Public health director warns of deeper cuts; proposes shared services and regional testing to offset shrinking state support

Bree, Seward County Public Health director, told commissioners the health department’s budget is under pressure from reduced state support and that the county has already made cuts and cross‑training changes. She described options for further savings and warned that deeper reductions could reduce services residents rely on.

Bree said state funding has “taken a grave hit,” prompting her office to revise the budget eight times so far this year. The department has cross‑trained staff across multiple programs; WIC staff cannot be cross‑trained because WIC is federally funded and has program‑specific requirements. The director said one medical position in MCH (maternal and child health) was not refilled and that cross‑training and process changes have reduced some costs.

To control costs while maintaining essential functions, Bree proposed: sharing one nurse with the county jail for an 8‑hour weekly shift (also described to jail leadership), bidding and renegotiating vaccine and lab pricing with the local hospital, expanding regional courier specimen pickup to serve other counties in Southwest Kansas, and continuing aggressive grant seeking for infectious‑disease nursing positions. She said the county’s testing and infectious disease workload flows from area partners and that the health department has already identified $150,000 and other cost offsets in recent years.

Bree outlined one high‑impact option: reducing department staff hours to a four‑day, 32‑hour week across the department, which she estimated would save about $62,000 but would close the clinic on Fridays, eliminate one monthly Pap clinic and risk staff turnover. She urged commissioners to weigh the public‑health implications: the department has provided cancer screening and infectious‑disease work that can avoid much larger downstream costs if left unaddressed.

The health director also described revenue growth in vaccine services and a plan to accept courier specimens for a broader Southwest Kansas region; those new services could generate revenue and reduce per‑unit costs. She asked for time to finalize pending grant applications that could offset another roughly $150,000–$200,000 if awarded.

Commissioners asked for clarifications on which positions are grant‑funded and whether cuts would force staff turnover; Bree said none of her positions are entirely grant‑funded, though some programs carry partial grant support, and she warned about the time and training cost of losing experienced nurses.

Ending: Bree asked the commission to consider service and public‑health tradeoffs before ordering deeper cuts; staff will return with revised estimates as grant outcomes and other revenue items become clearer.