Clark, Floyd to receive expanded public health funding

Sep. 5—SOUTHERN INDIANA — The health departments in Clark and Floyd counties will expand services with increased funding from the state.

The new Health First Indiana program is a major boost to public health funding throughout the state. Both Clark and Floyd counties have opted to receive the state funding.

The expanded funding was approved by the legislature this year with the passage of Senate Enrolled Act 4.

Clark County is slated to receive $1.3 million in 2024, and Floyd will receive $814,561, according to projections by the Indiana Department of Health.

The state will provide a combined $75 million to counties that opted into the program starting in January, and another $150 million will be distributed in 2025. Public health funding in Indiana has previously consisted of $6.9 million split between 92 counties.

Sept. 1 was the deadline for counties to finalize their decision on whether to opt in or out of state funding.

In a Tuesday news release, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that 86 of the state's 92 counties have opted into the Health First Indiana program.

"Communities across the state are recognizing this 1500% increased state investment as a game-changer for Hoosiers not just today, but for generations to come," Holcomb said.

According to the new release, the funding will guarantee that most residents have "access to core public health services that will help address issues such as childhood lead poisoning, heart disease, tobacco cessation, obesity and maternal and infant mortality."

CLARK COUNTY

Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said the funding will help the Clark County Health Department to enhance its delivery of services.

"There's so many things that we've wanted to do for a really long time," he said. "And funding has been a barrier there, to be honest, because we're a little limited from the workforce side of things. So it helps us to provide some new positions and things like that."

The program involves a set of "key performance indicators" to qualify for funding, and it is important to choose programs that will show a "good return on investment" in terms of public health benefits, Yazel said.

One of the focuses will be maternal and child health. The funding will allow the Clark County Health Department to hire a maternal health navigator to work with federally qualified health centers to coordinate prenatal care.

"We have a hole in our county as far as services for moms that are uninsured or underinsured," Yazel said. "That's going to be a big addition of services."

The department will also expand vaccine initiatives in Clark County.

"The whole state of Indiana and the nation is behind on routine vaccines both for access issues and just vaccine hesitancy," Yazel said. "We've typically been a place that kind of plugs some vaccine gaps but we haven't been a prime community vaccinator. We want to up our availability there."

The Clark County Health Department plans to expand its school health nurse liaison program and continue developing partnerships with local schools.

The department will be able to provide more prevention and educational programming with the extra financial support. This includes partnering with Clark Memorial Health to add more health screenings for at-risk individuals.

Yazel also said the department plans to improve its new Mobile Integrated Health program. It will also implement a new program to "coordinate and track referrals" in the county.

In addition to programming, the state funding will help Clark County increase compensation for health department employees, Yazel said. He said the staff has repeatedly gone "above and beyond."

"We're actually going to do market adjustments so that our staff is paid in line with other health departments across the state," he said.

FLOYD COUNTY

Floyd County Health Officer Dr. Tom Harris said the funding will help the health department to increase staffing, including the addition of a social worker, preparedness coordinator and full-time educator.

It will allow the county to increase support for maternal health "either through direct interventions or through partnerships with other agencies," Harris said.

The program will also support additional injury prevention training and the county's overdose fatality review, and it will enhance preventive health services in Floyd County.

"It will allow us to continue programs that we know save lives like our Narcan program," Harris said. "In the last five years, we've given out over 6,000 doses of Narcan in Floyd County."

It will benefit homeless outreach services and mental health referrals, particularly with the hiring of a social worker.

"We're basically not stopping any services under the new plan," Harris said. "We're augmenting existing services and actually we're picking up a lot of disease and injury prevention."

The funding will be allocated directly to the local health departments, so it cannot be diverted to other projects in the county, he said.

Harris described the importance of increasing public health funding locally and across the state.

"The theory is that you've got to spend somewhere between $30 and $40 per capita for effective public health," he said. "Currently, Floyd County spends $7.50 [per capita]. So with the increased funding in the first year, we'll be up in the mid-$20 range."

"And then with the increase in the second year, we should be in the optimal nationwide $30 to $40 range."

He emphasized that Indiana is ranked 45th in the U.S. for public health funding.

"So the reason for that is the local governments have done a pathetic job of funding public health, so the state has sort of taken over funding, is what it comes down to," Harris said.

State Rep. Rita Fleming, D-Jeffersonville, said in a Friday news release that there is "no doubt that Floyd and Clark counties will benefit from this additional funding."

"Local health departments will be able to modernize their technology, expand their services and give Hoosiers the support they desperately need," she said. "This funding fills a critical need for our community and our health care network.

She referred to her health care experience as an OB/GYN at Clark Memorial Health, saying she "cannot stress enough how much this funding will support both patients and medical professionals."

"This puts money into the hands of local leaders who know their area and its specific demands," she said. "Through this funding, more Hoosiers will get uniform, quality health care that they can count on. I'm excited to see where this funding takes Floyd and Clark [counties] as we continue to improve the Indiana public health system."