Health Board Reports

Health Board Reports
Monday, March 7, 2011

The visit from the Kansas Department of Agriculture represented by Erik Wisner and Steve Morris which had been postponed began the meeting. The purpose was to explain the services the KDA food service program was providing locally and to determine whether to continue the local food inspection program in addition to the state program. Governor Brownback’s funding cuts removed the long term state contract to the Riley County/Manhattan Health Department for local food inspections and placed that responsibility with the state instead. They claimed that two inspectors cover Riley County and inspect all food facilities, which means restaurants, vending companies, and groceries and convenience stores, once yearly and when there is a complaint. A county can have an additional inspection program as long as it meets the state criteria. At the moment Overland Park is the only entity to augment the state’s inspection system with it’s own system. Mr. Morris claimed that a complaint of food borne illness would be dealt with within 24 hours. The present Manhattan Ordinance for Food Safety will have to be changed because of the change at the state. Part of the ordinance requires at least one onsite person certified through ServSafe, a program which requires the teacher to be certified as a ServSafe instructor and is a program more in depth than the KDA program. The Board decided to recommend to the city that the ordinance include adopting a licensing program requirement for ServSafe classes and a certified food safety coordinator onsite in each establishment and to give the Health Officer enforcement authority to inspect food establishment as needed.
Suzanne Kufahl asked that the Board approve accepting Medicaid patients at the Primary Clinic and that approval was needed so that that fact could be included in a grant proposal that needed to be submitted in the near future. There were extensive reports included in the Board’s packets. Acceptance of this idea seemed to be there until Dr. Paul Hesse stated that he had philosophical reasons for objecting to this plan. In his experience Health Departments can be overwhelmed if they accept Medicaid patients and that other Health Department goals can be compromised. The board then decided to wait on this decision. A committee comprised of Dr. Benne, Barbara Sollner and Dr. Floersch agreed to meet and discuss this issue.

Submitted by Sue Cohen