Clay County Commission
Dan Haglund
Clay County Public Health administrator Kathy McKay presented an annual department overview to the Clay County Commission on Tuesday morning in Moorhead, detailing how different departments are meeting the myriad needs as they arrive.
Among the programs and staff are 21 adult health positions, of which there are three open positions. Family Health has eight positions (three openings), Health Promotions has 10 positions (two openings), WIC Program with six positions, and Environmental Health has two.
Other sections include emergency preparedness, finance, detox (34 positions), administrative support and management.
The Adult Health section of the public health department provides comprehensive screenings, home- and community-based waiver services, case management, nurse care coordination, personal case assistance, and assessment and support planning. This section provides support for the more than 1,500 individuals in the county.
The Family Health and Clinic covers the needs of family home visiting programs, school health, public health clinic, car seat education and daycare consultation.
“We are very proud of our health team,” said Liz Bjur, Family Health supervisor.
In Health Promotion, the PartnerSHIP 4 Health program encompasses four counties with activities including community gardens, worksite wellness and other healthy pursuits.
Child and Teen Checkup Outreach had a reach of more than 17,000 kids in 2022, which pushes families to get their kids in for screenings and health or dental checkups during the year through texting, emails or phone calls. The program is funded through the Department of Human Services.
Other promotional services include Positive Community Norms, and public health analyst, Data-Epi Infrastructure analysis through a grant, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as suicide prevention and The People Project.
The Women, Nutrition & Children (WIC) Program guides families with young children with nutrition and breast-feeding information, healthy foods/meal planning, referrals to community resources, and family support. About 1,500 individuals used this program in the county last year. The program was mandated to go remote during the pandemic, but the number of individuals served each year has continued to climb.
Environmental Health includes food, pool and lodging (FPL) inspections and licensing, demolitions, plan reviews, complaints/nuisance cases, and rural and urban septic system inspections, certifications and permits. About 300 FPL licenses were issued last year.
The Finance and Administrative Support section provides customer support, accounting, managing Public Health supplies, PartnerSHIP 4 Health Community Health Board, grant management, forecasting and budgeting, and information technology.
The revenue sources for these programs are as follows: $3.38 million from federal, state and other grants (40 percent of total), $1.48 million from county and tax dollars (17 percent), $1.40 million from insurance, Medical Assistance and Medicare (17 percent), $945,873 from client fees (11 percent), $857,138 from contracts (10 percent), and the rest split between licenses and professional reimbursement, and non-government grants.
In Clay Detox and Withdrawal Management, there is a 16-bed facility for withdrawal management and detoxification unit, available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
“Last year, we served 30 Minnesota counties and have contracts with the Fargo Southeast Human Services Center and the Fargo VA,” said Troy Amundson, Clay detox director.
The construction of a new Substance Use Crisis Facility, which will have 32 beds and secured funding from a Department of Human Services grant, will begin this year.
“We applied for a $5 million grant, and we were dancing in the streets when we got that,” Amundson said.
A request is being made to the offices of Minnesota Sens. Amy Kloubuchar and Tina Smith for direct funding.
Clay County Commissioner Kevin Campbell, Dist. 4, voiced some trepidation over the new center’s official name, which he doesn’t feel should include the word “crisis.” He said the word could be viewed as a negative or alarming connotation. Additional discussion and comments supported Campbell’s request for further ideations toward an official name.