THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DURHAM, NORTH
CAROLINA
Monday, November 1, 2004
9:00 A.M. Worksession
AGENDA
1. Citizen
Comments?Jack Steer
2. Barry
Van Deman, New President of Museum of Life
and Science
3. Discussion
of Durham
Health Partners Specialty Care Access Project
Durham Health Partners (DHP), in collaboration with the Health Department and
Healthy Carolinians, completed a comprehensive survey of the health status of Durham County
residents in late 2003. An important
conclusion from the survey was that Durham
residents, especially the uninsured, lack access to specialty care that can
make a difference when primary care efforts have identified services that are
appropriate and needed.
In Durham County,
more than 50,000 residents without insurance increasingly have difficulty
accessing the services of such specialists as cardiologists, endocrinologists,
etc.
Durham Health Partners
proposes to seek a one-year planning grant to:
·
Design
an achievable strategy for initially focusing on those uninsured who receive
their primary care through Lincoln
Community Health
Center to maximize the
likelihood of early success.
·
Define
outcome measures to assess the results of that strategy.
·
Estimate
incremental costs and identify funding sources.
·
Address
approaches to future expansion of the strategy to meet, as nearly as possible,
the total need for access to specialists for this population.
Durham Health Partners (DHP) will work with PRIMA Health (a local Independent
Practice Association), Lincoln
Community Health
Center, Duke University
Health System, and representatives from the business community in the planning
process. DHP
would like to have a Commissioner or designee participate in the planning
process.
The planning grant will be submitted
to several charitable foundations. To
show a level of community support for the proposal, DHP
would like to include a letter of support from the Board of County
Commissioners and a commitment to provide $5,000 for the planning grant
process. It is our hope that any
successful grant award may be sufficient
to allow the program to operate without additional County funds. However, the possibility exists that the
receipt of grant funds may include a provision that Durham County
and other partners may be required to provide subsequent ongoing funding.
This project will be a strategy that
addresses one of the countywide results-based accountability indicators?access
to healthcare.
County Manager?s Recommendation: The Manager recommends that the
Board: receive the presentation from DHP; designate a
County Commissioner or designee to participate
in the planning process; provide a letter of support and make a commitment to
provide $5,000 for the planning grant process.
Once the planning project has been completed, the Health Department
staff will work to determine if the project has any future fiscal implications
for the County. When that work has been
completed, the Board will be given an update on the project.
4. Project Updates for Stanford L. Warren Branch Library Renovations,
Emergency Medical Services Station No. 2, and Criminal Justice
Resource Center
Renovations
The Board is requested to approve the transfer of funds from
the General Fund balance to complete the following Capital Improvement
Projects: (1) Stanford L. Warren Branch Library Renovations, 1201 Fayetteville
Street, Durham, in the amount of $537,095.00; (2) New Emergency Medical
Services (EMS) Station No. 2 (Lincoln Station Relocations), 1201 Old
Fayetteville Street, Durham, in the amount of $428,250.00; and (3) Criminal
Justice Resource Center Renovations (CJRC), formerly
Jail Annex, 326 East Main Street, Durham, in the amount of $53,000.00; thus
totaling $1,018,345.00.
There are several reasons for the
current cost situation. First, the scope
of the projects has increased from what was envisioned when the initial
estimates were prepared. Second, well-documented increases in construction costs in 2004. Notable examples are steel and concrete, as
well as fuel costs.
Resource
Person(s): Wendell
Davis, Interim County Manager; Glen Whisler, P.E., County Engineer; George
Quick, Finance Director; Pam Meyer, Budget Director; Philip Cherry, Director, Library Services;
Mickey Tezai, EMS Director; Gudrun Parmer, CJRC Director; Ademola Shobande,
Senior Project Manager, Engineering Department; and Yolanda Moore-Gaddy, Business Development Manager
County Manager?s
Recommendation: The
County Manager recommends that the Board
authorize the transfer of funds for $1,018,345.00 from the General Fund for completion
of the above listed CIP projects.
Capital Project Budget Ordinance Amendments will be prepared for BOCC
consideration on November 8, 2004. The
Board will also be requested to award a construction contract for the Stanford
L. Warren Library renovations on November 8, 2004.
5. Presentation on a new Information
Technology Application for the Board of County Commissioners??The
Board Room" Information Request System
The Board Room Information Request
System is a new technology application being implemented by the County Manager?s
Office beginning November 2 2004. The
purpose of The Board Room is to allow Commissioners to submit staff requests on
various matters of concern including constituent inquiries, project updates,
staff attendance at meetings, agenda questions etc. This application will provide the
Commissioners with the ability to determine the status of their inquiry as well
as an historical reference to issues that require staff research and staff
response. One of staff?s objectives is
to provide the Commissioners a response within 48 hours after the Commissioner
submitted request.
6. Presentation
of Information on a Study
