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Public health nurse outlines grants, immunization account and staffing cuts to fit reduced county funding
Summary
The county public health nurse presented budget detail showing a workforce development grant, fee-for-service immunization revenues, and plans to reduce an administrative position to a 10–15 hour non‑benefited role to meet a constrained local budget.
The Fremont County public health nurse presented the department’s operating and grant budgets and told the commission the department expects revenue from state assessment work and grants but must reduce staff hours and operating lines to fit county funding levels.
The nurse said the county receives LT101 assessments from the state—about $120 per assessment—and that those payments amount to roughly $65,000 annually. She also said the department has a workforce development grant awarded by the state, approximately $59,568, that was expected to cover training and staff retention expenses.
To reduce county general-fund pressure, the nurse said an administrative position will be converted to a non‑benefited role at about 10–15 hours per week; that change is projected to save about $65,513 in personnel costs. She described invoicing insurance for immunizations and other billable services and noted plans to slightly raise certain lab fees to avoid losing money on laboratory processing while keeping services affordable.
The nurse walked commissioners through maternal and child health (MCH) funding complexities and said some MCH activities in neighboring jurisdictions may be coordinated across county lines. She noted the county intends to reduce one proposed full-time MCH nurse to a part‑time position because benefit and training costs made full-time staffing untenable within current grant and county funding levels.
On prevention and substance‑use funding, the nurse said state settlement funds included usable prevention funding, but that program rules and reporting requirements (her term: “red tape”) limit how counties can spend that money. She said the department and local partners (sheriff’s office, local prevention staff) continue to coordinate use of prevention funds and that some pilot efforts—such as transit safe-care supports for newborns of substance‑exposed mothers—have been discussed but must meet state grant rules before funds can be spent.
Commissioners asked for confirmation of grant amounts and invoices; the nurse said some grant revenue had recently been accepted and that detailed invoices would be provided to the county clerk’s office for inclusion in final budget documents.
