Winona County community health board approves assessments, prevention grants and names agents

At a Community Health Board meeting that immediately preceded the county board session, board members approved three formal items: use of foundational public-health grant funds to hire Project FIND for parts of a community health needs assessment, acceptance of a regional cannabis and substance-use prevention grant, and adoption of a resolution naming agents for the Community Health Board.

County public-health administrator Emily Volkman described the foundational grant work: “So this is just a contract that we'd use foundational public-health dollars for, to support our community health assessment…identifying underserved populations, particularly immigrant populations or non-English-speaking populations, through surveying and focus group work, which Project FIND has done for us in the past.” The board approved using the grant monies for the assessment work and asked staff to return with the detailed work plan and budget at the next Community Health Board meeting.

Board members probed contract details, including a translation line item. Commissioners asked why the quote for translation work was $55 per hour and whether that matched other county translation arrangements. Volkman said the $55/hour rate reflects the county’s current practice with Project FIND for interpretation and translation services and that the county spent roughly $90,000 on translation services last year. Commissioners asked staff to double-check rates for consistency across departments before finalizing contracts.

The board also voted to accept a cannabis and substance-use prevention grant of about $109,000 for 2025; the award is intended primarily for youth prevention and a Southeast regional education and communications campaign to avoid duplication across counties. Staff said some state funding earmarked for 2026 was being reallocated at the state level and that 2025 funding remained available for use if the county accepted the grant. The board’s approval included contracting with regional partners for campaign work.

On the naming of agents, the board adopted a resolution appointing Emily Volkman as community health services administrator and maintained certain agent responsibilities for Ross Dunsmore; staff discussed an internal transition and noted that Dunsmore will retain duties related to public-health medicines and delegated well-program responsibilities, while environmental health inspection functions will sunset in 2026.

All three items passed on voice votes.

Context: The foundational grant provides ongoing funding for county public-health core functions; the cannabis-substance prevention award is part of a regional coordinated effort to reduce youth substance use and to pool communications resources across counties. The agent naming records internal departmental authority needed to sign and administer certain programs and contracts.