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County pauses merger plan; directs staff to develop strategic health services action plan and notes CHC executive appointment
Summary
County staff recommended revising last year’s plan to merge public‑health and community health centers into one large department. Instead, the board directed staff to keep two departments under the assistant county administrator, task staff to produce a strategic health‑services action plan by Oct. 31, and noted the Community Health Center Board has directed appointment of a 'Lacey' as executive director pending county processing.
Benton County leadership returned to a proposal first discussed in May 2023 to revise the county’s health‑services structure.
Assistant County Administrator Rick Krieger proposed maintaining Public Health and the Community Health Centers as two distinct departments rather than creating a single large Department of Health and Human Services. Krieger said the choice reflects changes since last year (new permanent county administrator, creation of an assistant county administrator role) and would allow the assistant county administrator to provide supervisory support while staff refine coordination. He asked the board to task staff with producing a strategic health‑services action plan, with a proposed completion date of Oct. 31, to address the health business office (billing/coding/reporting), behavioral‑health integration and the forthcoming crisis center, classification and compensation/compression matters, and management span‑of‑control concerns.
Krieger and staff said the Community Health Center Board authorized a directive to appoint an executive director — named in the meeting as "Lacey" with an effective date of July 1, 2024 — but noted final county processing (formal acceptance and paperwork) remains. The transcript contains two similar names in sequence; the Community Health Center Board was recorded as directing appointment of "Lacey Noel" while staff materials and presentation referenced the director as "Lacey [last name variant]." The board amended the motion to reference the June 7 memo and approved the revised recommendation by voice vote.
Commissioners emphasized the need to ensure board‑of‑health and local mental‑health authority functions are preserved in whatever structure is adopted. The action is a direction to staff to deliver a strategic plan and not a final structural consolidation. The board congratulated the CHC leadership on the board’s appointment.
