[3:12] Good afternoon. We'd like to call the
September 2026 meeting of the McLean
[3:17] County Board of Health Committee to
order.
[3:20] Taking a look at roll call, it looks as
if all members are present except for
[3:24] member Tompkins.
[3:30] Giving us a quorum for today's meeting.
Moving on to the consent agenda,
[3:35] we have two items, the minutes from last
month and the payment of bills and
[3:38] transfers in the amount of
$1,230,763.44.
[3:45] May I have a motion?
Motion by Hanson, second by Farley.
[3:49] Those in favor?
>> Aye.
[3:50] » Aye.
>> Those
[3:53] Motion passes. Uh moving on to
appearances by members of the public and
[3:56] county employees.
Do we have anybody appearing today?
[3:59] » Chair Byrne, we've had no requests this
evening.
[4:00] » Thank you very much. Moving on to item
four, we have a guest today from Synergy
[4:05] Home Care.
Uh thank you for coming out. Uh Kim
[4:09] Pallett, uh please let us know what your
agency's about.
[4:12] » Absolutely. Thanks for inviting us. So,
I'm Kim Pallett with Synergy Home Care.
[4:17] If you aren't familiar with us, we
provide home care services wherever
[4:20] people call home
and people of any age. Um I always like
[4:24] to say that we're most associated with
senior care. We actually take care of
[4:29] people from birth through end of life.
Um and then wherever they call home is
[4:34] because most people want to age in place
in their home. However, we know that um
[4:39] that's not always possible for safety
reasons and maybe just declining health
[4:43] reasons. And so, we do go into
facilities and care for people there as
[4:47] well. So,
um what we can provide. We provide
[4:51] everything from companion care to
homemaker care all the way up to
[4:56] personalized care. Just to give some
examples of that,
[5:00] um our companion care might be coming
and playing a game with someone, um
[5:05] visiting with them.
You know, we we only really require one
[5:09] 3-hour shift a week.
A lot of people are lonely. So, we can
[5:13] come out, sit with them, tidy up their
house a little bit, um visit with them,
[5:18] play a game, do a puzzle, challenge them
a little bit, maybe take them outside,
[5:22] do a walk.
Uh the homemaker care is going to be
[5:26] more of maybe meal prep. We can go out
and get the groceries or take the client
[5:30] with us.
Um do a little more light housekeeping
[5:33] around the house, do their laundry, take
their garbage cans to the curb, bring
[5:38] them back up. Just things so that we can
allow them to remain independent in
[5:42] their home.
And then that personalized care is going
[5:45] to be more of your full-full on they
need help um um bathing, toileting,
[5:51] maybe feeding,
um hospice end-of-life care. We work in
[5:55] conjunction with hospice and home
health. Um and so those are kind of the
[5:59] levels of care that we we provide. I
like to tell people though we don't have
[6:05] contracts. It's an agreement. So maybe
somebody had knee replacement surgery
[6:10] and they need help for 6 to 8 weeks.
That's something we can absolutely do.
[6:14] Come into the home, help them get back
on their feet, go through their PT
[6:18] exercises, and recover a little bit
quicker so that then we can move on and
[6:23] they're happy that they they can go
about their life. Um we do medical
[6:27] transportation as well. So if somebody
needs to have their eyes dilated and
[6:31] can't drive home, it's just a one-time
visit and we'll take them to their
[6:35] appointment, wait, bring them back home,
make sure they're settled. Um
[6:39] colonoscopies, you know, I think most of
us in the room are at that age. Uh and
[6:43] so if you need a driver for that, things
that would be out outpatient surgery, we
[6:48] can help with those as well. So I think,
you know, sometimes people don't realize
[6:52] that if you're by yourself, you might
just need um somebody to help you out
[6:56] for a little bit while you recover from
that surgery you had. Um
[7:01] we do accept private pay.
We are in-network credentialed with the
[7:06] VA and we work with long-term care
insurance. So those are our main um
[7:11] sources of payment. Um we we don't
accept Medicare, but there are other
[7:16] places in town who do. And so we
encourage people to give us a call. We
[7:21] have a resource book at our office. Uh
we've been here in Bloomington for 13
[7:25] years. Um I know overall our Bloomington
office is our largest of the four
[7:30] offices that we serve between
Bloomington, Normal, Champaign, Decatur,
[7:33] and Springfield. Um we serve about 3,000
hours a week just in Bloomington-Normal
[7:38] territorial alone with our clients. Give
us a call. We'll be your resource. If we
[7:43] cannot help you, we promise we will
guide you in the right direction so
[7:46] you're not making 50 calls to try and
figure out the best way to go. Um if you
[7:51] are interested or know somebody who
needs help, call us. Uh we'll talk it
[7:57] through on the phone and then what we'll
do is come into your home and do a no
[8:01] obligation free assessment. And that's
where we kind of meet the client and or
[8:05] family members if they need to be there
and then um we do a safety check of the
[8:10] home. A safety check means do we have
thick rugs that somebody could trip over
[8:15] maybe when they're recovering for
surgery or they have a walker and
[8:18] shouldn't have thick rugs in their home.
Maybe they need grab bars installed so
[8:23] that they can safely use their restroom
and things like that. That's what a
[8:27] safety check is. Um just to make sure
that we're all on the same page getting
[8:31] through that.
And if they want to start service, then
[8:34] we go ahead and and get a schedule
signed up at that point. We ask for 48
[8:39] hours to get a schedule started, but
we're pretty good and so typically we
[8:44] can get going on services same day. Um
it's pretty common we get a call from
[8:48] the hospital, we need somebody
discharged out of here today and uh can
[8:53] you can you take care of this? So we'll
send somebody to the hospital, uh do
[8:56] that that assessment with the client at
that point, do the home assessment um a
[9:01] little bit later in the afternoon and we
can get services started immediately.
[9:06] The last thing I'll kind of touch on cuz
you guys have a lot of work to do I can
[9:09] see on your agenda um is something we're
pretty excited about we've started
[9:14] within the last year is that we are
embracing technology. We do have a moni-
[9:20] monitoring system that if clients are
interested, um we can put in the home
[9:25] and it it actually just develops and
monitors patterns. So when I say this,
[9:32] it's not a wearable. There are no
cameras and it works off sound waves. It
[9:36] is HIPAA compliant. And um it's pretty
incredible what it can notice. Um
[9:42] we don't hear normal conversation in the
home. It only picks up conversations
[9:48] that would include activities of daily
living
[9:51] and safety risks. So, as an example, if
Mrs. Smith generally walks to the
[9:57] bathroom two times overnight
to use the restroom,
[10:01] the system will pick it will it will
pick up now she's walking five times
[10:06] during the night to the restroom. Maybe
she's in there a little bit longer to go
[10:09] and come back.
All we get is a notification on the
[10:12] dashboard, might want to talk to the
family or the client about a possible
[10:16] UTI.
Um let's say Mrs. Smith had a cough last
[10:20] week.
This week she has a cough, we'll get a
[10:23] report her cough has increased 68% from
where it was last week. It might be a
[10:28] good time for her to see a doctor to see
if she has a respiratory infection.
[10:32] Majority of what we are seeing um since
we implemented this in January, people
[10:37] are falling a lot more frequently than
they will ever tell you. Um clients of
[10:43] ours that we've had for a long time,
"Oh, no, I never fall." Um and we get
[10:47] those those alerts pretty quickly.
And then we have a obviously forms that
[10:53] we follow as far as who we're contacting
first and if we need to reach out to
[10:58] 911. Um it's not Life Alert and so Life
Alert is fantastic if they have it. It's
[11:04] trying to be more proactive. It will
never replace a caregiver because human
[11:08] touch is what we all need, especially
for people who are living at home by
[11:11] themselves.
Um but it is actually a a great extra
[11:15] layer. We actually had a client uh not
too long ago about 11:00 at night fell
[11:21] and and when I say it's like sound
waves, we get an audio clip that's about
[11:25] 10 seconds and you could tell it was a
a terrible fall. And um we couldn't
[11:30] reach him.
We had a staff member at 11:00 at night
[11:34] who lived close enough decided just I'm
just going to run over there and see. He
[11:37] actually cares for his wife who is bed
bound.
[11:40] And she could see him laying on the
floor, called 911. We get into the
[11:45] house. He was actually conscious. He but
he had decided and he was wearing his
[11:49] life alert. But he decided he would just
lay there until we got there at 9:00
[11:53] a.m. in the morning. Uh, he had a gash
on his head and needed stitches and off
[11:58] to the hospital he went. So, those are
just some examples of what we found to
[12:02] be
um, a pretty cool program. If people
[12:05] have at least 12 hours of service a week
with us, it's actually free of charge.
[12:09] We just do it as an added layer of
protection.
[12:13] But for those people who are like, "I
don't need anybody in my home. I'm just
[12:16] fine." This is a great way for family
members to say, "Why don't we put this
[12:20] in the home and see see how you're doing
and if we think after 30 days you don't
[12:24] need it, then we won't worry about it."
There's no cords. It's as It looks like
[12:29] an iPhone charger plug. There's three of
them that just go into the main parts of
[12:33] the home.
That's it. You don't need Wi-Fi. There's
[12:36] a router that goes along with it. So,
we just like to tell people about it
[12:39] because it's pretty pretty cool
technology. Um, again, if they don't
[12:43] want it, we're not going to put it in
their home, but it has proven to be
[12:47] pretty successful. So,
that's kind of all I had unless anybody
[12:52] has anything for me. I just appreciate
your time.
[12:54] » Oh, absolutely. We do appreciate you
coming out. Uh, any questions, comments,
[12:58] thoughts?
>> Uh, more of a comment. Um, prior to my
[13:03] dad entering hospice and after, uh, we
used Synergy and you all were absolutely
[13:09] fantastic and I can't thank you enough
for all the hard work that you do.
[13:13] » Thank you.
>> Good to know.
[13:16] Uh, this uh, program you mentioned you
mentioned the name of it or like can you
[13:19] remind me the name of it?
>> So, we It's called Synergy Connects
[13:22] powered by Sensei. Sensei is a worldwide
um, they they are worldwide at this
[13:26] point. Uh,
it's been kind of cool. So, we are the
[13:30] largest Synergy franchise in the United
States.
[13:33] We kind of decided to jump in on this
because a lot of people around the
[13:38] country are already using different
monitoring devices of of different
[13:41] sorts.
Um, and so we we actually kind of tested
[13:45] three of them before we landed with
Sensity and we've been um, very pleased
[13:49] with it.
>> Yeah, excellent. Excellent. All right.
[13:52] Well, yeah, pleased to uh, to bring you
all out here. Uh, pleased to see
[13:56] everything. Uh, we have such a wide
variety of uh, healthcare partners in
[14:00] our community that covers every aspect
of community healthcare needs and to be
[14:05] able to say, yeah, we serve everybody
from birth to end of life. That's pretty
[14:08] comprehensive and we're fortunate to
have you here and thank you so much for
[14:11] coming by.
>> Thanks, everybody. Enjoy the rest of
[14:13] your meeting.
>> All right. Moving on to departmental
[14:17] matters. Uh, number 5A, playing the part
of Jessica McKnight tonight will be
[14:22] Tearing Brooks tonight. So,
we have one item for action tonight,
[14:27] item 5A1A, request approval of an
emergency appropriation ordinance
[14:31] amending the McLean County fiscal year
2026 combined annual appropriation
[14:34] budget ordinance for health department
fund 2105.
[14:38] May I have a motion?
Motion by Farley. Second by Bangert.
[14:42] Uh, Ms. Brooks.
[14:48] Um,
you see all the details of the why and
[14:51] the how.
Um, so if you have questions beyond
[14:55] that, I can try to answer those.
>> For sure. Any questions?
[14:59] All right, thank you. Those in favor of
item 5A1A, please say I.
[15:03] » I.
>> Those opposed?
[15:05] Thank you very much. Motion passes. Uh,
Ms. Brooks, anything to add from the
[15:08] report?
>> Um, if I can comment something that's
[15:13] not on the report.
>> Sure.
[15:15] » Um, Jessica sent me along with um, some
notes that she wanted um, me to share in
[15:19] regard to um, the emergency weather
situation that we faced
[15:24] um, on August 13th that caused us to
have to evacuate the building.
[15:29] Um, so from her she says, "I want to
take a minute to recognize all health
[15:33] department staff for their response
during the recent emergency weather
[15:36] situation on 8/13. They demonstrated
exceptional professionalism, resilience,
[15:41] and leadership during rapidly changing
circumstances and impacts to our
[15:45] building.
Their readiness and action helped to
[15:48] ensure that everyone, including our
clients and participants remained safe."
[15:53] And I would add also thank you to um,
others who supported us during those few
[15:57] days, um, county admin, L&J staff that
let us kind of invade their space as we
[16:02] evacuated. Um, and also support we
received from EMA.
[16:07] » Excellent. Well, thank you very much.
But yes, would absolutely like to echo
[16:10] that. That was certainly a situation
that required some uh, last minute
[16:14] scrambling and shuffling and it is good
that we have such an awesome team all
[16:19] over the place. You mentioned L&J and
everywhere else that jumped in to help
[16:22] us out because that was a certainly a
harrowing day for our community. And I
[16:26] imagine it was a little scary for y'all
in in the building there as well. So,
[16:30] uh, thank you all for that. Any
questions, comments from members of the
[16:33] committee?
All right. Thank you so much, Tammy.
[16:36] Moving on to item 5A1C.
Uh, Tim Wiley, nursing home
[16:41] administrator. We have one item for
action today. Did I skip something? I
[16:44] skipped something. Sorry, Diane.
5A1B.
[16:48] Diane Hughes, jail superintendent. No
items for action today. Anything you'd
[16:52] like to share with us?
>> Good afternoon. No, Ms. Drummond
[16:54] couldn't be here today due to a family
commitment, but if you have any
[16:57] questions, I'll try and answer them uh,
from the report.
[17:00] » Thank you. Sorry, I didn't mean to skip
over there. Any Any questions for uh,
[17:04] for Diane? All right. Thank you so much.
Now moving on to 5A1C. Mr. Wiley, we
[17:10] have one item for action today. Item
5C1A, request approval of an affiliation
[17:15] agreement for allied health externship
Site. May I have a motion?
[17:19] Motion by Bell, second by Farley.
Mr. Wylie.
[17:23] » This is an affiliation agreement with
another CNA class that would like to
[17:27] conduct their clinicals at our building.
>> Cool.
[17:31] Questions?
Those in favor?
[17:34] » Aye.
>> Those opposed?
[17:36] Motion passes. All right. Thank you, Mr.
Wylie. Anything else to add?
[17:40] » The big headline, we're back in the
building.
[17:43] All right. We're we're very excited
about it and the residents are thrilled.
[17:49] We're already seeing census growth
since being back in the building and
[17:54] opening up the other wing.
And relative to the storm that we just
[17:58] previously discussed,
at that point we were not back in the
[18:02] building and I turned to my colleagues
and I said, "It's we'll be okay. We're
[18:07] in a trailer."
We may end up in Hayworth, but we'll be
[18:13] okay.
[18:16] But the team's done amazingly and
um again, thank you to the city of
[18:23] Bloomington and thank you, Diane and the
team at the
[18:26] county jail. We wouldn't have been able
to do that without the assistance of
[18:30] those two organizations. You have any
other questions, I'd be happy to answer.
[18:35] » That is good news.
Can you share anything about residents'
[18:39] reaction to the new paint on the walls
and everything? What's what's been the
[18:42] response?
>> Well, it's mostly the
[18:46] from the ceiling up and the lighting,
but there there's just a different vibe.
[18:52] » Sure.
>> And a new appreciation for what we've
[18:56] had when you had half of it taken away
and you get that half back, suddenly
[19:01] it it feels good to have room to move,
especially for the residents.
[19:07] » Oh, for sure. For sure. Well, excellent.
Well, very exciting news. Glad we're
[19:10] able to see that come to completion.
Anything else for Mr. Wiley from members
[19:13] of the committee?
All right, moving on to 5D1A, Mr. Tab,
[19:18] JDC Superintendent. No items presented
for action tonight. Mr. Tab, anything to
[19:22] add?
>> Uh nothing to add or highlight. I'd be
[19:24] happy to answer any questions if you
have them.
[19:26] » All right, thank you. Anything from
members of the committee?
[19:29] All right, thank you very much, Mr. Tab.
Moving on to 5D
[19:33] Excuse me, 5E, Cassie Taylor, County
Administrator. No items for action.
[19:37] Anything to add?
>> I have nothing to present to this
[19:39] committee.
>> All right, thank you very much, Cassie.
[19:41] Moving on to other items of business.
Our next committee committee meeting
[19:44] date will be Tuesday, October 6th, 4:00
p.m.
[19:47] We will be discussing budgets then, so
we will not be having a 12-minute
[19:51] meeting next time. So, yes, happy budget
season to all who celebrate. Anything
[19:55] else from members of the committee?
All right, thank you all very much for
[19:59] your service to the committee. We are
adjourned.