The board and the health officer should make sure that they have addressed the most urgent issues first. These should be the issues that if they are postponed they may affect the functioning of the whole health system under the jurisdiction of the board. The most important issue that the board should address is the budget. The health officer and the board should make sure that the budget has been presented, discussed, amended if necessary and approved. The county’s fiscal allocation process is coming up, and funding requests from the approved budget should be made. This means that the board should discuss and approve the budget before the allocation process. The upcoming community health improvement initiative should also be discussed. The process has almost started, and it is important that the board should be involved in the process. Failure to address the issue during the meeting may see the process get started without involving the board. This would be a great error since the health board should at all times be involved in all ongoing major projects. The program directors should also be given a chance to make their presentations during the meeting. They should be allowed to present summaries of their recent activities. They are required to attend the meeting on a quarterly basis, and this is their first meeting. Being their first meeting, if they are not allowed to make their presentations they will be discouraged. In addition to the discouragement, they will not be able to attend the next board meeting since they are only required to attend the meeting on a quarterly basis. The board’s policy committee should also be allowed to table their amendments to the state law that regards tobacco-control authority for local health boards. This is an urgent issue since failure to comply to state laws may get the health board in the wrong side of the law. Such requirements should be effected immediately to avoid unnecessary frictions with law enforcement agencies.On the agenda, I would arrange the issues as follows in order of priority:
1. The budget should be presented, discussed, amended if necessary and approved
2. The board members should be briefed about the new community health improvement process. This is very important since the board members should be adequately informed and prepared for their roles in the project.
3. Updates to the state law about tobacco control authority for health boards by the policy committee should be discussed. This is important to avoid unnecessary frictions with law enforcement agencies.
4. The health department division directors should then make their presentations. This agenda is crucial since the directors are attending the meeting for their first time. They are also expected to attend the meeting on a quarterly basis, and this means that they may not be available for the next meeting.
5. Finally, the citizen who is scheduled to address the board may be allowed. If the time is not enough, the citizen can be requested to address the board during their next meeting. This agenda is not very crucial, and it won't have adverse effects on the operations of the health board if not addressed in the meeting. To improve the effectiveness, the board should increase the frequency of their meetings to enable them cover all the issues in the agenda without time limitations. The time durations for board meetings should be increased. A 90-minute meeting will never allow adequate discussions to take place. There is a need for individual commitment from each board member towards achieving the board’s objectives. The members should increase their commitment and morale towards executing board duties for more effectiveness.
