Kirkwood Appointed to National Board

Kirkwood was appointed to the Commission on Professional Credentialing by the Board of Directors of the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

Skip Kirkwood, chief of Wake County’s Emergency Medical Services division was recently appointed to the Commission on Professional Credentialing by the Board of Directors of the Center for Public Safety Excellence, its parent organization. The Board received Kirkwood's nomination from the National EMS Management Association.

In his role as a member of the commission, Kirkwood will review and recommend the professional designations for the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Medical Officer. These programs offer emergency services personnel guidance for career planning and development and recognize lifelong career excellence and achievement. Designation demonstrates that an individual has developed a strategy for continued career improvement and development.

Kirkwood holds a Master of Science in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University and is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. He is a graduate of the U.S. Fire Administration’s Executive Fire Officer program, and was recently recognized by the Center for Public Safety Excellence as one of the first five designated Chief Medical Officers in the United States.

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Register of Deeds To Relocate

The Register of Deeds will be closed August 11-12, 2008.

Wake County Register of Deeds will suspend normal operations on Monday, August 11 and Tuesday, August 12 to relocate to One Bank of America Plaza, 421 Fayetteville St., Suite 300, Raleigh. The office will reopen for business at their new location on Wednesday, August 13 at 8:30 a.m.

The closing will affect anyone who needs to record real estate and other legal documents. Marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, and notary oaths also will not be issued on the closed dates. Their Web site will be available to search real estate records during the transition.

The Register of Deeds move is the second in a series of temporary relocations of staff as Wake County prepares to build a new Justice Center at the intersections of Martin, Salisbury and McDowell streets in downtown Raleigh.

For more information, visit www.wakegov.com/rod.

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Heart-Healthy Screenings in the Park

Rex Healthcare is bringing its state-of-the-art heart and vascular screening and highly trained staff to Blue Jay Point County Park. On Saturday, August 9, Rex nurses, doctors and dieticians will offer nine potentially life saving screenings.

The program will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is discounted at $100 for all nine screenings.

To make an appointment call 919-78-HEART at Rex. The partnership emphasizes the County Parks’ heart-healthy recreation goals.

For more information, contact Sharon Brown, Community Services Outreach director, at 856-6555.

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It’s Getting Hot in Here!

Ten Environmental Services staff members and their families participated in the Chili Cook-Off.

The sixth floor of the Wake County Office Building sizzled on July 18, during Environmental Services’ (ES) first “No Beef or Pork” Chili Cook-Off.

With names like “Sandy’s Heartburn Helper,” “Woof-in’ dat White Chili” and “The Pharter Starter,” part of the fun was in the names. Celebrity guest judges David Cooke, Tommy Esqueda and Mark Bailey awarded six prizes for categories ranging from Spiciest to Most Unusual. Jill Woodward was awarded Best Overall for “Jilli’s Chili.”

“It was really refreshing to have a time to socialize and get together with everyone in the office in a low stress atmosphere,” said Woodward. “It was also tons of fun to work with my husband to make the chili, so overall it was a great experience.”

More than four dozen ES employees attended the B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bowl) event. Special ingredients included cinnamon, chocolate, catfish, soy and venison. Prizes and fixin's were paid for by sponsors. Shawn Springer came up with the idea.

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The staff and cats at the WCACCAC are thankful for newspaper donations.

Done With That Newspaper?

Wake County Animal Care, Control and Adoption Center (WCACCAC) needs old newspapers to line cat kennels. When newspapers are no longer of administrative value, send them to the shelter via interoffice mail.

For more information, contact Michael Williams, director, Wake County Animal Care, Control and at 250-1463.

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Smith Speaks at Soil and Water Conservation Conference

Kurt Smith, section chief of the Watershed Management Section in the Environmental Services Department spoke at the 2008 Annual Conference of the Soil and Water Conservation Society in Tucson, Arizona on July 28, 2008.

Smith’s presentation, "Integrating a traditional Soil and Water Conservation Agency into an urbanizing environment: Lessons learned and being learned in Wake County, North Carolina," was popular with watershed management leaders from across the country.

Based on reports published by state resource agencies, from 2006 to 2008, the number of miles of impaired streams in Wake County has increased from approximately 88 miles to 189 miles - an increase of over 100 percent. In 2007 the Environmental Services Department created the Watershed Management Section, which combines the resources of Wake County Government, the Soil and Water Conservation District, the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service, the State Soil and Water Conservation Service and the Cooperative Extension Service.

The presentation provided information on the collaboration, hurdles encountered, lessons learned, and best practices for implementing a collaborative and comprehensive watershed management program involving municipal, county, state and federal agencies.

For more information contact Kurt Smith at 250-1062.

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Have HIPPA Concerns?

Wake County's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Policies and Procedures can be found on the P drive at P:\Wake County HIPAA Information.

Staff may also contact Assistant County Attorney Lucy Chavis who has been appointed Wake County HIPAA Privacy Officer or Technology Security Officer Dean Mitchell who has been appointed HIPAA Security Officer.

For security consultations regarding the protection of electronic protected health information, contact Mitchell at 856-5236. If you receive a complaint concerning Wake County's HIPAA privacy practices, forward the information to Chavis or direct the complainant to:

Wake County Government
ATTN: HIPAA Privacy Officer
PO Box 550
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-856-5643

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County Time, Supplies and Equipment

Wake County policy states that County time, supplies and equipment are to be used for County business. County equipment includes all electronic resources: email, the Internet, telephones, voicemail or any other County-provided technology. These systems are County property and are provided for your use in the execution of County business. Although the County does allow for reasonable personal use of the electronic resources provided, County time, supplies and equipment are intended for work-related purposes. Employees are expected to utilize these systems in a responsible and professional manner. Inappropriate use of County time, supplies and equipment may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

It is also important to note that, as a public employer, email addresses and email correspondence may be a matter of public record and can be requested by the public or the media at any time. As public staff, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of public information.

If you receive an inappropriate email, please do not forward to others. If you would like to report it, please contact the Employee Relations Division of Human Resources at 856-6090. For technical assistance, please contact the Help Desk at 212-7676.

Please refer to section 608 in the Human Resources Administration Manual for more information regarding the use of County time, supplies and equipment.