Allison Hephner of the Navajo County Public Health Department, presented the annual report on the Community Help Improvement Plan (CHIP) and the performance management systems to the Board of Supervisors Nov. 8, highlighting a spike in infectious diseases this year.
“We put a performance management system together. What it does is, we’re able to, as an organization, collect data and basically tell you a story of what public health is doing…It also leads to quality improvements,” she noted.
The most recent findings indicate a significant increase in reports of infectious diseases in Navajo County. In 2015 there were 665 cases reported and 2016 the number of cases jumped to 1,295.
The 2015 reports saw increases in the flu, STD’s (sexually transmitted disease) and measles, but Hephner stressed that some of the increases seen in 2016 are likely due to improved identification and reporting of infectious diseases by healthcare professionals. Other factors like returning out-of-country travelers and volunteer healthcare workers may also have had some influence.
The number of cases was also impacted by the outbreak of new diseases such as Zika, Dengue and Ebola. Currently there are two cases of a newly emerging polio-like disease, Acute Flaccid Myelitis, in the county. The disease has kept the infected in the intensive care unit for more than three months. There are only 37 cases of this disease nationwide, including nine in Arizona, and little is known about the virus or how to treat it.
The 2016 assessment also revealed that Navajo County remains No. 1 in the state for STD rates, the most prominent in the area being Gonorrhea and Chlamydia. Hephner indicated that the problem is prevalent both on and off the reservations, and that increased public awareness and availability of treatment are needed.
In addition, she spoke about the need for physician retention in the area and strategies to promote that. “We’re trying to assess what we can do at a city and county level to help encourage physicians coming to our area,” she said.
Hephner also gave a status update on the department’s application for Public Health Accreditation, and highlighted some of the successful public health education programs the department offered this last year, including the Keeping Kids Safe Tour.
“We have the Healthy Living Coalition, that came out of the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) and that was put together to increase chronic disease self-management classes. We’re able to provide those in Spanish, too, and we were able to offer four more classes this year,” said Hephner.
In other business, the board:
* Approved an agreement between Navajo County, the Northeast Arizona Regional Dispatch Center and the City of Show Low that will allow the NARDC director to use a 2004 Dodge Intrepid in the Show Low fleet for the cost of $1.
* Approved an amendment to an intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Department of Health Services for additional funds to prepare for the Zika virus.
* Authorized the reissuance of a $185.12 check that was either lost or destroyed.
* Authorized the submission of a field trainer grant application for fiscal year 2017 for the Navajo County Superior Court.
* Approved the appointment of Bret Eisele as Justice of the Peace Pro Tempore.
* Approved the recertification of revenues collected by the courts.
* Approved a Fill the Gap grant application for fiscal year 2017.
* Approved the race dates at Turf Paradise for 2018, 2019 and 2020.
* Approved contracts with TD Governmental Solutions, Inc. to perform a review of the county’s finance operations at a rate of $100 per hour not to exceed two weeks.
* Approved the Healthcare Connect Fund Consortium Agreement.
* Acknowledged with a presentation the service and commitment of Navajo County employees and their families who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces in honor of Veterans Day.
* Approved professional services contracts from Jan. 1 2017, to Dec. 31, 2019, with Registered Nurses Rebecca Sowers, Mauriah Walker and Kristi Wahl for health services related to immunizations, family planning/HIV/STD and TB, for a rate of $35 per hour.
