Board approves nurse job-description update as county shifts casework after Blue Cross agreement change

The Pine County Board approved changes to a registered nurse job description and reclassified one position in Health and Human Services after the county ended the care-coordination portion of a Blue Cross Blue Shield agreement, county officials said. The board approved an updated registered nurse job description that removes references to an LPN role no longer used in the department and aligns terminology to current public-health and social-services standards. The board also approved reclassification of a grade-11 public health nurse position to a grade-10 social worker role after the county’s care-coordination duties under the Blue Cross Blue Shield agreement end in September 2025. County staff said the incumbent employee will be "held harmless": the change will not immediately alter the employee’s pay; the position’s regrade aligns the job classification and pay range with comparable case-manager roles in the department. The grade-11 pay range was listed as $31.14–$41.28 per hour and the grade-10 range as $29.38–$38.95 per hour; staff said no immediate pay decrease will be applied to the incumbent. Commissioners discussed that regrades sometimes move positions up or down depending on duties and that internal labor agreements guide pay treatment for incumbents. The personnel committee brought the items forward and the board approved them by motion and voice vote.