the 2022 Annual Report, while the presenter called it the 2023 annual report; the data presented were for calendar year 2022.
• McCarty described services delivered under Title 8, Chapter 52, including consumer health, health education, environmental compliance, epidemiology/nursing/disease prevention, emergency preparedness, childhood lead prevention, and administrative functions. He noted the department had recovered to nearly full staffing after roughly 50% turnover during COVID.
• Franklin-specific consumer health activity for 2022: 451 retail food inspections, 79 reinspections, 204 temporary retail food inspections, 6 mobile food inspections, 971 multiple dwelling inspections, plus work on septic systems, child daycares, recreational bathing, and new wells.
• Complaint and investigation totals for consumer health included: 26 retail food complaints/43 investigations, 72 garbage complaints/223 investigations, 14 vermin/insect complaints/30 investigations, 95 property maintenance complaints/260 investigations, 44 housing/multiple dwelling complaints/140 investigations, and 8 other complaints/10 investigations.
• Environmental health inspections in Franklin totaled 171: 19 solid waste-related, 5 safe drinking water-related, and 14 air emissions permit-related, with 47 complaints and 86 OPRA requests. GIS maps showed the locations and types of complaints.
• The department has four full-time health educators. A board member asked about in-person food-handler training, calling it one of the most important things they could suggest; McCarty said monthly in-person training stopped during the pandemic and the county hopes to resume it quarterly, supplemented by online food-handler training tokens.
• The RCDC program with Morris County focuses on cancer and chronic disease prevention and management. The reported activity included 83,000 mailings, more than 4,800 phone calls to patients about HPV vaccine and scheduling, and a social media campaign with 788,000 impressions.
• Communicable disease and nursing staff investigate reportable diseases, work with schools and daycares, conduct immunization audits, and review TB cases. Reported figures included 125 adult physical exams/immunizations, 290 adult chronic illness screenings, 117 STD tests, and 74 HIV testing/counseling sessions through the Zufall Health contract, and 15 pulmonary TB cases and 4 cases treated by private physicians/other jurisdictions through the ID Care TB clinic at Robert Wood Johnson Somerset.
• Emergency preparedness activity for the year included 196 messages disseminated, 88 public health recall messages, 3 public health training announcements, 6 public health update messages, 30 advisories, 6 alerts, and 73 other links/messages.
• In 2022 the county held 116 vaccination clinics and administered 6,167 total shots, including 276 flu shots and 201 monkeypox vaccinations. It also held a school COVID clinic in April 2022, senior center clinics in January, February, April, September, October, and December, and monkeypox clinics in September and October 2022.
• Childhood lead prevention: in the nine municipalities served by the county, 23 children met the notification threshold of 5 micrograms per deciliter or higher, leading to 9 inspections and 5 required abatements. In Franklin Township, 730 children were screened in 2022. The state is expected to lower the threshold to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter later in 2023, likely increasing the number of qualifying cases.
• McCarty said new grant funding will support software, public health accreditation, staff salaries, and hiring. The county is also exploring with Zufall Health ways to expand vaccine services, including possible childhood immunization work, though it is not currently a Vaccines for Children provider.
• In response to a board question, McCarty said public complaint status is not currently available online; OPRA requests are required. A new software portal is planned: the RFP opens at the end of June 2023, and the selected vendor has promised quick implementation. Inspectors already use Windows tablets with access to the county health database while in the field.
• Dr. Terry Clancy is the county health officer and director of the relevant public health and safety department; she was unable to attend because she is on medical leave.

Key Outcomes

• The Board unanimously approved the June 2022 minutes.
• The board received the Advisory Board report and the Somerset County Department of Health annual report.
• The county will consider resuming in-person food-handler training on a quarterly basis.
• A public-facing health complaint/status portal is expected later in 2023 after the RFP process.
• No other business was raised; the meeting adjourned by voice vote with no nays.