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OVD Insurance Account Executive Katherine Johnson, OVD Insurance Department Manager Shelby Strah and Ionia County Human Resources Director Priscilla Walden attended Tuesday’s Ionia County Board of Commissioners meeting to defend the HealthBar program, an on-site nurse available to county employees. —- DN Photo | Tim McAllister
IONIA — The Ionia County Board of Commissioners declined to terminate the county’s contract with HealthBar, an on-site nurse available to county employees at an annual cost of $141,426.
Commissioner Phillip Hesche’s motion failed to receive support at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting.
The meeting’s agenda packet consisted of an undated, typed request from Hesche asking his colleagues to consider terminating the county’s HealthBar contract.
“I’m calling for the BOC (board of commissioners) to review the program and contract with HealthBar due to a lack of participation and use of its services,” Hesche wrote. “I have been investigating, and in my opinion, believe this plan is not cost-effective and is not being fully utilized by the county employees. Therefore, I am asking that the BOC terminate this contract effective immediately.”
Ionia County Commissioner Phillip Hesche proposed at Tuesday’s meeting to terminate the county’s contract with the HealthBar on-site nurse. His motion failed to recieve any support. — DN Photo | Tim McAllister
During the meeting, Hesche rattled off a series of numbers that he said showed low participation in the program, coupled with high cost.
“In my free time, I’ve done some research,” he said. “Rough figuring, that company walked out of here with about $5,200, after their costs, for a month. It doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Hesche said that in February, the HealthBar nurse saw 19 people at a cost of $9,049.89.
“That means it cost my taxpayers $476.31 to see a nurse,” he said. “In March, they (saw) 26, and it was a little lower, it was only $348.07 for a person to see the nurse. On top of this are prescriptions and labs … Where in this country do you pay $476 to go see a nurse?”
Ionia County Human Resources Director Priscilla Walden, OVD Insurance Account Executive Katherine Johnson and OVD Insurance Department Manager Shelby Strah attended Tuesday’s meeting to defend the HealthBar program.
“It’s going to be probably six months until we’ll have all the statistics in to make a good decision about how we’re doing,” Walden told commissioners.
“One of the benefits is that if an employee takes advantage of the HealthBar nurse downstairs, they might be down there for 20 minutes as opposed to having to drive to the doctor’s office, have their appointment and drive back,” she continued. “Especially for departments like the sheriff or Central Dispatch, I think that’s a real advantage.”
“Implementing a new program like this takes time for the engagement to increase,” Johnson said. “As much as we try to communicate to the employees of the county about its availability, especially spouses and dependents, it does take time for the awareness to grow. Understanding what services HealthBar offers and what they can do, we fully expect there to be lower utilization in the first few months.”
Johnson provided one further month’s worth of figures than Hesche had access to, which she said showed a continued increase in employee visits to the nurse.
“We would expect there to be less services in the first several months of the program than you’re paying out,” Johnson said. “We are anticipating that we would see that turn around. Mid-contract year, you’re probably going to see those visits go up. This is our hope and this is our expectation.”
A flyer inside the Ionia County administration building promotes the use of the HealthBar on-site nurse. — DN Photo | Tim McAllister
Johnson proposed holding off on terminating the program until the end of the one-year contract, while continuously assessing usage data.
“What I would propose as an alternative to canceling is that we continue to watch the data, and monthly we can report back with this exact data to show you how the engagement grows,” Johnson proposed. “I would recommend revisiting it at maybe the six-month mark, the nine-month mark and especially at the end of the contract year to make sure that you’re getting the value out of the investment, and then make your decision at that point.”
Commissioners did not second Hesche’s motion to terminate the contract, but agreed to keep tabs on the situation to make sure taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.
“Can we get monthly reports so we can look at these numbers?” Vice Chair Terence Frewen asked.
“Yeah, it’s a small report, so I think it’s easily emailable,” Johnson replied.
In other matters …
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Ionia County Board of Commissioners also:
- Voted 6-0 to approve contracts between the Michigan Department of Transportation and the County Road Department to use Highway Safety Improvement Program funds to repair and improve the intersection of Krupp and Zahm and to use Surface Transportation Program funds to resurface Grand River Avenue from Keefer Highway to the Portland city limits.
- Voted 6-0 to approve a resolution “urging action to address the public mental health funding shortfall” as requested by The Right Door for Hope, Recovery and Wellness Chief Executive Officer Kerry Possehn.
- Voted 6-0 in favor of agreements for additional county sheriff services with Easton Township, Otisco Township and Clarksville.
- Voted 6-0 to approve an out-of-state travel request from Charlean Hemminger and Matthew VanCamp from Ionia County Hope and Recovery, who are attending a youth drug conference in Nashville with six youths from Saranac and Belding.
- Voted 6-0 to appoint Richard Wilson to a six-year term on the jury board.
