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Pine County board approves AI call‑handling system for Health & Human Services
Summary
The Pine County Board of Commissioners approved purchasing EVA, an AI-powered call‑handling system for the Health & Human Services front desk, with an implementation expected to take three to four months and a first‑year cost of about $39,400. The board voted by voice to approve the purchase.
Pine County’s Board of Commissioners voted at its meeting to approve an AI-powered call‑handling system known as EVA for the Health & Human Services (HHS) front desk.
Becky Foss, Pine County health and human services director, told the board that TIBCO staff are supporting the county’s deployment and that setup "takes about 3 to 4 months" to reach the county’s desired capability, including handling multiple callers at once, multilingual responses and assisting eligibility workers during interviews. Foss said EVA can "capture a verbal attestation" and will try to call back clients who hang up "2 times" to capture that attestation for auditing purposes.
Board members discussed everyday call volume and staffing limits, with one participant describing the burden as roughly "260 some calls a day" for a single front‑desk position. Supporters said EVA is intended to supplement existing staff rather than replace employees and could reduce routine work such as intake and rights-and-responsibilities readings that Foss estimated currently take about 15–20 minutes of staff time.
The board was told first‑year implementation costs are approximately $39,400, dropping to about $34,020 in later years. A commissioner moved to approve the EVA program specifically for HHS front‑desk support; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
Implementation next steps discussed included technical setup with the vendor, continued oversight by HHS staff and inclusion of EVA-related budget lines. Foss said other Minnesota counties have used similar systems, and county staff will follow lessons learned from those early adopters.
The board’s approval allows county HHS to proceed with contracting and system configuration; the item will appear in upcoming budget and implementation planning.
