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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Financial management led Monday's discussion of the Belmont County Health Board, with the board planning to upgrade the computer accounting system and fill a fiscal position.
Health Director Tamara Jo Hess said some changes in procedure will be necessary.
"We've always talked about everything that has been wrong in regards to financials," she said. "All funding that comes in, any income that came in, went into one account. The state has requested that we have to individually list - all the way back to 2020 -- every single month. Trying to get back into and separate all of that information for 2020, 2021, 2022 and now this year is extremely complicated."
Hess said some of these complications include the ongoing status of grants. She noted one example is a Workforce grant that ends in July.
"We know where we are regarding that funding and what we have left in that grant," she said, noting the department is in the process of using those funds by July.
Since March, the health department has been working with Belmont County Auditor Cindi Henry's office to handle the department's financial needs following the resignation of the department's fiscal officer. However, Hess said there have been procedural issues to straighten out.
"They have a problem on their side. The way that they have been tracking all of the funding, income, grants, pay-ins, all of that, we separate all of that on our side," she said. "When it's going over to the courthouse, it's going into one general health fund."
Hess said the auditor's office will begin using separate accounts. Meanwhile, the health department has been awaiting approval from the state for a unified accounting network system.
"It's been three months. We're getting further and further behind," she said, adding the board has received five qualified applicants for a fiscal manager.
"We're going to set up to do interviews," she said. "We're going to get a brand new computer system that is completely gutted of everything. It's a completely brand new system that will go into the fiscal office. We'll purchase the QuickBooks (accounting software) program, and the person that we're going to hire needs to start that program from the ground, start it from scratch."
She said grants related to COVID-19 are close to being closed out.
"It's going to go in the right direction. We've just got to get somebody back in there that knows how to work to clean it up," she said.
Afterward, Hess said the cost has not yet been determined. She did not speculate on a timeline.
In other matters, Dr. Robert Wetzel, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology in St. Clairsville andalso serves as medical director, attended the meeting. His position was created when the board split the medical director role from that of health commissioner, so the commissioner would not need to be a doctor. The department operates services with Wetzel's medical license.
"I'm really looking forward to working with some old friends and some new friends in the health department," he said prior to the meeting, adding that he has been reviewing requisitions for vaccines and meeting health department staff. He said more infectious disease and sexually transmitted disease screenings are expected.
"We're still getting out from under the COVID shadow. That's kind of been the big thing," he said.
The board was also introduced to Carrigan Goodson, a health educator. Her duties include promoting car seat use, visiting schools to teach life skills and vaping education, and distributing Narcan in communities to counter drug overdoses.
Jamie Betts, director of the Belmont County Community Access Resources Education and Solutions program, also spoke. His duties are helping connect residents with available services. The CARES program can be reached at 740-827-0004 or jbetts@cumberlandtrailfire.com.