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Adams County health nurse asks commissioners to convert part‑time role to full time amid higher vaccine demand
Summary
Adams County health department requested the board consider converting a part‑time nurse position to full time after repeated turnover and rising vaccination volumes; staff said funding sources must be reviewed before the board can approve.
Holly, a nurse with the Adams County health department, asked county commissioners to consider converting a part‑time nurse position to full time because the clinic has “gone through 4 or 5 nurses in 2 and a half years” and is the only nurse currently on staff.
The request stems from persistent turnover, she said, and from higher vaccination demand: “I doubled my vaccine rates. My MMR is doubled. My whooping cough almost doubled,” Holly said, noting increased lead case reporting and outreach opportunities, including possible vaccine clinics at local Amish schools that the department’s school liaison has begun discussing.
Commissioners and staff said they are sympathetic but need more information on costs and funding sources before approving a personnel change. One commissioner asked, “What does that mean financially as far as wages and benefits?” County staff said they have not completed a job description or a formal budget analysis and that the part‑time nurse salary was posted at $24.98 per hour. The department reported that one part‑time nurse recently left for a job paying about $10 more per hour.
County financial staff and the health department said at the meeting that the current part‑time nurse is funded from a vaccine grant and that grant terms appear to be coded to immunizations generally, not explicitly to part‑time-only positions. Staff said they would need to identify whether grant funds could be reallocated to cover a full‑time salary or whether general‑fund support or other grants would be required.
Commissioners asked the health department to return with a detailed job description, a full wages-and-benefits package, and a funding plan showing which grants or county funds would cover a conversion before the board would vote. The meeting record shows no formal action or vote to change the position; the discussion was informational and staff-directed follow-up.
The health department identified Kristen as the clinic manager and Sadie Curtis as the school liaison; department staffing now includes the nurse (Holly), the clinic manager and a full‑time school liaison, plus intermittent part‑time and retired nurses who often remain short‑term hires.
