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Board members present for the meeting were Roger Bock, president;
Mike Rohrer, secretary-treasurer; Maxine Lolling; Paul Kasa; Richard
Bivin; and David Hepler.
Finances remain an issue
Sally Gosda, director of finance for the agency, spoke at length
giving details of the financial situation of the health department.
For the months of July and August individually, she said that the
bottom line had ended with positive balances each month, due in part
to the receipt of Logan County property tax funds, and a little bit
of an influx of state cash.
She said payments that had been received from the state
comptroller were reimbursements from the state's last fiscal year
and that none of the funds for the new fiscal year have been issued.
She also noted that the health department has not received any of
the grant commitments from the state for the new fiscal year.
Administrator Mark Hilliard commented on this, saying it appeared
that the state was building in their own delay in payments by
delaying the actual grant awards.
On the whole though, he said, the agency is doing a little better
this year than last year. He noted that expenditures as of the end
of August are at 58 percent of the budgeted amount, when typically
those figures could be at 75 percent of the budget.
In spite of a slightly better July and August, Gosda said there
is still a deficit of approximately $469,000 for the year. She
projected that the year would end with a deficit of approximately
$311,000.
To date, the state owes the health department $174,000 from last
fiscal year and $167,000 from the new fiscal year.
Gosda also reported that she had delivered this year's tax
revenue request to the Logan County Board. The request is for
$390,390.
She said she had presented information regarding what the health
department has received over the last five years versus what they
have reimbursed to the county. She showed the board that the agency
last year had actually reimbursed the county more than it had
received, to the tune of approximately $43,000.
In regard to this, board member David Hepler, who is the liaison
to the county board, said he had just come from a tax reduction
committee meeting at county and had learned that the county is
anticipating a loss of revenues in the amount of about $750,000 this
year. Hepler said the county is looking at cutting back on all cash
distributions to try to make up for that loss of revenue.
He also noted that the county is anticipating revenues from the
Sugar Creek Wind Farm near New Holland in the next fiscal year, and
that could make a difference in how their financial situation
actually plays out.
The county board's budget committee will meet tonight and begin
their budget-building process for the year.
Reappointment of board members
Maxine Lolling and Richard Bivins are both serving health
department board terms that are set to expire Nov. 11. Hilliard
asked the two if they would commit to serving another term and they
both agreed. A motion was made by Hepler to accept the appointments
and the board approved it unanimously. Hilliard will present the
nominations to the county board for their approval.
Staff changes
During a portion of her presentation, Margie Harris, assistant
administrator and director of nursing, said that Debbie Hoover, who
heads up the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer program for the
health department, will be retiring at the end of September. Hoover
will be replaced by Marsha Dowling, who is currently the health
education coordinator.
Hilliard said that interviews have been completed for a new
health educator and the name of the person filling that position
will be announced on Tuesday.
Hoover is retiring after 21 years of service to the health
department. There will be a reception for her on Sept. 29.
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Harris also reported that in taking on two new counties in the
HealthWorks program, the health department is now the lead agency
for 15 counties. She said that the program is adding 30 to 40 new
children per month in that program and that to keep abreast with the
increased workload, they will be hiring two new medical case
managers and one new clerk.
The health department has also hired Ryan Williams of Lincoln as
their newest health sanitarian.
Peer counseling program to begin Oct. 1
Harris said that in the Women, Infants and Children program, a
new peer counseling program for mothers who are breast-feeding will
begin Oct. 1. She said Laura Huffer will work under contract as the
counselor for the program.
Flu shots to begin Sept. 20
The health department has 1,000 doses of flu vaccine on hand and
will begin immunizations on Sept. 20. Harris said that another 2,000
doses are on order.
Currently the agency has none of the preservative-free vaccine
for use with children, so she said there would be a delay in child
immunizations.
H1N1 will not be a separate immunization this year; it is
included in the standard flu shot everyone will receive.
IPLAN completed
Hillard presented copies of the Illinois Project for Local
Assessment of Needs to the board. The IPLAN is a community health
assessment and planning process conducted every five years.
Hilliard said the plan had been reviewed by the Illinois
Department of Health and had come back with only a few deficiencies.
Those have been addressed by Hilliard and Harris, and the plan is
now complete.
Adult obesity, diseases of the heart and oral health have been
identified in the plan as the top three health concerns in the
community. Hilliard said this information is what will drive the
programs and services offered as well as fuel the searches for new
funding.
The completion of the IPLAN fulfills most of the requirements for
the county health department's recertification by the Illinois
Department of Public Health.
To learn more about the Logan County Department of Public Health,
visit their website at
http://www.lcdph.org/.
[By NILA SMITH]
Related past articles
Logan County Board of Health briefs: Programs stay in spite of
state funding delays; and more
Committee focuses in on top health needs in county
Part 1
Part 2
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