07/27/2020 MinutesCITY OF GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA
MINUTES OF JOINT HEALTH SPECIAL MEETING
July 27, 2020
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a Special Joint Meeting of the City Council of the City of
Grand Island, Nebraska, the Hall County Board of Supervisors, the Hamilton County Board of
Commissioners, the Merrick County Board of Commissioners, and the Central District Health
Department was conducted at the Grand Island Police Department, 111 Public Safety Drive,
Grand Island, Nebraska on July 27, 2020. Notice of the meeting was given in the Grand Island
Independent on July 20, 2020.
Central District Health Department (CDHD) Board President Chuck Haase called the meeting to
order at 6:00 p.m. Present for the meeting were: CDHD Board members: Chuck Haase, Merrick
County Supervisor Tom Weller, Sandra Barrera, Hamilton County Supervisor Opal Christensen,
Traci Dieckman, Shay McGowan, Hall County Commissioner Ron Peterson, and David
Stoddard. Others attending were: Hall County Commissioner Gary Quandt, Mayor Roger G.
Steele, City Councilmembers Chuck Haase, Vaughn Minton, Mitch Nickerson, Mark Stelk,
Justin Scott, City Administrator Jerry Janulewicz, Finance Director Patrick Brown, and City
Clerk RaNae Edwards. Health Department employees: Teresa Anderson, Jeremy Collinson, and
Lisa Boeke.
Mr. Haase welcomed those attending and thanked Ms. Anderson and Mayor Roger Steele for
working through COVID-19 issues.
Bud�et Overview. Executive Director Teresa Anderson gave an overview of the 2020-2021
Budget which was approved by the Health Board. She stated money had been coming in for
COVID-19 and they had budgeted $395,144 for COVID-19 expenses for next year. There were
very little changes in the budget from last year. The personnel budget would be higher due to
hiring more employees and an Assistant Health Director. Ms. Anderson mentioned most
expenses were due to COVID-19.
Discussion was held regarding the availability of laptops and telephone changing to be able to
work from home.
Reviewed were the CDHD positivity rate by county per month for COVID-19. Mentioned was
the ability to get the message out to the public. She commended St. Francis Hospital and others
for their help in dealing with this pandemic. Ms. Anderson stated the positivity rate had been
increasing over the last few weeks. Mentioned was the Risk Dial that had been created by Hall
County to show the positivity rate.
Ms. Anderson stated they were testing more and were working with GIPS to be able to test kids.
Contact tracing was mentioned and working on turnaround times. They were working with Test
Nebraska and were looking to hire more nurses to take these tests.
Page 2, City Council Joint Health Meeting, July 27, 2020
Jeremy Collinson gave an overview of how their programs had handled COVID. He stated they
didn't have a lot of changes until March 26, 2020. All inspections had been stopped such as food
establishments, day cares, tattoo parlors, swimming pools, etc. A few inspections had been done
on new establishments. The water testing program had been continued. Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) was a big part of their duties in acquiring and getting the supplies to the health
community such as doctor's offices, dentist offices, hospitals, long term care, Police, Fire, etc.
Mentioned was being short staffed as a challenge. Other challenges mentioned were not being
able to attend training to keep their licenses up to date. He mentioned they were working with the
new hospital in getting them PPE.
Comments were made regarding what CDHD would do differently if COVID reemerged. Ms.
Anderson stated they would work closely with the long term care facilities. She commented on
other programs they had to put on hold because of COVID.
Lisa Boeke, reported on Women Infant & Children (WIC) program. The program was run and
funded by the USDA. When COVID struck they went directly to remote services. Mentioned
was the SNAP program which was for food stamps. Structural changes had taken place in the
office. Their biggest challenge was staffing. The Immunization program had been suspended in
March but on June 16, 2020 they had resumed the program. They were planning on increasing
the influenza vaccine and encouraged everyone to get their flu shot.
Ms. Anderson stated they were looking forward to the COVID vaccine and planning for mass
vaccination.
Discussion was held concerning staffing, Health Departments role in animal bites, COVID
testing, auditing hot spots, and the pending flu season.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
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RaNae Edwards
City Clerk