ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Health welcomed Karri Baker as its new grant fiscal officer on Monday.

Baker, originally of St. Clairsville, recently moved back to the area from Columbus.

Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul said she will be responsible for monitoring how the department’s grant funding is spent and will work with grant coordinators, as well as meeting all grant requirements.

“She has extensive experience,” he said, adding that Baker will familiarize herself with the state’s grant management system.

Baker brings 12 years of experience in the fiscal field, having worked as fiscal officer for Bellaire Public Library and the Belmont County District Library systems. In Columbus, she was the fiscal administrative assistant for Jefferson Township and Blacklik. She also worked as comptroller for the village of New Albany, Ohio.

“I really appreciated the opportunity to work here,” she said.

After the board meeting, Baker said the health department is a good fit for her and she looks forward to focusing on the grant aspect of an entity’s finances.

“I’ll need to familiarize myself with the grants. I worked a lot with grants from the libraries and the townships, so I have some experience,” she said. “I know they have eight to 10 grants right now, so there’s a lot of moving parts. I know when one ends another one’s coming in, so it’s going to be a pretty busy job, but I like to be busy so I’m looking forward to that.”

Baker also looks forward to scouting out new grants.

“I know there’s a lot out there. I’ll be looking forward to investigating that and see what we can do,” she said.

The board also heard from Lori DeCoy, director of Belmont County Women, Infants and Children, who reported she has been searching for a new building to house WIC operations. The office is currently in a former bank building at 3201 Belmont St., Bellaire, but there are issues with the elevator.

DeCoy said they would prefer keeping offices near the Ohio River, and while there are many unused buildings, she has not found a suitable one yet.

“We want to move to someplace that’s first floor, that’s easier for our moms with strollers and babies and infants and children,” DeCoy said.

If a new building is found, WIC will give a 30-day notice at its existing site.

Also, COVID-19 cases have increased. Health Commissioner Tamara Hess reported 114 cases in August compared to 22 in July, with numbers expected to continue to increase. However, this is complicated because many people are not reporting their illnesses and the health department is only receiving numbers from lab test results.

“We keep our eyes on facilities, nursing homes, schools,” she said, adding there are two county residents hospitalized with COVID.

Hess said the health department is not offering the new COVID vaccine, since it has been commercialized and the department would have to pay upfront $117 per dose. Hess said the vaccine was commercialized in order to lift the burden from local health departments of being the only ones administering the vaccine.

Sproul elaborated afterward.

“COVID’s going to be with us, we know that. It’s just going to be like the flu,” he said. “These are people who have gone to the hospital — maybe not for that purpose — but when they got tested they have tested positive for COVID.”