Tensions rise over health department school vaccination clinics

Tensions between the Hill County Commission and Hill County Health Department appear to have arisen over a pair of canceled spring vaccination clinics scheduled at local public schools, with argument ensuing over where responsibility lies for that.

Then-superintendents from the districts where clinics were canceled, Havre Public Schools and North Star Public Schools, had not responded to requests for comment by filing deadline for this story.

At the end of a meeting of the Hill County Board of Health last week, board member Erica McKeon-Hanson said she wanted to go on record as saying that the county should be supporting the work of the health department including its vaccine clinics in schools.

She said she knows a couple were canceled this past spring due to raised concerns, but it is important work for students who face any number of issues that make access more difficult.

When asked about the issue after the meeting she and Hill County Public Health Director Kim Berg, who is also the county’s health officer, said they were told by the administration of Havre Public Schools and North Star Schools that Hill County Commissioner Sheri Williams, who is also on the board of health, had complained to the schools about the clinics.

Williams, who was not at the Board of Health meeting last week, said this is untrue and that she only asked questions and related concerns she had heard from “outraged constituents” and her goal was not to shut the clinics down.

She said a number of constituents from in town and beyond had come to her with concerns about the events potentially constituting a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violation and concerns that parents/guardians and, in the case of Havre Public Schools at least, the school nurse were not going to be present for the administration of the vaccines.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, among other things, prevents health care organizations from disclosing health and health care information without an individuals knowledge or consent.

The Centers for Disease Control’s website said the law was designed to allow traditional public health activities to continue while protecting people’s privacy.

Williams said she had no opinion on these vaccination clinics one way or the other or if they violate HIPAA and she is sure they can be successful if they are set up through proper procedure and she’s not sure if that was the case with these clinics.

She said she trusts the health department to do its job, and all she was doing was representing her constituents and asking questions.

“What could be the harm in that,” she said.

She said that when she spoke with then-Havre Public Schools Interim-Superintendent Brad Moore about the clinic and related the concerns of her constituents, he got defensive and canceled the clinic because he “didn’t want the controversy.”

Williams also said that North Star Schools had canceled their clinic before she spoke to them because they “didn’t feel right about it,” and because no one had registered.

In response to William’s statement Berg sent the Havre Daily News an email exchange she had with North Star Schools Superintendent James Russell where she said in a May 2 email that she received an email from Moore saying there was some issue with a county commissioner who had problems with the vaccination clinics and that Moore said he’d be reaching out to Russell to discuss the matter.

Berg also mentioned that no one had registered for the event yet.

Russell’s response from later that same day requested that they put the event on hold, partially because no one had registered yet, as he tried to get more information along with Moore.

A May 3 email from Hill County Superintendent of Schools Vicki Proctor to Berg, provided to the Havre Daily News by the latter, said as she understood it Moore advised Russell to reconsider offering the clinic.

Neither Russell nor Moore have responded to multiple requests for comment on this matter.

As for the objections about how the clinic would be run, Berg said, these clinics have been happening for years and are HIPAA compliant, with forms for students and their parents/guardians to fill out, online if they wish, where they can select the exact vaccines they are consenting to.

She said this has been the department’s practice for as long as she has been there.

She said the clinic at Havre Public Schools was set up through Moore and the principal of the building being utilized and, while the school nurse was not scheduled to be there during the administration of immunizations, the department’s own nurses would be there, along with administrative staff to assist with paperwork.

She said none of these concerns were relayed to her by Williams prior to her hearing about the events’ possible cancellation through the schools, and all these concerns could have been addressed by her or her department.

“I stand by my department and I truly believe that we should have been the first place the commissioner came to when she had questions or concerns about our work,” she said in an email to the Havre Daily News.

When asked why she didn’t go to the Health Department with these questions and concerns first, Williams didn’t answer that question and said that after she went to the schools Berg bombarded her with emails and she ignored them.

Berg sent the Havre Daily News an email she sent to her fellow board members and health department staff after she’d heard about what happened, which is what she believes Williams was referring to. Berg said this was the only email she sent.

The email said she received calls and emails from community members who were concerned that a county commissioner seemed to be attempting to block immunization opportunities the department was offering.

She attached the email with the Board of Health Code of Ethics along with a list of the 10 essential services of public health.

In the email, she said board members are public health professionals through their work on the board and are required to put their personal beliefs aside to promote the goals and work of public health, which is often misunderstood, but saves lives.

Berg also provided the Havre Daily News a May 4 memo from the Hill County Commission to the Hill County Superintendent of Schools stating their support for the department and its school vaccination clinics signed by Hill County Commissioners Mark Peterson and Jake Strissel but not Williams.

When asked, Williams said she was never shown the memo and if she had she would have signed it.

Neither Peterson nor Strissel have responded to requests for comment from the Havre Daily News.