Health Department could move into new home
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Hemmed in at its current home and with a landlord not interested in renting more space, the Putnam County Health Department may soon find itself in a new home.
Earlier this week, both the Putnam County Commissioners and Putnam County Council approved the expenditure of no more than $3,500 in grant money to get two appraisals performed on the old Fresenius Kidney Care building at 316 Medic Way, Greencastle, as a possible new home for the health department.
The need for extra space springs from the very same source from which the grant money arises — the Health First Indiana program that aims to establish a public health infrastructure throughout the state utilizing local health departments.
To provide these expanding services, the Putnam County Health Department needs more space than the suite it currently occupies in the Putnam County Hospital Office Building. However, hospital officials are not interested in offering expanded space to the health department.
“The current situation for the health department is an office that is crammed full with no space,” Commissioner Rick Woodall explained.
The plan had been to move the Health Department into the proposed Putnam County Annex, but construction has not even started on that structure.
“The question for the health department is, can they wait that long?” Woodall said.
Woodall also noted that, per square foot, the asking price for the Fresenius building is actually much lower than the new building, meaning the county could ultimately see savings on the final price of the annex.
Other options have been explored, but they are less feasible for various reasons. The old Feld’s building is only available for rent, while renting or possibly buying the old Black medical office from Hendricks Regional Health is also not tenable.
However, the county cannot simply make an offer on the building like a private buyer would. Instead, state law dictates that the county get two independent appraisals and then pay no more than the average of the two.
The commissioners initially gave the health department the go-ahead on Monday morning to seek the two appraisals, with the council approving the $3,500 expenditure on Tuesday.
Also appearing before both commissioners and council this week was 911 Director Dave Costin with a request to promote one of his dispatchers to a senior dispatcher position.
The need for a third senior dispatcher arises from Costin’s need to train Debra Simmons, whis assistant director.
Costin noted that Simmons serves some of the functions of a senior dispatcher, a position that is always on call to provide coverage when there are gaps in coverage for various reasons.
An additional dispatcher should, according to Costin, provide for at least one shift a week in which training can be performed. He noted that such training is probably overdue, as no one is cross trained on his own job duties.
The commissioners approved the request, which allowed Costin to go before the council requesting a $16,485 transfer to pay the additional salary. The money is available due to a point this year in which the department was short-handed and thus not paying its full allotment of employees.
The council approved the transfer, allowing Costin to move forward in the next pay cycle.
While the money is covered for this year with the transfer, Costin will have to work it into his 2025 budget, which will be reviewed next month during council budget hearings.
The council also approved other requests on Tuesday evening:
• Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley was approved for a $20,000 additional appropriation to cover the payout of off days accrued by two employees set to retire soon.
Such payouts could change in the coming years if the county moves to a paid time off system.
• A $10,000 additional appropriation for pauper counsel was approved for Superior Court.
Councilman Phil Gick noted that this is a cost that the court cannot exactly control, so the unanimous approval was granted with little discussion.
Though the request was not for his court, Headley noted that a recent decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals could increase such costs for counties, as a new rule dictates that any cases involving a child in need of services (CHINS) or termination of parental rights now require lawyers to be hired.
This will likely drive up the demand for pauper counsel.
• The commissioners requested and granted an additional appropriation of $15,000 from the health insurance trust fund.
When county employees utilize the Proactive MD health clinic, the county and the employees see significant savings. Despite this, many employees do not utilize the clinic.
The $15,000 will be used as an encouragement by paying $100 to any employee who gets a physical at the clinic.
All members of the council — Stephanie Campbell, Jay Alcorn, Danny Wallace, Keith Berry, Wayne Huffman, Larry Parker and Gick — as well as Auditor Kristina Berish were in attendance for the Tuesday session.
The next meeting of the Putnam County Council will be the annual budget workshop, set to commence at 9 a.m. each day on Aug. 20, 21 and 22.
Prior to this, however, the council and commissioners are set to meet in a joint session at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 8.