Board of Directors Meeting - 5 pm at the Town Offices
PRESIDING: Spence Putnam
MINUTES OF August 3, 2022 meeting
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Happy News!
Betsy had two beautiful baby girls on July 29th – Congratulations!!
Ava Elizabeth was born at 3:44 a.m. weighing 5.1 lbs. and 18”
Maggie Jean was born at 3:46 a.m. weighing 5.8 lbs. and 16”
Everyone can email Betsy at her Rotary email if they wish
Birthdays:
John Zahn – August 2nd (paid $10 not to sing)
Liz Smith – August 9th (paid $5 to sing)
Rotary Anniversaries
Spence – 10 years
Dustin – 4 years
Group Updates:
Spence -
Civil duty to vote as a private citizen – Vermont Primary Election – Tuesday, August 9th
NO morning meeting (August 10th)
Board of Directors Meeting – 5 p.m. August 10th at the Town Offices
We will be at Rosie’s for several meetings in Aug/Sept – please look out for Scott’s reminder emails
Paul – looking for volunteer opportunities for college students
Rex has been transferred from UVMMC à Porter Rehab and will be moving to Potsdam, NY soon to be closer to his children
Mike – Annual Silent Auction Fundraiser will be in October
Looking for volunteers to spilt up responsibilities
Viva el Sabor:
Possible volunteer opportunity to help build cabinets for this group
T – found a banner from the friendship exchange program from when Karl Neuse went to Australia
Classification Talk – Rebecca Hanley
Rebecca presented her “re-classification” talk and discussed not only why she joined Rotary, but what has kept her here. Rebecca used to waitress at Rosie’s and always saw the group meeting there and heard about the great work they were doing. Her goal was to be in Rotary!
What kept her here was the service projects and truly immersing herself in the community and giving back. As a single mother, Rebecca relied on the community and this was her way to give back to those who helped her and those in need. She explained that she continues to stay here because of what we do and help others – “those who can stand, help others that have fallen”.
She is excited to be part of the membership committee and bringing new members to the club that have the same outlook and passion for community.
Sargent of Arms:
Fines and Happy Dollars
Fines:
Liz – Name Tag
Rebecca – appeared in the Addy Indy for her engagement announcement
Gary – Middlebury Jazz Collective presents the Miles Donahue Quartet – August 13th at 7:30 at the Swift House. Tickets can be bought at the Town Hall Theater
Happy Dollars:
Helmut – Vacation and cruise in Michigan and Lake Superior
Max – Vacation on Deer Island, Maine
Mike – Vacation on Burden Lake in NY state | Starting Cardio Rehab at Porter
Steve – Congratulations to Betsy and the babies | Vacation in Maine
Tim – Happy his wife Wendy was at Breakfast with him
Geoff- Prayer for Ted as Betsy is on leave as he has been busy, but very happy for Betsy
Ben – Happy to have completed a fire tower hike | Guest – Kate Rothwell
Spence –Grandchild will be 16 and taking his driver’s test soon…will report if that is a happy dollar or not at the next meeting
Special Guests:
Heidi Sulis and Julia Doucet – Open Door Clinic
ODC – free health care center for those who are uninsured/underinsured
Most proud of the Covid vaccines that were provided to our population
1852 vaccines were given | 938 individuals
585 were immigrants at 51 farms and 5 orchards
Deb Wesley – Addison County Home Health and Hospice
Nurse first and then CEO of ACHHH.
This is a non-profit VNA to help and serve the community
First thing Deb did during the pandemic was purchase pool noodles so that everyone was in 6 ft arm distance with a noodle between them!
Provided 70,000 plus vaccines in house and to our home-bound community members
Helena Van Voorst - ED at United Way of Addison County
Changed funding model to Addison County Responds mini-grants for non-profits and ensured a quick application to get funds out the door to support community partners
Lots of PPE was funded through this and was much appreciated!
Kate Rothwell – ED of MREMS | State Ambulance Inspector
Maintains operations and supported Porter during the pandemic with vaccines and static/mobile clinics
Hosted around 1,000 clinics and was open for special holiday testing
Since vaccines have been approved for the Peds population – 150 doses have been administered and people are coming from all over the county/state
Fran – Spence’s wife
Fran was present and although she has followed all the guidelines, she tested positive for Covid, but is doing well!
Tom Thompson – CEO/COO of Porter Hospital
Helped lead the hospital during the pandemic and introduced Mike Leyden, Assistance Vice President of Operations and Emergency Preparedness Personnel who helped with Covid protocols and readiness.
Guest Speaker – Dr. Mark Levine introduced by Dr. Mark Peluso
Dr. Mark Peluso is the Chief Health Officer at Middlebury College who did an extraordinary job at the college during Covid and keeping the students and the community safe
Mark was happy to be here and to truly observe the meaning of “Service Above Self”. Mark introduced Dr. Mark Levine, who led the best Covid response in VT.
Dr. Mark Levine:
Dr. Levine was appointed by Phil Scott in 2017 as the Commissioner of Health. Prior to his time as Commissioner, Dr. Levine was the Associate Dean for UVM Medical Center and College of Medicine. He also served as the vice chair for education for the Dept of Medicine.
Dr. Levine received his BA at University of Connecticut and MD from the University of Rochester. He later completed his residency at UVM and chief resident. Dr. Levine has a passion for internal medicine focused on health promotion, prevention, clinical nutrition, and population health.
Dr. Mark Levine – Discussed the Journey of the Pandemic and the several phases:
Phase 1:
2020 – Although there had been previous coronaviruses, this new respiratory virus was introduced and had to act immediately to flatten the curve and strop spreading the virus. The goal was to stop spread and not overwhelm the healthcare system/capacity
Since there was no-testing available early on, the focus on preventing spread to the high-risk settings and population (nursing homes, correctional facilities, etc.) and balance economic health and public health. Early 2020 – introduced the stay home, stay safe model. We now see that our economic health is comparable to those states who stayed open during the pandemic, but our public health is much better and higher rates of vaccinations
Phase 2:
2020-2021 UK variant was introduced and needed to identify: impact on immunity, transmittance, and severity.
This variant was more transmissible and more dangerous and the virus continued to mutant within immunocompromised individuals
Noticed that travel played a large role in transmissibility
Outbreaks were happening in small household gatherings
Summer 2021 – Pandemic was clearing up….
Delta – pandemic of the unvaccinated (vaccine does not help from getting sick, but rather to mitigate symptoms)
This variant came to us after other locations and those who were unvaccinated were much more susceptible to the virus (we saw this in social clusters)
Strategies taken – boosters helped, but there was a decrease in appetite for boosters and more restrictions, especially as things had started to open up
What else did we see – Social Isolation
This was difficult to balance social isolation vs lock down
Issues of isolation – Social/Emotional wellbeing for children, suicide, health choices, mental health impact, delayed care for chronic conditions
Phase 3:
Finally a treatment – monoclonal antibodies
Omicron variant was seen as the “pathway to endemic”
Most transmissible, but less severe and less hospitalizations/deaths
Could not contain and contact tracing was not effective
Rapid tests were readily available, less than 10% of the population is not vaccinated so we can keep society open
Omicron Variant – BA2, BA4, BA5
Very disruptive and could give you long-Covid
Hard to tell number of cases because of testing at home, but PCR testing is under 100
Deaths have decreased – 6 deaths from July 1st (better than 78 deaths in the previous months)
Public Health Tool-Kit
Avoid Crowds, Stay Home if Sick, Masking (surgical masks/N95s are effective), personal hygiene, and vaccinations
Questions, Comments, Concerns:
Boosters – it is best to wait and get boosters as the virus is changing and mutating and this booster may not be effective. Similar to the flu vaccine, it is an educated guess and hope you have the right mutation to be vaccinated against.
Covid/Flu vaccine in 1 dose – this is likely to happen, but not this year
Thank you for all of your guidance and hard work! ACHHH had zero transmittance between staff and patients, so thank you for daily support/guidance.
Monkey Pox – this was not expected and not a pandemic. Respiratory transmittance is less than 1% - this is more skin to skin contact and incubation period is much longer.
No one is currently dying from this, but we are seeing hospitalizations from pain of skin lesions
This is a zoonotic spread from animal to human work and we are seeing more of these diseases as humans are encroaching on animal territories (rain forests) and changes in climate change.
There has also been a decrease in funding for public health during the previous administrations, but we are seeing more funds for health equity and support
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