Health District plans to wrap move to JFS in August
The Holmes County Health District will shut down operations for a few days in August as it completes the move to new office space at the Holmes County Job and Family Services (JFS) building.
The board of health held its regular monthly meeting in the Holmes County Job and Family Services’ conference room Tuesday, June 22, the district’s new home effective August 22. The district is in the process of moving into the third floor of the building, a move Health Commissioner Dr. D.J. McFadden said should be completed the last week of August.
The move comes after Pomerene Hospital purchased the current health district building on Wooster Road in Millersburg for $300,000. The purchase money will be used to pay the district’s rent on 5,000 square feet of office space at JFS.
McFadden said he expects to suspend office operations briefly while the move is finalized.
“I am hoping to close the district to only the essential services for two days during the week,” McFadden said. “Of course the move will be ongoing” prior to August 22.
McFadden said he hopes to keep the clinic open for those few days, but it has not been determined if the clinic will also need to close. The clinic will remain at the Wooster Road building at least through the end of the year.
In other business, McFadden said the district is looking at drawing down staff levels in the wake of decreased inspections related to the construction industry. According to McFadden, the drop in new construction has resulted in fewer inspections, and therefore less revenue generated by fees.
McFadden said cutting staff now may be counterproductive if things improve.
“The difficult tug and pull is that for so many years we’ve been on a downswing,” McFadden said. “The problem is, as in the past, you have a downswing and then an upswing.”
The inspections are currently carried out by two part-time employees, and one full-time staff member. Jon Croup, director of environmental health, said he does not expect inspections to meet last year’s level, noting 2010 was subpar compared with pre-recession inspections.
According to district statistics, permits to install totaled 73 in 2010 and permits to alter totaled 34. As of May 31, permits to install stand at 21 and permits to alter at seven.
“We’re at mid-year and I don’t expect to get to last year’s levels, and last year was a bad year,” Croup said.
McFadden said considerations include combining the two part-time positions into a full-time position.
McFadden also informed the board that the district will no longer carry out mobile home park inspections as per a new state law. The inspections were “a self-sustaining” line item, Croup said. Under the new law, parks are no longer subject to inspection as a whole, with the mobile units inspected singularly. The mobile home inspections were carried out separately and individually prior to the change in law.
The next meeting of the Holmes County District Board of Health will be held July 15.
The board of health held its regular monthly meeting in the Holmes County Job and Family Services’ conference room Tuesday, June 22, the district’s new home effective August 22. The district is in the process of moving into the third floor of the building, a move Health Commissioner Dr. D.J. McFadden said should be completed the last week of August.
The move comes after Pomerene Hospital purchased the current health district building on Wooster Road in Millersburg for $300,000. The purchase money will be used to pay the district’s rent on 5,000 square feet of office space at JFS.
McFadden said he expects to suspend office operations briefly while the move is finalized.
“I am hoping to close the district to only the essential services for two days during the week,” McFadden said. “Of course the move will be ongoing” prior to August 22.
McFadden said he hopes to keep the clinic open for those few days, but it has not been determined if the clinic will also need to close. The clinic will remain at the Wooster Road building at least through the end of the year.
In other business, McFadden said the district is looking at drawing down staff levels in the wake of decreased inspections related to the construction industry. According to McFadden, the drop in new construction has resulted in fewer inspections, and therefore less revenue generated by fees.
McFadden said cutting staff now may be counterproductive if things improve.
“The difficult tug and pull is that for so many years we’ve been on a downswing,” McFadden said. “The problem is, as in the past, you have a downswing and then an upswing.”
The inspections are currently carried out by two part-time employees, and one full-time staff member. Jon Croup, director of environmental health, said he does not expect inspections to meet last year’s level, noting 2010 was subpar compared with pre-recession inspections.
According to district statistics, permits to install totaled 73 in 2010 and permits to alter totaled 34. As of May 31, permits to install stand at 21 and permits to alter at seven.
“We’re at mid-year and I don’t expect to get to last year’s levels, and last year was a bad year,” Croup said.
McFadden said considerations include combining the two part-time positions into a full-time position.
McFadden also informed the board that the district will no longer carry out mobile home park inspections as per a new state law. The inspections were “a self-sustaining” line item, Croup said. Under the new law, parks are no longer subject to inspection as a whole, with the mobile units inspected singularly. The mobile home inspections were carried out separately and individually prior to the change in law.
The next meeting of the Holmes County District Board of Health will be held July 15.
Published: June 22, 2011
