PUBLIC HEALTH
The first quarterly meeting for the Jones County Board of Health in 2023 started off with an update of the progress of the $1 million-plus renovations to the health department building.
The March 1 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Ed Barbee, and the first and only item of Old Business was the building update. Morris Hutcheson with the North Central Health District had good news that the renovations were still on schedule, but he said the project would no longer be under budget.
Hutcheson went through the various items requiring additional funds, including mandated wage rates of more than $20,000. He said ceiling grids, tile for the bathrooms, termite damage, replacement of doors and issues with the concrete pad for the building addition were part of the $129,323 overage.
Hutcheson asked the board to approve a change order for the additional funds to come out of the department’s fund balance, but he also had a plan for replacing the funds. He said they applied for a WIC Program and a grant for COVID-19 funds.
Board member Chris Weidner made the motion to approve the change order, and it was approved unanimously.
Hutcheson said he hoped the staff would be able to move back into the health department building in October or November.
Reports
Environmental Specialist Elise Harris presented the Environmental Health report. She said there had been 30 routine food inspections, and she also reported that service fees were up last quarter because of annual collections.
Harris said there had been a small increase in the number of animal bites but no rabies reported.
The specialist said Marco’s Pizza was coming to the old Zaxby’s building.
Nursing Director Sherry Bryant said patient visits were down due to the renovations, and she hoped to be seeing more patients when they move back.
She said reported STDs were down, which was good, and immunizations were down. She said the immunizations were higher in 2022 because of COVID-19.
Bryant said she recently attended a meeting at Jordan Chapel AME Church in Haddock. The director said the church was interested in knowing how they could help the community.
Sylvia Woodward with the North Central Health District presented the financial report. She said the report was as of Jan. 31 and represents 58 percent of the year. The total revenues were $406,178 and total expenditures $573,783.
Woodward noted that the revenues represented 50.73 percent of the budget, and expenditures were 71.66 percent. The net deficit was $167,664. She said the total cash in the bank as of Jan. 31 was $616,754.
She also presented an adjusted budget that included the additional funds needed for building renovations. The overall budget increases, inclusive of the building renovations, was $956,502.
Weidner made a motion to approve the budget revisions, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Dr. Amber Erickson presented the county epidemiology report. She said COVID-19 was trending down in the districts with only a few pockets of illness. Erickson said M Pox (monkey pox) numbers were low globally with a total of 30,000 cases and 2,000 reported in Georgia. She said the district had given 400 doses of the vaccine.
Erickson also said flu rates were low.
She gave the board a heads up that the final draft of the district’s strategic plan was completed, and it would be presented at the next meeting.
Interim NCHD District Director Dr. Thomas Craft said he was following bills in the legislature, one of which was to classify vaping as a tobacco product. He said they had been trying to get the approval of HB 101, which would raise the cigarette tax.
Craft said smoking impacts the budget because it takes a lot of tax dollars to take care of smokers. He said the cost was estimated at $700 million. The proposal would raise the tax by 20 cents, which would bring the total tax to 57 cents.
“I hope it passes. We’ve been trying for 20 years,” he said. “Smoking is not a cheap habit.”
The next meeting of the Board of Health is scheduled June 7.
