COVID surge taxing county health department

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Berg said during a county officials meeting Wednesday that her department is having trouble keeping up with the sheer amount of COVID-19 cases in the area.

Berg, who is also the county’s health officer, said cases in the community are rising as expected and even after bringing back two case investigators from early in the pandemic the department couldn’t contact 40 cases in the county.

After the meeting she said that because they couldn’t contact these cases they were not recorded in the local or state numbers at that point.

She said during the meeting that her department has four people working full time on nothing but COVID-19 cases but they’re having a hard time keeping up.

Berg said the community is also suffering from outbreaks of influenza, strep throat and other diseases on top of COVID-19.

She said they are constantly seeing people go to work while sick against the advice of public health.

“It’s going to wipe out an office. We’ve seen it in other counties already,” she said.

After the meeting, she said this phenomenon is the result of a culture that pushes people to work as long as they are physically able to do so, a culture that must be unlearned.

Berg said she can’t really blame anyone for going to work considering the constant pressure they’re under, whether that’s a lack of sick time or their financial situation.

She said much of the sick time that was granted to people in the beginning of the pandemic is gone and it’s easy for her to say stay home, but it’s not that simple for many of the people she says that to.

She said the department is also looking for a family planning coordinator, a family planning program assistant and a sanitarian, positions they have seen no applicants for.

Conflict over county credit cards continues

At Wednesday’s meeting officials once again asked the Hill County Commission to move forward on implementing county credit cards for business-related expenses, which many said they shouldn’t be expected to cover with their own money.

Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong said she needs to take a trip to Billings for four days next month and she’s tired of having to pay for things like that with her own money, then having to ask for reimbursement later when there is a more efficient system available to them.

Berg supported Armstrong and said she’s spoken with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services which told her that the kinds of thing she’s expected to pay for herself are unrealistic, and the fact that most other counties in Montana have credit cards is evidence that it can work.

“When the state health department is telling me that, I feel like it is feasible. Maybe there should be more meetings,” she said.

Armstrong said cards like this can be set up in around a week and Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown has set them up for schools in the area which have not had significant problems with them, nor have the counties she’s spoken to through their own clerk and recorders.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson, however, said his conversations with the schools contradict this and based on reports he’s gotten from them and city of Havre, credit cards like these come with a lot of problems.

“That’s not the report we’re getting,” he said to Armstrong.

Peterson said he’s being told that people in the schools and city do not understand the rules for how to use the cards which has created a significant mess to deal with.

“The city has said they could almost put a person on full time to keep cleaning things up,” he said. “It’s not as simple as people think.”

When asked who at the city and schools he spoke with Havre Mayor Doug Kaercher was the only specific name he gave.

This morning Kaercher said the city has had issues with their credit cards but most of it hasn’t been regarding misuse use, but making sure they don’t get stolen and tracking how they’re used.

He said in organizations of this size they are important to have despite the difficulties that come along with them, characterizing them as a “necessary evil.”

Peterson also said the county itself has had issues with gas cards being used improperly, but Brown said, over all, these instances are fairly minimal.

Armstrong also said they shouldn’t be punished for the mistakes of others, but Peterson pushed back on that notion.

“So can you tell me who I should trust and who I shouldn’t trust?” he said.

Berg said if the county trusts someone enough to hire them, they should trust them enough to use county credit cards in good faith, but Peterson disagreed.

“That hasn’t always worked out,” he said.

Berg said when it comes to these kinds of cards the burden of proof regarding whether an expense is business-related is always on the employee and if they can’t do that they’re on the hook for the expense.

She said the commission can establish a policy for how these things work.

Brown said mistakes can happen, but the county should trust its employees.

“You have to give your people a chance, you have to trust us,” she said.

Armstrong asked Peterson to have the commission move forward on this issue, which county officials have been talking about for a very long time, and to involve them in the discussion.

“Two years is a long time,” she said.

Peterson said he’d bring the matter before his fellow commissioners, but they are very busy with other things.

County goings-on

At the meeting county officials also provided updates on their departments’ activities.

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said the commission is working on allocating American Rescue Plan Act funds, and drawing up a resolution to put a 3 percent tax on recreation marijuana on the 2022 general election ballot.

Peterson said the update to the Hill County Courthouse’s heating, cooling, and air circulation systems that $1 million in ARPA funds was set aside for will likely require more money.

Berg said the county has received COVID-19 antigen tests for their employees from Bullhook Community Health Center and anyone can come to the department today and get one if they haven’t already.

Brown said the state prison has been restocked with the metal necessary for making license plates so they are back to issuing those.

She said the department didn’t need to issue many of the temporary licenses plates during the recent metal shortage, and have been able to reprint them in metal for those they did need to give them to.

Hill County Human Resources Legal Assistant Brittany Pfeifer said the Hill County Attorney’s office is still looking for two deputy county attorneys, but they have hired a new legal secretary.

Hill County Council on Aging Director Don Kenny said they are starting their annual AARP senior tax preparation service, which is always one of their most utilized services.

Kenny also said their Meals on Wheels program is going strong and the demand for congregate meals has increased as people hunker down for COVID again.