The Jones County Health Department budget passed with no problem at its last meeting despite numerous issues at the state level.

Health Department members listened to quarterly reports from department heads, including environmentalist Floyd Comer, office manager Linda Harrell, and nurse manager Goldie Hicks at the June 8 meeting and as well as an update from Dr. David Harvey, District Five health director.

Comer stated that his department issued 13 fewer septic permits than for the same time period in 2008 and 21 fewer well permits. The environmentalist asked for a computer tablet and printer to facilitate restaurant inspections and lab supplies in order to perform his own water tests for wells.

Comer said the cost to purchase the computer and printer is $2,400, and he was firm in his opinion for the need of being able to perform water tests locally. The environmentalist said the cost to send water samples to the lab is approximately the same as buying the supplies to do the test himself. The difference is timeliness. The lab does not accept samples during the last two weeks of the month.

“If we do the test ourselves, it would certainly be better for the people needing the results,” he said.

Board member Dr. Kara Moore asked Comer if an option is available in the private sector for the test to be performed, and he said no. She also asked about the price, and he said doing the test locally would be about $5 cheaper per sample.

“So many people depend on us, I think we need to be able to do our own tests. It’s not a cost issue; it’s being able to do our job,” Comer said.

Board members unanimously agreed to the local testing.

Harrell presented the 2010 budget with an overall reduction of $10,758, which includes a 3 percent decrease in salaries. She explained that last year’s budget included a 3 percent cost of living increase that was not realized and was deducted this year.

The operating expenses were also reduced because of being under budget last year and the receipt of a bulk of WIC supplies.

Hicks talked about a recent audit. The report stated that Jones County’s records were in order and clients are satisfied. She also said the county’s strategic national stockpile trailer has been picked up, and Chrystal Morgan, emergency preparedness training coordinator for the North Central Health District, will be training Jones County law enforcement officers on their role in the county’s pandemic plan.

Hicks said day-care audits will begin this month, and she reported on the Health Department’s presence at the Daylily Festival, taking blood pressures and distributing information.

Harvey said the reorganization of the state health department transfers it to the Department of Community Health from the Department of Human Resources. He said no information is available about the transfer because of a technology program that was supposed to have cost $400,000 but now has a price tag of $4 million.

“At this point we don’t know who the division director will be,” he said. “When legislators passed the 2010 budget, the health department was in the DHR budget. We don’t know what will happen.”

Harvey said state revenues continue to drop and he does not know how stimulus money will impact the bottom line. He added that family planning supplies are definitely running low.

The director praised the way the district has handled the preparation for the H1N1 virus. He said the virus had little effect during the spring, but he anticipates it will return with the seasonal flu.

“It will be a ‘double whammy’,” Harvey noted. “No one has antibodies against the swine flu. It hasn’t been seen before. We hope to have the vaccine for it ready in the fall.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, Jones County Emergency Management Agency Director Allan Green presented an update of the county’s Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan.

He said Jones County started having pandemic meetings about three years ago, and the resulting plan is exclusively the county’s. Green explained that the district health director makes decisions through local boards of health.

“Jones County has to stand on its own because other counties will be having the same problem,” he said. Green said, in addition to the national stockpile trailer supplies, the county also has several thousand masks and gloves that were received with grant funds.

Moore suggested running public information articles in The Jones County News to inform the public about the H1N1 virus.