Harris County Public Health Services (HCPHS) is a local health department (LHD) serving the third largestcounty in the United States. HCPHS' Food Safety Program is responsible for the inspection and permitting ofapproximately 7,000 retail food establishments.To ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness in its efforts to reduce foodborne illness risk factors in HarrisCounty, HCPHS primary goal is to meet all nine of the Food and Drug Administration Voluntary National RetailFood Regulatory Program Standards (FDA VNRFRPS). HCPHS currently meets Standard 7 and will meetStandard 5 by late 2012. This grant would allow for the provision of resources necessary to address the gapsin six of the remaining seven standards. Although Standard 8 will be analyzed and identified for localgovernmental consideration, the outcome will not be within the prevue of this grant as it would require ongoingadded resources. HCPHS recently amended a County Court Order allowing conditions to be placed on foodestablishments based on foodborne illness risk factors. HCPHS proposes the hiring of a StandardsDevelopment Coordinator (SDC) to research and develop action plans and procedures designed to addresslong term compliance with each of our 27 critical violations that comprise the risk-based inspection. The actionplans would be designed to require active managerial control over the repeated risk factors related tofoodborne illness identified on an establishment's yearly risk assessment. Fulfillment of the action plans wouldbe a condition of receiving a food establishment permit. The SDC would work with Information Technology toautomate the prescriptive plan based on information captured by a risk assessment. Each of the action planswill be piloted, reviewed and revised for practicability, effectiveness and ability to monitor. As a means ofmanaging the action plans and controlling the amount of information and data that would be generated by theaction plans, the SDC will develop an automated mechanism of notification, storing, and monitoring alldocumentation and information received by the qualifying food establishments.A baseline survey will be conducted at the beginning of this three year commitment to identify the mostprevalent foodborne illness risk factors in Harris County. Prior to the end of the third year, a self-assessmentwill be conducted to ensure determine needed areas of improvement going forward. However, the FDAVNRFRPS that would be met through this grant can be maintained after the grant has ended with currentresources. Without the aid of this grant, HCPHS will continue to strive towards obtaining the standards but at avery slow pace considering the current and anticipated resources.
Harris County Public Health Services (HCPHS) is responsible for approximately 7,000 food establishments in Harris County with twenty investigators in an economic time where resources are low and efficiencies are critical. The VNRFRPS is, although voluntary, an essential guideline to the protection of foodborne illness and an opportunity to bring the best protection to the public. HCPHS will utilize the grant funds to obtain compliance with eight of the nine standards, be self-sustained when the grant ends, allow the leverage of technology, and institute a targeted approach to compliance using prescribed active managerial controls and conditional food establishment permits for those establishments at high risk for foodborne illness.
