New health commissioner to replace administrator

CELINA - The local health board on Wednesday approved action to quickly hire a full-time health commissioner due to the looming departure of administrator Dale Palmer.

The Mercer County-Celina City Board of Health currently has on staff a part-time health commissioner and full-time administrator. Palmer's position - after a new health commissioner is hired - will terminate.

The health board following a one-hour executive session agreed to immediately start the interview/hiring process for the health commissioner position. Palmer, who tendered his resignation in May and had intended to leave July 3, last month agreed to stay on several weeks longer. When he leaves - and before the new health commissioner fills the post - the administrator position will temporarily be filled by emergency response coordinator and epidemiologist Deb Scheer.

Current part-time health commissioner Dr. Philip Masser will serve as part-time medical director when the new health commissioner arrives, Palmer added.

The health board is looking to the Ohio Department of Health for guidance on the changes, he added.

"The board will have to approve a resolution ... we hope to get the language from ODH by next week so we can draft and pass the resolution at a special meeting" in the coming weeks, said Palmer, who was hired by the agency in 2008.

Applicants for health commissioner must hold a master's degree in public health; a salary has not been set, officials said. In a wage analysis presented to the board Wednesday, annual salaries for health commissioners in 10 area health districts ranged from $58,000 to $85,680. Palmer's current salary as administrator is $57,500 per year plus benefits.

Mercer and Auglaize counties health boards in recent weeks discussed sharing the expense of a full-time health commissioner in an effort to cut costs. Auglaize County Health Commissioner Charlotte Parsons is retiring in August. However, the boards discovered in a conversation Wednesday morning with ODH officials that each county must retain a full-time health commissioner or medical director to be eligible for grants, Palmer said.

"ODH also said as a triad requirement it's necessary to have one or the other position as full-time in order to respond to emergencies in a timely manner," he said.

Health boards also must have full-time directors of nursing and environmental services to meet state requirements. Both counties fulfill that mandate.

In other business Wednesday, the Mercer County health board issued an Aug. 5 deadline to Frank K. Creeden of Celina to address trash and a sewage problem on his property at 134 Orchard Ave. If he is not compliant by that date, the health board could turn the case over to the county prosecutor, officials said.

Health officials inspected the home in the Scotty's Beach area following an initial complaint by a neighbor June 2. The allegation related to "garbage piled along the house and an overgrown backyard." Health department sanitarian Chris Miller inspected the property and confirmed the complaint.

A second complaint filed with the agency June 9 noted "raw sewage bubbling up on north side of home."

Miller also confirmed that allegation during an on-site inspection. He noted the problem related to a blockage in a kitchen vent.

"It's right outside their back door ... They're walking through it when they go in and out," he said.

Miller told the board he sent Creeden several notices and ultimately gave him until June 30 to correct the problem, but he has not complied.

The board also,

• was told by Palmer the financial report showed a higher-than-normal expense amount last month due to the repayment of $218,000 in grant funds due to an audit completed this spring by ODH. The state had questioned $271,132 in grant funds received by the local agency mainly for emergency response during the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic of 2009.

No criminal action was alleged.

• issued a July 31 deadline to Tim Young, 8583 state Route 219, Celina, to provide proof of a rabies vaccination for his dog who bit someone.

• was introduced to the newly hired administrative assistant Amber Mustard.