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Alexander County Public Health reports fee adjustments, staffing gaps and community survey push
Summary
At the consolidated health services board meeting, Health Director Billy Walker and staff reported minor fee adjustments effective July 1, vacancies in clinical and advisory roles, progress on accreditation, and active recruitment for responses to the county's community health assessment survey.
Alexander County's public health leadership reported staffing vacancies, small fee adjustments and an active push for community responses to the health assessment at the consolidated health services board meeting following the Board of Commissioners session.
Health Director Billy Walker (introduced at the meeting) reviewed organizational vacancies including positions on the advisory board for an engineer and an ophthalmologist and county staff vacancies such as a behavioral-health licensed clinical social worker and a dental health coordinator (an offer has been extended for the latter). He noted federal and state funding changes: expiration of some COVID funding and reductions in state programs and consultants.
Walker outlined annual fee approvals that the department reviews each year. She said the board voted June 2 and that changes will take effect July 1. "Environmental health's new construction and repair fees" rose slightly because of increased time and costs, immunization fees rose for the TB test due to vaccine/test costs, and many lab-related charges changed based on Quest's pricing, which the department said it cannot control.
Staff reported accreditation preparation and a policy cleanup (Policy 3.05) after a larger rewrite last year. The Director of Nursing summarized the CFPT (Child Fatality Prevention Team) annual report: the joint CFPT/CFPT committee met three times in 2024, completed its required survey and had no child deaths to review for 2023; new state legislation affecting the program has been delayed into a staged implementation.
Public health staff also urged more responses to the county's community health assessment survey, reporting roughly 940 completed surveys with 904 county residents identified; staff said they are aiming for about 5% population response by July to support the next assessment and will provide paper copies and outreach to churches and senior groups. Walker said the department will conduct a measles tabletop exercise with clinic staff as part of preparedness work and that the department joined a regional work group in Catawba County to collaborate on shared efforts.
Board members asked about the survey deadline and how to obtain paper copies; staff replied the county website hosts the survey and paper copies are available at the health department. The report concluded with staff offering to send updated agreement-agenda materials to the Board once final state items were received.
No formal board vote was required for the public-health update; staff requested and received guidance to proceed with the fee schedule and accreditation preparations as described.
