Sandy Dunfee from the Marshall County Health Department asked the County Commissioners to consider opting into the Senate Bill 4 funding for the local health department.
Dunfee told the commissioners the amount the county will receive is dependent upon how many counties opt in. The additional funding will allow the County Health Department to expand its services. Dunfee said, “There’s a lot of things we can certainly expand on, services that we are already providing with this funding.”
Dunfee discussed some possible expansions saying, “We hope to be able to add a couple of new positions so that we can start some of the services that we are not doing. One of those would be Maternal and Child Health. We currently don’t have anyone offering those services because we just don’t have the manpower. We’d like to add another environmentalist because right now we just have one environmentalist, and we are very low on being able to provide adequate services there. We will partner with some local entities, we won’t provide all the services. Tobacco Prevention and Sensation you know we want to go ahead and partner with Annette. She’s already running a great program there and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We could just help her out with some money. We want to expand on student health services by adding a school liaison. That would be another position we want to add. We are already working with our schools, and we’ve been doing it without the funding by using grant funding. So, by obtaining the money we would be able to secure that position for the long term.”
Commissioner Stan Klotz said he was in favor of expanding services for the public without mandates and adding opportunities in the schools with additional services for children that they don’t get at home but with parental involvement. He does have some concerns with what is going on downstate and in other counties, but he has faith in Dr. Holm’s and Dunfee’s decisions.
The county’s local match to opt-in to Senate Bill 4 has been estimated to be between $50,000 to $60,000.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger said the county will need to pass a resolution to opt in.
Commissioner Kevin Overmyer said, “I went down and testified on behalf of Senate Bill 4. In talking with Dr. Box and seeing what has happened with some of our healthcare here in Marshall County the last couple of years. I think there are gaps in services that are not being provided.” He then made the motion to that Marshall County opt in on Senate Bill 4 and it was seconded by Commissioner Mike Burroughs and it passed with 3 Yes votes.
