GPH Board Discusses Not Pursuing Accreditation
Geauga Public Health (GPH) Regular Meeting – June 17, 2026
Meeting Details: The GPH Board met in Regular Session at the Geauga County Administration Building,
12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B167-168 (first floor), Chardon, OH, on June 17, 2026. The meeting began
at 5:00 pm. This meeting was in person with no virtual viewing or video. The Agenda is posted on
the GPH Facebook page a few days prior to the meeting and then typically is posted on the GPH website.
The Agenda for this meeting can be found here.
Public Comment Policy: There is no separate written policy, but in practice “Citizens’ Remarks” are listed
on the agenda and are permitted as detailed there.
Board Attendance:
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Dr. Mark Hendrickson, President (absent)
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Melissa DeBoth
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Daniel Green, Jr. (absent)
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Lynn Roman
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Christine Sutter, President Pro Tempore
Staff Attendance:
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Adam Litke, Administrator and Health Commissioner
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Dan Lark, Director of Environmental Health
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Katie Taylor, Finance Director
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Heather DiCioccio, Director of Nursing
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Jessica Wakelee, Emergency Preparedness Manager
Others Present: Attorney Bryan Kostura (McDonald Hopkins law firm), one member of the public, Geauga Maple Leaf reporter Allison Wilson, and this LWVG Observer were present.
Call to Order: Called to order at 5:00 pm. Observer Note: Ms. Sutter presided at the meeting in the absence of Dr. Hendrickson.
Opening of Meeting - The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A quorum was declared, as was a
Certification of the Delivery of Official notices of meeting. The meeting was open to the public.
Minutes - The Board approved the Minutes from the regular Meeting, May 13, 2026
Health District Staff Reports
Observer Note: These reports are available with the Agenda on the GPH website. Note, later in the meeting that items were added to this Agenda. See the Agenda here. Scroll through the Agenda to see the written reports.
Population Health Report - Mr. Lark said there was no update other than what is in the Agenda. In the packet accompanying the Agenda, note the following:
Melissa Kimbrough hosted and supported 4 clinics through May, for a total of 103 vaccines provided to families this month.
Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) - Jessica Wakelee, MPH, MEP delivered a powerpoint presentation on her role as the Emergency Preparedness Manager and the work of PHEP. She has been doing this job in Geauga County since October, but has been doing this work for over 10 years.
Purpose and Origin of PHEP:
Administered to states through CDC Division of State and Local Readiness (DSLR)
Began in 2002 (Post- 9/11 and Anthrax)
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Critical source of funding for state, local, and territorial public health departments
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Helps health departments build and strengthen abilities to effectively respond to public health threats: infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events
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CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) CRI (Cities Readiness Initiative) Supplement - Began in 2004
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Supplemental funding through PHEP Program to enhance preparedness in largest population centers (which cover 60% of U.S. population) with a focus on planning to receive and provide life-saving medications and medical supplies, known as Medical Countermeasures (MCM)
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Total of 72 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (including the Geauga area due to the Perry Nuclear Plant)
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PHEP funding in Geauga County:
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PHEP Allocation: $89,886.00
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CRI Supplement: $30,330.00
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Total: $120,216.00 Annually = $1.25 per capita
The doses of potassium iodide are currently held at Geauga Public Health. If taken within 4 hours of an incident, this will protect against damage to the thyroid from exposure. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provides KI tablets for population as requested (for residents and businesses within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ)). Mr. Litke said that a small part of Thompson Township is within this 10-mile zone.
Ms. Wakelee also described the mass clinics that they would conduct in the event of an incident. She said that there had been some mass clinics during Covid that were drive-through events. She mentioned the work they have done in the past year developing new ways to assess communication barriers such as for English language ability, hearing impairments and others. They have worked with Cleveland Hearing and Speech to develop a communication guide. Kent State Deaf Language Program helped them to evaluate their communications tool. They use Line Solutions for language translation services. They have also been working with Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services to train to assist those with mental health challenges. They have to evaluate their effectiveness in preparation and the results were: 100% for staff notification, 87% for staff assembly, and the site setup occurred in 20 minutes, meeting the goal of within 60 minutes.
Board of Health Education: Finances
Observer Note: An Agenda item was listed as follows: “An additional Board of Health education presentation, as time allows, will be provided by Health Commissioner Adam Litke. He will provide an overview of GPH budgeting and financing.” Mr. Litke said that in the interests of time, he would not be presenting this Agenda item on Finances.
Executive Session - Observer Note: At this point, Mr. Litke noted the arrival of attorney Bryan Kostura, and said they would have an Executive Session regarding a potential personnel action. This was not on the published Agenda. At 5:35 pm the Board and Mr. Litke and Mr. Kostura went into Executive Session
Return from Executive Session at 5:59 pm. There was no comment as to what transpired.
Environmental Health Report – Mr. Lark said there was nothing to add other than what was on the Agenda. There was no report in the Board packet.
Finance Report - Ms. Taylor did not discuss the state auditor’s recent visit or the outstanding 2023 and 2024 audits.
Ms. Taylor said that they are not yet caught up with the back payments to Lake County (see information later in the meeting on this topic). From the report:
“As of May 31, 2026, 41.67% of the fiscal year has been completed. This serves as a general benchmark for the proportion of revenue received and expenses incurred at this point in the year.
Revenue:
As May represents the fifth month of the year, revenues are slightly above the expected benchmark,
primarily due to the timing of certain revenue sources.
Expenses are also below budget currently, due in part to the timing of invoice payments. We continue
to work with outside legal counsel and the Geauga County Auditor’s Office to process outstanding
payments to the Lake County General Health District.”
Observer Note: Under the agreement with Lake County, termed the Cross Jurisdictional Agreement, GPH pays contract fees to Lake County for personnel. See more information here. Reviewer Note: At the May 18 Budget Commission meeting, the Auditor’s Office staff informed the Budget Commissioners that the 2027 Geauga Public Health (GPH) budget submission has been received and its 2026 revenue does not match the entries in New World. New World is the financial software system used by the Auditor and all County departments. The Budget Commission then tabled the 2027 GPH Budget at the GPH Budget Hearing on June 1 due to uncertainty regarding the repayment GPH’s outstanding invoices owed to Lake County (see below for more details); the Budget Commissioners also expressed displeasure that no one from either the GPH Board or Lake County attended the Budget Hearing and requested their presence when the hearing is resumed, which will be on August 17 or 18. See the LWVG Observer Report for the May 18, 2026 Budget Commission Meeting and the LWVG Observer Report for the June 1, 2026 Budget Commission Meeting for more information.
Health Commissioner’s Report –There was no report in the Board packet.
Old Business - No Old Business
New Business –The following Resolution were approved Unanimously
Financial Reports, Resolution 26-06-06-01-01 – Approved Unanimously
Ms. Taylor said that they have worked out a way to pay half the obligations to Lake County with the Budget Commission. She met with staff from the Auditor’s Office and they are working to put a plan in place to get these corrected. Ms. Taylor said that at the next meeting she will have 17 Then and Now requests that will go to the Auditor for review and then to the Board to approve which will cover approximately $500,000 of the total amount owed. She said that will leave $470,000 outstanding. She said that possibly they will be able to use the General Fund. Ms. Taylor said that Mr. Antenucci, who is filling in for the Auditor, has been very helpful. Mr. Litke said that he asked Mr. Kostura to give an opinion as to whether they could, in the future, pay Lake County on a 3 month basis.
Observer Note: Under the agreement with Lake County, termed the Cross Jurisdictional Agreement, GPH pays contract fees to Lake County for personnel. See here for more information. See the LWVG Observer Report for the Budget Commission meeting where this was discussed in June 2025 here. Reviewer Note: On June 15, 2026, the Budget Commission approved the supplemental appropriations needed as the first step to repay about half of the amount GPH owes to Lake County. The Budget Commission advised Ms. Taylor to discuss with GPH’s legal counsel whether or not the remainder owed to Lake can be paid via the GPH general fund. If not, County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz expressed the opinion that the only other recourse may be for Lake to file suit against GPH for the remainder it is owed. See the June 15, 2026 Budget Commission LWVG Observer Report here.
Request for Legal Action for Homeowners Whose NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) and Spray Irrigation System are Malfunctioning/Creating a Public Health Nuisance - The Board approved the referral of this matter to the Prosecutor for legal action. Mr. Lark said that all 18 property owners have been notified before this step was taken and did not correct the problem. Mr. Litke said that once owners receive notice from the Prosecutor, they typically will take the required actions.
Discussion on Housing - Mr. Litke said he was not looking for a vote on this, but wanted to discuss the issue of hoarding and how they keep getting more and more complaints. He said he has spoken with Commissioner Brakey, who is the President of HDAC (Health District Advisory Council). Observer Note: See information on HDAC here. He also said that he will get together a draft of standards for determining when a property is a nuisance and will present it to the Board. Ms. Sutter asked if he intended to talk to firefighters, and he said that he would. Mr. Litke said there might be a joint meeting with HDAC and the Geauga Public Health Board.
Observer Note: The following items were not listed on the published Agenda.
Request for Legal Action against a homeowner. Mr. Litke received permission to work with the Prosecutor concerning a condemnation enforcement action. There is a condemnation order, but the resident has moved back into the premises and brought another individual into the house. A neighbor reported the matter and said that she is going to have to remove her children from the property (which is next door) due to the health risk to her children. They will work with the Prosecutor on this.
Discussion of after hours phone line - Mr. Lark said that when the State does a test, they call whatever after hours line is working. Right now, there is none. Mr. Lark said that Lake County has one and it is about $115 to $120 a month. He said that they will put this in place for Geauga County as they are not permitted to use the Lake County after hours line for Geauga County.
Discussion on Accreditation - Mr. Litke said that the work required for Accreditation is not related to Environmental Health, which he said is their largest responsibility. He said it would be $20,000 - $40,000 to do the study and plans required. Mr. Lark said that there are 95 different domains that they would need to address.
Ms. Roman asked about whether they could be considered part of Lake County for the purpose of accreditation. Mr. Litke said he would try to revisit this but the initial response was no. Ms. Roman said that for the next meeting she would like a review of pros and cons.
Mr. Litke said there was no data from the State as to why they should do this, and he noted that there are no more federal grants. Mr. Litke said there was one grant left and that there are no pros, only cons.
Mr. Litke quoted Mr. Lark as saying, “It doesn’t make the staff better.”
Ms. DeBoth asked if it is mandatory.
Mr. Litke said, “technically yes.” He also noted that their current accreditation is good until 2028, and said, “Our goal is to serve the public.”
Ms. Roman said she would like to revisit this topic and be able to see a list of reasons why the Board should not be accredited.
Ms. DeBoth asked, “What would be taken away?”
Mr. Litke said that they would not get any state funding for any of their programs.
Heather DiCioccio, Director of Nursing, said that there is a state grant for immunizations and that grant requires accreditation.
Mr. Litke said that all surrounding counties are accredited.
Ms. DeBoth said that “If they all have it, how will it look if we don’t?”
Citizens’ Remarks
This Observer noted the effort it will take for Ms. Taylor to prepare 17 Then and Now Requests.
A resident expressed her feeling that Accreditation is “a total waste of money.” She said they have only been accredited since 2020 and, “We blazed a trail before. We can do it again.”
Next Regular Meeting: July 15, 2026, at 5:00 pm. All meetings are held at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B 167-168, Chardon, OH.
Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 6:36 pm.
More Information and Board minutes can be found here: Geauga Public Health
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submission Date: June 22, 2026
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