Planning now central focus for Jasper County Health Department

Looking toward the coming year, the Jasper County Board of Health heard highlights of the 2018-19 Jasper County Health Department Strategic Plan at its regular meeting Thursday.

Covering administration, environment health, public health and the home care aide/homemaker program, the department is continuing to work toward its mission of protecting and improving the health of Jasper County.

“I like things in writing so we can go back and see where we’ve been and where we’re going,” JCHD Administrator Becky Pryor said. “We took over public health just more than two years ago and there has been a lot of changes.”

For the administration, Pryor highlighted the change in the location of the office from the Jasper County Annex Building to its current location and the future of where the department will be with the lease ending at the current space this year. Updating job descriptions policies and forms, annual all-staff meeting and weekly huddles, annual employee evaluations, evaluate reoccurring bills and focusing on the yearly budget were also in the plan.

Environmental health will once again work to have a backup plan and cross training for its director position, a need for the area for quite some time. They will also continue education for re-certification and update procedures.

The public health sector has been and will continue to be busy with multiple program and activities taking place throughout the year. From staff education on injury prevention and the new Love Our Kids grant to community events including the bike rodeo, Red Ribbon week with the school and trick-or-treat participation to offer a healthier option, public health moves at a brisk pace in the county.

“We’re also the county nurses for blood draws and flu shots,” Pryor said.

Processes and training are a focus for the home care aid/homemaker program with 12 hours of training established for all home care aides. The area is also looking to develop a skills checklist for the aides and will look to find a better process for billing and pre-authorizations of VA and state Medicaid managed care organizations (MCO) follow-ups.

“We’re just trying to make it better all of the time,” Pryor said. “Sometimes you tend to get stagnant if you don’t keep setting goals and make things better in our processes.”

The board also approved members John Van Ryswyk and medical director Andrew Cope for reappointment.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com