Partnership for Health board to continue with two counties after Wilkin and Otter Tail announce departures
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Summary
County staff told commissioners that two partner counties will form their own community health board beginning Jan. 1, 2026; Clay County and Becker County will remain together as the Partnership for Health and will be the fiscal manager for shared grants with funding divided by population and social vulnerability index.
County public-health staff updated the Clay County Board of Commissioners that two of the four counties in the Partnership for Health community health board plan to withdraw and begin a separate CHB on Jan. 1, 2026.
Ezra (Clay County public-health staff) explained that the existing Partnership for Health includes Clay, Wilkin, Otter Tail and Becker counties. Two counties have notified partners they will form a new CHB; Clay County and Becker County will remain in the Partnership for Health. "We don't have to start a whole new CHB. We can use the Partnership for Health name that we have. We just have to ... edit those documents and to determine the, you know, the two counties that are staying," Ezra said.
Staff told the board Clay County will continue to serve as the fiscal manager for grants and that grant distribution for the new two-county partnership will be calculated using population and the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a method county staff said they obtained from MDH and CDC datasets to make allocations equitable.
The change will require updating the joint powers agreement, shifting workload among public-health administrators (monthly state meetings and other obligations will go to fewer staff), and confirming which county will serve as CHB administrator. County staff said they will work with the county attorney to draft the amendments required to the partnership’s legal documents and will coordinate with MDH on grant-management steps.
Commissioner Ebinger and others praised staff for preparing calculations and said the transition so far appears orderly. Staff said Clay County will continue to host fiscal operations and that program allocations that overlap calendar years will be adjusted according to the agreed population/SVI formula.
No formal board action was required at the meeting; staff said they will return with revised agreements and administrative materials as planning proceeds.
