Following approval of minutes for its May 26 special meeting in which it approved extending an employment contract to Maggie McGhee as administrator of the Kent County Nursing Home, commissioners turned their attention to another matter related to community health. Stacey Bruington, wellness consultant with Texas Association of Counties, gave a presentation on a wellness strategy for Kent County to consider as part of TAC’s County Specific Incentive.
The program, which must be approved by the commissioners court to be implemented, provides a savings in healthcare costs to the county as well as incentives to individuals.
Bruington showed how the Healthy County program could reduce costs and eliminate barriers to caring for chronic illnesses, and also identify and reduce preventable health risks among employee populations.
Diabetes, for instance, is the most expensive chronic medical condition to provide benefits for, Bruington said. “85 to 90% of chronic conditions can be avoided or mitigated,” she explained.
Over the past three years she showed that Kent County’s top diagnoses had cost the county health pool $281,174 for musculoskeletal system conditions, $155,898 for nervous system issues, and $94,441 for urinary tract problems. among a group of 71 eligible employees.
Such costs can be reduced, Bruington said, by getting members on board for diagnostics, and screenings, and engaged in preventative practices. An app is available to participants to track health metrics and share them with their own phsyicians.
Kent County would qualify for a $5,000 per year reduction, she said.
The court moved unanimously to approve participation. The program will take effect Oct. 1, 2023.
The court afterward devoted about two hours to a wide-ranging discussion of nursing home matters. Consultant Tracy Woodward noted a resident census of 40, and all jobs filled except PRN, CNA, charge nurse and MDS. The last day for interim administrator Diana Riojas was May 31.
Woodward said that the OIG audit yielded about $7,700 in billings for restorative care.
The court suggested that the updated employee handbook, which had been submitted with changes, be shared with McGhee for final review.
The question was raised regarding eligibility for an employee retention tax credit related to the Covid- 19 period, with a figure of $1.2 million possible to be regained and an accounting cost of about $3,200. Commissioner Ray Hall questioned whether counties were eligible to file for this; Woodward claimed that hospital districts were, and would look into it.
New administrator Maggie McGhee was welcomed. “It’s been a busy two weeks already,” she observed.
A replacement water heater was needed, at an estimated cost of $8,000. Extended discussion of procedures and maintenance matters followed, including consideration of upcoming changes to cable TV that will necessitate new solutions for access to programming and news.
Court recessed for lunch at noon and was to return at 1 p.m. to take up another ten items on the agenda. Details of those discussions and actions were not immediately available and will be reported in a future issue.
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