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Geary County health director outlines clinic partnerships, disease trends and staffing plans
Summary
Geary County Health Department Director Charles Martinez briefed the board on plans to lease unused office space, early talks to run a satellite immunization clinic with a community health partner, hiring needs for an additional nurse, and disease-surveillance data including 14 ER visits for suicidal ideation in February and recent STI counts.
Charles Martinez, director of the Geary County Health Department, told the county board the department is exploring ways to boost revenue and expand services, including leasing unused office space to allied organizations and pursuing a satellite immunization clinic with a local FQHC partner.
"If we can lease out that space we're not using, I think it would help with generating more revenue and improving services in the county," Martinez said, noting groups such as the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities already use department space on occasion.
Martinez described early talks in which the partner agency would pay the salary and benefits for a nurse stationed at the satellite site while the health department would manage training and vaccine inventory. "It would be a full time position," Martinez said; he added the department envisions a rotational schedule so nurses cover both clinics and stressed any arrangement would be put in writing before moving forward.
The director also advocated restarting a community advisory board, which the department suspended in 2019 because of low participation. Martinez said a quarterly advisory board with clear goals could help the department widen outreach and involve local clinicians and stakeholders in public-health planning.
On surveillance, Martinez reported the department's most recent sensitive-disease counts and other trends. "We have 14 patients in February who showed up to our emergency room with suicidal ideation," he said, calling mental-health prevention across ages a continuing priority. He also reported eight chlamydia and four gonorrhea cases countywide (data are assigned by ZIP code and include part of Fort Riley). Martinez flagged one difficult-to-treat fungal infection acquired in a hospital setting but said it is not a community-spreading threat.
Martinez addressed recent public concern about hantavirus, saying it is not spreading rapidly in the U.S. and that most exposures are associated with rodent excreta. "It's not something that's just gonna jump from a single cough," he said, urging perspective while maintaining surveillance.
The board asked technical questions about vaccine storage and quality control; Martinez confirmed the vaccine refrigerator/freezer has an alarm system that sends messages to his phone if temperatures leave acceptable ranges.
Next steps: Martinez said staff will pursue written agreements for any satellite-clinic arrangement, continue outreach about restarting an advisory board, and keep compiling surveillance data for future meetings.
