Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
Meeting Summary
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust Building
Members Present and Absent:
Name
Dawn Beck (co-chair)
Allie Freidrichs
Bill Groskreutz
Tom Hogan (co-chair)
Daniel Huff
Ben Miller
Carol Schefers
Karen Swenson
Jeff Travis
John Weinand
Organization
Present
Olmsted County
Meeker-McLeod-Sibley Counties
Faribault County Commissioner
Minnesota Department of Health
City of Minneapolis
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Wright County
Brown-Nicollet Counties
Washington County
City of Minnetonka
X
Absent
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Other Meeting Participants:
Debra Anderson, Hennepin County; Kim Carlton, Steven Diaz, Denise Schumacher, Minnesota
Department of Health, Environmental Health Division; Valerie Gamble, Jeff Luedeman, Minnesota
Department of Agriculture; Mike Melius, Olmsted County Public Health Services; Lynn Moore, City of
Bloomington; Lorna Schmidt, Local Public Health Association
Facilitators:
Megan Drake-Pereyra and Chelsie Huntley, Minnesota Department of Health, Health Partnerships
Division
Welcome and Introductions
The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board (EHCIB) co-chair Dawn Beck, Olmsted
County welcomed everyone to the EHCIB’s January meeting. Ms. Beck proceeded to review the
meeting agenda and objectives. Meeting participants each introduced themselves. Ms. Beck
Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
Minnesota Department of Health
Health Partnerships Division – Public Health Practice Section
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
(651) 201-3880
Page | 1
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
acknowledged both EHCIB members and other meeting participants and invited everyone to fully
participate in the meeting activities.
Meeting Objectives:
1. Finalize workgroup charter and member composition.
2. Prioritize the top performance measures for FPLS programs.
3. Discuss EH FPLS communication channels.
Goal: Finalize Workgroup Charter and Member Composition
Ms. Beck shared a draft Food, Pools, and Lodging Services (FPLS) Evaluation Process workgroup charter
that she, Jeff Travis, Steven Diaz, Kim Carlton, and Denise Schumacher developed as directed by the
EHCIB at its November 2015 meeting. Meeting participants identified that additional clarity was
needed about the role of the workgroup and the role of the EHCIB. The discussion resulted in the
following process:
1) Workgroup develops the metrics, tools, and evaluation process for a standard/set of
standards.
a. The workgroup and its members will be expected to engage with/get input from
other FPLS programs.
b. The workgroup will look to the FDA and delegation agreements and identify
implications to current delegation agreements.
2) Workgroup presents the final “products” to the EHCIB.
3) EHCIB initiates a formal comment period.
4) EHCIB and workgroup review findings from the comment period and determine necessary
changes.
5) Workgroup modifies products as appropriate.
6) Quick pilot of the products is conducted.
7) Workgroup modifies products as appropriate based on pilot findings.
8) Workgroup presents products to the EHCIB for final approval.
9) EHCIB rolls-out the new evaluation process developed by the workgroup.
10) MDH implements the new evaluation process.
11) EHCIB (with support from MDH, Public Health Practice Section) reviews the process and
experience from both the evaluator and evaluated perspectives. At the same time, the
workgroup reviews its membership.
12) EHCIB shares review findings and its recommendations.
13) Workgroup incorporates findings into the next standard(s).
The set of 13 steps will be repeated for each standard or group of standards. After the entire FPLS
program evaluation process is complete meeting participants suggested there be an opportunity to
share lessons learned and allow sharing between programs so they can learn from each other.
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
Page | 2
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
Meeting participants felt that direct interaction and engagement with the workgroup is important. The
EHCIB will need to vet what the workgroup develops using a formal comment period, approve the final
products created by the workgroup, help the workgroup problem-solve if issues arise, and
communicate and rollout the new evaluation process. The EHCIB will also review and gather feedback
about how the evaluation process went after each standard or group of standards and review and
gather feedback on the workgroup annually.
Meeting participants also determined the following:
 Workgroup Membership
Workgroup membership should be kept to 10 or less. Each standard or group of standards will
benefit from the expertise of different people. For example, standards 1 and 8 can be worked
on together and need people with expertise in technical writing, ordinances, reporting to
boards (e.g. managers/directors), budgets, and improvement/measurement. Other standards
will need different expertise. Meeting participants focused their conversation on the ideal
workgroup composition rather than the actual people who will be recruited based on the
standard being worked on and the expertise needed. Composition should include individuals
who can represent the following organizations and/or perspectives: MDH, MDA, the metro,
greater Minnesota, city, county, programs that work with chain restaurants, and programs that
work with mom and pop restaurants. All program aspects should be represented. The nondelegated programs in the room did not feel that they (or other non-delegated programs)
would have the expertise to contribute to workgroup products. Participants did not want to
exclude programs without a delegation agreement and determined that the workgroup would
have an “open-door” for non-delegated programs to participate instead of having a spot on the
workgroup. MDH field staff should also be included in the membership during the inspection
standards. MDA committed to participating in this workgroup and anticipates applying relevant
aspects to their evaluation process.
 Workgroup Facilitation and Project Management
Based on the success to date of EHCIB meetings, members of the EHCIB expressed a desire to
have MDH’s Public Health Practice Section (PHP) facilitate the workgroup. The PHP section does
not have the resources to facilitate the workgroup in addition to the EHCIB. More project
management and time will be needed than what PHP currently provides the EHCIB. Mr. Hogan,
Ms. Beck, and PHP staff will meet to discuss this further and brainstorm ideas on possible State,
local, or other resources available.
 Communication
EHCIB members articulated that the new FPLS program evaluation process is fundamentally
different than the current evaluation process. In the current process the responsibility for
evaluation is largely placed on MDH. The Board would like the future process to have more
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
Page | 3
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
emphasis on program self-evaluation and continuous improvement; the state evaluators can be
seen as “verification” rather than “got-ya.” This shift will require rebranding communication to
be done by the EHCIB and can start now with the recruitment of workgroup members. The
EHCIB will discuss re-branding and recruitment at its next meeting in March.
The small group working on the charter will update it based on this discussion and share it with the
EHCIB for final approval at its meeting in March.
Goal: Discuss EH FPLS Communication Channels
One of the EHCIB’s 2015 workplan goals is to “clarify and improve EH communication channels.” To
make progress on this goal, meeting participants helped identify existing FPLS communications
channels (Appendix A) and discussed their purpose, affiliation, and who attends. At the conclusion of
this activity, meeting participants made the following observations:
 There are some long-standing, informal, successful groups. Lessons could possibly be learned
from these groups.
 In general, we need to be cognizant about why we have all these groups. Many of the groups
are re-evaluating their purpose, but if the need for a group sunsets, maybe it is okay for the
group to sunset too.
 The EHCIB needs to identify standard, formal communication channels. It needs to be
intentional about its communication but understand that it cannot communicate everything to
everyone.
 It may be helpful to lay out an organization structure of all the communication channels and
identify how they overlap.
 Many groups focus on professional practice, systems issues, and information sharing, but there
is not a group focusing on policy issues.
The EHCIB will continue working on this goal by identifying gaps, developing recommendations to fill
the gaps, and developing a communications plan for the EHCIB.
Goal: Prioritize the Top Performance Measures for FPLS Programs
Due to time constraints, this discussion was postponed to the March meeting. Members were
reminded to gather information from constituents regarding what performance measure data is
currently being collected.
It was noted that many of the measures on the EHCIB’s list (Appendix B) are output measures that
show the quantity of work done. The goal is to develop true performance measures that show how
people are better off because of the work done by FPLS programs in MN. Therefore, when measures
are chosen, it may help to include a description sharing why each measure is important.
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
Page | 4
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
Business Items
Participants discussed and made decisions about the following business items.
Member Updates
Mr. Hogan shared that the water issues in Flint, Michigan and the water sampling issues in Minnesota
have generated desire for information on Minnesota’s water. Information will be forthcoming from
MDH including specific information for community water systems operators and the opportunity to
participate in listening sessions on water and waste water infrastructure. Governor Dayton has
requested funding for Minnesota’s water infrastructure needs and will be hosting a water summit at
the end of February. Registration for the water summit reached capacity within the first few days of
opening; however, they are looking at using technology to allow people to participate virtually.
Members were encouraged to look for opportunities to participate. Everyone was encouraged to
complete the Governor’s water survey; the feedback will be used to help inform Minnesota’s
Administration and Legislature on water quality issues and solutions. MDH is still determining what it
will pursue during this legislative session regarding water.
MDH and MDA continue their discussions about alignment. Some progress has been made on the
following:
 Food code alignment,
 Alignment of position classifications, and
 Discussions about updating the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) about licensing
between the two agencies.
The EHCIB’s local members expressed the need for local participation in discussions on alignment
conversations such as the MOU. Locals expressed a need to be involved now as a partner instead of
later because these decisions have an impact on local programs. MDH and MDA recognize the need for
and fully plan to obtain local input.
Daniel Huff, City of Minneapolis, shared that the City of Minneapolis FPLS program received an
“acceptable” status on their re-evaluation.
Jeff Travis, Washington County, shared that Washington County’s drinking water delegation remains
“acceptable” after their recent evaluation.
Word on the Street
The EHCIB discussed the draft report from the Bush Grant Advisory Committee (BGAC). The report lists
the names of people from both MDH and MDA and currently promotes the merging of the food
programs within the two departments. MDH and MDA clarified that they have no official position
regarding the recommendations provided in this draft report, recognizing that the report reflects the
independent recommendations of the BGAC. Following the release of this draft both agencies have
provided comments to the authors and strongly recommend inclusion of more discussion covering
additional options researched for improving communication during the licensing process. To view the
BGAC draft report or for more information about BGAC please contact Jane Jewett, Minnesota Institute
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
Page | 5
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
for Sustainable Agriculture, at 218-845-2832 or [email protected] or Jan Joannides, Renewing the
Countryside, at 612-251-7304 or [email protected].
2016 EHCIB Membership
The EHCIB’s four open Board member positions have been filled. The two-year terms for the new
Board members officially start March 1, 2016.
 The Local Public Health Association (LPHA) determined that the metro, locally run
environmental health (EH) program representative – currently held by Jeff Travis, Washington
Community Health Board – will be filled by Jeff Brown, City of Edina Community Health Board.
 LPHA determined that the non-metro, locally run EH program representative – currently held
by Karen Swenson, Brown-Nicollet Community Health Board – will be filled by John Weidner,
Carlton-Cook-Lake-St. Louis Community Health Board.
 City EH programs determined that the city EH program representative will continue to be John
Weinand, City of Minnetonka.
 The State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC) determined that the
SCHSAC representative will continue to be Faribault County Commissioner Bill Groskreutz.
As always, the EHCIB welcomes and appreciates feedback and participation from others. Everyone is
welcome to attend and participate in all EHCIB meetings.
Meeting participants briefly discussed transitioning new members into their roles and celebrating
outgoing members for their contributions over the past two years. The EHCIB co-chairs will discuss
thanking outgoing members at their next planning meeting. To help transition new members, outgoing
members will call them and the EHCIB co-chairs will offer to meet with them. Some important points of
emphasis will be: review the information on the EHCIB website to get up to speed, members are
required to share with and gather input from constituents, the EHCIB meetings are a safe place to talk,
and attendance at meetings is required.
Re-evaluation Process Updates
MDH, Health Partnerships Division is in the process of gathering feedback through interviews with FPLS
program re-evaluation process participants. The interviews will conclude by the end of January and a
summary of the results will be available to share at the EHCIB meeting in March.
SharePoint Site
The EHCIB has a new SharePoint site. This site will be used as a working site to allow collaboration on
documents and other projects. The EHCIB will continue to use its website to share meeting materials,
final products produced through the work of the EHCIB, and other information.
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
Page | 6
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
Approve November Meeting Summary
The November 15, 2015 EHCIB meeting summary was presented for approval. Daniel Huff, City of
Minneapolis, made a motion to approve the summary. John Weinand, City of Minnetonka, seconded
the motion. The motion passed unanimously without discussion.
Constituent Engagement
For the March meeting, EHCIB members will gather information from constituents regarding what
performance measure data is currently being collected.
Take-home Points, Action Items, and Adjournment
Meeting participants agreed on the following take-home points and action items.
Take-home points:
 The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board (Board) and Minnesota Department
of Health (MDH) are committed to creating a new food, pools, and lodging services (FPLS)
program evaluation process that is fundamentally different than the previous process. The new
FPLS program evaluation process will be based on the concepts of partnership, collaboration,
continuous improvement, and shared responsibility. It will be viewed as a verification process
or “second set of eyes” and a tool to help programs be successful and continuously improve
rather than an MDH driven assessment. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has
also committed to participating in the work group that will develop and guide the new FPLS
program evaluation process and anticipates applying relevant aspects to their evaluation
process.

The Environment Health Continuous Improvement Board (Board) made progress on its
recommendation to initiate a work group to develop and guide the new food, pools, and
lodging services (FPLS) program evaluation process. Meeting participants reviewed the draft
workgroup charter and provided feedback. Members of the Board and FPLS staff at the
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will make the edits prior to the March Board meeting.
The Board will be looking for workgroup members once the charter is finalized at the next
meeting in March.

The Minnesota Departments of Health (Environmental Health Division) and Agriculture (MDH
EH and MDA, respectively) continue their discussions about alignment. Some progress has been
made on the following:
o Food code alignment,
o Alignment of position classifications, and
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
Page | 7
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
o Discussions about updating the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) about
licensing between the two agencies.
The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board’s (Board) local members expressed
the need for local participation in discussions on “alignment” conversations such as the MOU.
Locals expressed a need to be involved now as a partner instead of later because these
decisions have an impact on local programs. MDH EH and MDA recognize the need for and fully
plan to obtain local input.

The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board (Board) discussed the draft report
from the Bush Grant Advisory Committee (BGAC). The report lists the names of people from
both the Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture (MDH and MDA, respectively) and
currently promotes the merging of the food programs within the two departments. MDH and
MDA clarified that they have no official position regarding the recommendations provided in
this draft report, recognizing that the report reflects the independent recommendations of the
BGAC. Following the release of this draft both agencies have provided comments to the authors
and strongly recommend inclusion of more discussion covering additional options
researched for improving communication during the licensing process. To view the BGAC draft
report or for more information about BGAC please contact Jane Jewett, Minnesota Institute for
Sustainable Agriculture, at 218-845-2832 or [email protected] or Jan Joannides, Renewing
the Countryside, at 612-251-7304 or [email protected].

The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board (Board) made progress towards its
goal: “Clarify and improve environmental health (EH) communication channels.” January
meeting participants completed a matrix of food, pools, and lodging services (FPLS)
communication channels. The Board will use this matrix to identify gaps and redundancies in
FPLS communication and prioritize how and to what entities the Board communicates.

The Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board’s (Board) four (4) open Board
member positions have been filled. The two-year terms for the new Board members officially
start March 1, 2016.
o The Local Public Health Association (LPHA) determined that the metro, locally run
environmental health (EH) program representative – currently held by Jeff Travis,
Washington Community Health Board – will be filled by Jeff Brown, City of Edina
Community Health Board.
o LPHA determined that the non-metro, locally run EH program representative – currently
held by Karen Swenson, Brown-Nicollet Community Health Board – will be filled by John
Weidner, Carlton-Cook-Lake-St. Louis Community Health Board.
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
Page | 8
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
o City EH programs determined that the city EH program representative will continue to
be John Weinand, City of Minnetonka.
o The State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC) determined that
the SCHSAC representative will continue to be Faribault County Commissioner Bill
Groskreutz.
As always, the Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board (Board) welcomes and
appreciates feedback and participation from others. Everyone is welcome to attend and
participate in all Board meetings.
Action Items
 MDH EH staff and EHCIB members will finishing developing the new FPLS program evaluation
model development workgroup charter, determine necessary resources, and begin recruitment
for the workgroup by the next EHCIB meeting in March 2016.
 EHCIB members will gather information from constituents regarding what performance
measure data is currently being collected.
 Health Partnerships Division staff will summarize the feedback from participants in the FPLS
program re-evaluation process.
 Outgoing EHCIB members will contact incoming members to welcome them and help answer
questions.
 Health Partnerships Division staff will edit the draft map/inventory of existing FPLS committees,
networking groups, forums, etc. and help the EHCIB determine next steps.
 Health Partnerships Division staff will update the EHCIB’s website.
 MDH and MDA will discuss how to get local involvement in alignment discussions.
The next EHCIB meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 9am-1:30pm at the Minnesota
Counties Intergovernmental Trust Building in St. Paul.
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
Page | 9
Appendix A: List of Identified FPLS Communication Channels
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Bush Grant Advisory Committee
Conference for Food Protection
Delegation Agreement Advisory Council
EH Manager’s Group
Environmental Health Specialists Network
Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
FMC Train the Trainer Workshop
Food Safety Partnership of MN
Food Safety Partnership Plus
Governor's Food Safety and Defense Task Force
Local Foods Advisory Committee
MEHA: Minnesota Environmental Health Association
Regulators’ Breakfast
Umbrella Group
LPHA: Local Public Health Association
SCHSAC: State Community Health Services Advisory Committee
Rule-making advisory group(s)
Food code compliance committee
Plan review workgroup (construction committee)
MN recreational waters advisory committee
Environmental Health Continuous Improvement Board
Minnesota Department of Health
Health Partnerships Division – Public Health Practice Section
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
(651) 201-3880
Page | 10
EHCIB Meeting Summary – January 27, 2016
Appendix B: FPLS Performance Measure Brainstorm Results
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
Page | 11