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Commissioners back funding a MIH team lead but debate sharing costs with city
Summary
Douglas County commissioners generally supported funding at least one Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) position, favor a team lead as the near-term priority, and asked staff to pursue governance discussions so costs could become a shared city–county responsibility in the future.
After discussing community partners, commissioners turned to Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) requests from the Lawrence–Douglas County Fire Medical (LDCFM) department. The staff presented options to fund two additional MIH positions; commissioners debated whether the county should finance both positions fully or start with a single team lead while governance talks continue.
Several commissioners emphasized MIH's role in upstream crisis intervention and said it has been "a game changer for first responders." Others acknowledged county-only funding would temporarily make Douglas County the sole payer for expanded MIH capacity; they urged staff to pursue governance changes that would move MIH into a shared funding bucket with the city and other partners. One practical compromise prevailed: commissioners signaled support for funding the team lead position immediately and continuing conversations about shared governance and broader funding sources.
Staff noted the positions are not currently shared under the existing governance structure and that moving them would require policy or interlocal-agreement work; commissioners asked staff to return with options and clearer cost-sharing scenarios.
What happens next: staff will capture the commissioners' direction—fund the team lead as highest priority, leave governance change conversations ongoing—and will return with options for shared funding and the mill-levy implications of county-only funding.
