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Ottawa County approves several public-health positions funded by state grants, including hearing and vision and substance-use roles
Summary
The Finance and Administration Committee voted to approve a set of position requests from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health (OCDPH) funded largely by state grants: increases to dental, hearing and vision staffing and a substance-use disorder educator tied to a regional grant.
The Ottawa County Finance and Administration Committee on Jan. 14 approved multiple staffing requests from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health funded by state grants and regional block grants.
Committee members voted to: expand a dental assistant position’s hours (funded by Essential Local Public Health Services funding), create a 1.0 FTE hearing and vision technician (cost $83,244, funded by ELPHS from the State of Michigan), increase a hearing and vision clerk from 0.5 to 0.8 FTE (cost $24,568, ELPHS-funded), and create a substance-use-disorder educator position (0.6 FTE, funded by the Lakeshore Regional Entity block grant). Each motion was approved by roll call during the meeting.
OCDPH staff described the uses of several budget items attached to the FY 2025 adjustments. On family planning funding, staff said an additional $50,000 will pay for anesthesia during IUD placement at clinic visits, contraceptive supplies, charges to create lab-interface modules in the county electronic health record system, and about $10,000 for equipment to enable rapid in-house testing that currently is sent to an external lab.
On hearing and vision services, staff said the newly funded technician position would address a caseload that current providers cannot meet and that the role requires certifications that are difficult to staff on a part-time basis; the technician role will perform screenings and school-based services. The hearing and vision clerk’s duties include scheduling, referral follow-up and eligibility screening to allow certified technicians to spend more time on screenings.
On the substance-use educator role, staff said the position will deliver prevention and education programs such as Prime for Life, participate in the county’s Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and Cannabis Reduction and Prevention Coalition, and support community efforts including the Heart Safe initiative and local prevention coalitions. Staff said the Lakeshore Regional Entity provides the block grant that funds the position; the position is tied to that grant and would be reinstated or removed annually based on grant availability.
Ending: Committee members approved the staffing requests and budget adjustments; several positions are explicitly funded by state ELPHS appropriations or the Lakeshore Regional Entity grant and therefore contingent on continued grant funding.
