Environmental Health Continuous
Improvement Board
March 11, 2015 Meeting Take-Home Points and Action Items
Take-Home Points
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The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board reviewed feedback about
the food, pools, and lodging services program evaluation process provided by programs
that are currently in unacceptable status. The information was used to develop a reevaluation process. The re-evaluation process will be finalized and posted on-line prior
to the May Board meeting.
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In January the Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board understood that
four local programs had not yet completed the evaluation process. At the March
meeting, the Board received an update. All local food, pools and lodging services
programs have been provided the opportunity to be evaluated under the current
process; two programs choose to undergo a paper-only process.
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The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board appreciates the feedback it
received from its constituents regarding how to proceed with the current and future
food, pools and lodging services program evaluations. The Board decided that:
o
MDH will undergo an evaluation of one of their district offices so that they have
experience to contribute to an assessment of the current evaluation process.
o
The Board will use a structured quality improvement process to gather
information and make improvements to the program evaluation process.
o
The improved process will be pilot tested by one MDH program (district office)
and one local program. The two local programs that underwent a paper-only
evaluation process will have the opportunity to be evaluated first under the
improved process. The evaluation order of the remaining local programs will be
determined by a lottery process. MDH’s remaining programs (district offices)
will be interspersed throughout the evaluation timeframe.
o
The improved process will be implemented in the spirit of continuous
improvement. The Board will ensure that the evaluation process is reviewed on
a regular basis.
Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
Minnesota Department of Health
Public Health Practice Section – Health Partnerships Division
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
(651) 201-3880
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The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board identified a number of
themes to describe areas for improvement in the current evaluation process (a full
description of the themes is attached). The Board will use these themes as a starting
point for improvement efforts.
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The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board, who is initially charged with
making improvements in the area of food, pools and lodging services, recognizes the
need for a broader conversation about environmental public health. The Board will raise
the issue and engage in conversations with stakeholder organizations such as the Local
Public Health Association, the Minnesota Environmental Health Association and the
Minnesota Department of Health.
•
The Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Food, Pools and Lodging Services Section
is available to provide information to Community Health Boards who do not have a
food, pools and lodging services delegation agreement. MDH can provide data about
the services provided in the county(s) and documentation for public health
accreditation. For more information contact Steven Diaz, Environmental Health
Manager, Food, Pools and Lodging Services at [email protected].
Action Items
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Health Partnerships Division to re-draft the re-evaluation process based on the Board’s
discussion and send to members for further input and approval.
Tom Hogan and Dawn Beck to invite MDH Assistant Commissioner Paul Allwood, MDH
Deputy Commissioner Dan Pollock and LPHA’s Executive Director Lorna Schmidt to the
Board’s May meeting.
Health Partnerships Division to re-draft the statement of support based on the Board’s
discussion and send to members for further input and approval.
Upcoming Meetings
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May 13, 2015 (New time: 9:00-1:30pm)
July 8, 2015
September 9, 2015
November 16, 2015
Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
Minnesota Department of Health
Public Health Practice Section – Health Partnerships Division
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
(651) 201-3880
Themes for Improvement of the Food, Pools and Lodging
Services Program Evaluation Process
Working List – March 11 th, 2015
1. Interaction- Program staff would like more interaction with MDH during the review process.
There is currently very little interaction with the evaluators and ongoing dialog and
communication is needed. Program staff would also like the opportunity to sit down with an
evaluator to discuss the issues they’ve identified for their program. Programs don’t want to
be surprised when their evaluation report comes back.
2. Continuous Improvement- MDH should focus on applying a continuous quality
improvement approach/lens to the entire evaluation process. Identify areas for
improvement so programs can take corrective actions to improve their rating. Make the
evaluation about the program not the people. Program staff indicated that receiving
acknowledgement for improvements to processes and procedures identified in the
evaluation is important. Programs don’t want to continue to be penalized for low frequency
rates after they have implemented changes.
3. Focus on Public Health Risk - A better balance needs to be found between addressing
legitimate risks and code compliance. In many cases MDH has been issuing citations based
on the letter of the code versus the intent of the code to protect the public’s health. For
example the code dictates pools are inspected at certain intervals; those intervals do not
line up with pool seasons based on weather.
4. Clear, Consistent, Transparent Expectations- Ensure the messaging from MDH is clear and
consistent. Program staff voiced concern about not knowing what is acceptable to MDH and
were surprised when they received their evaluation report. Program staff stressed the
importance of having consistent processes for all delegated agencies and holding each
program to the same standards. MDH should standardize the evaluation process such that it
is more uniform and consistent across local programs. MDH should provide supporting
documentation explaining why a particular rating was received. MDH should also provide
programs with feedback and guidance about the required elements of the evaluation.
5. Partnering Relationships- Learning to work together by fostering relationships among peers
and having peers participate in each other’s evaluations is important. Partnerships help to
enhance improvement. Program staff also expressed interest in build cooperative and
trusting relationships with MDH. MDH should be more involved in helping programs develop
plans for improvement. They also suggested MDH create templates and forms containing
acceptable ordinance language.
Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
Minnesota Department of Health
Public Health Practice Section – Health Partnerships Division
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
(651) 201-3880