Johnson County likely to opt-in to state health funding

Johnson County officials are likely to opt into receiving about $3.1 million in state public health funding later this month.

The Johnson County Council and Board of Commissioners heard a presentation about possible uses of the funding during a special joint meeting on Monday. The elected officials in attendance voiced their approval for opting in; however, the commissioners — who have the final say in doing so — opted to table their decision so that County Commissioner Kevin Walls, who was unexpectedly absent, could have a say too. A final decision will be made at the commissioners’ May 20 meeting.

The special joint meeting comes on the heels of a public health health roundtable the commissioners held with the Indiana Department of Health at the end of March. The goal of that meeting was for the county to reconsider opting into Health First Indiana funding, which they had previously turned down last year. The commissioners are reevaluating the potential benefits and concerns regarding opting into the funds.

Johnson County was one of six counties in the state to turn down funding from the Health First Indiana initiative enacted in Senate Enrolled Act 4 of 2023. The law added $75 million in funding for local health departments for 2024, followed by $150 million in 2025.

If the commissioners opt in this year, the county would receive approximately $3.1 million in new public health money from the state. Health Department Director Betsy Swearingen on Monday presented a preliminary budget detailing the department’s plan to use the funding if it becomes available.

Funds from the HFI initiative could be used for the county health department’s chronic disease prevention, tobacco and vaping prevention and cessation, and trauma and injury programs. It could also be used for maternal and child health, environmental public health, the department’s school liaison program and “access to and linkage to care” programs — like an after-hours health clinic for under-served populations, Swearingen said.

One program Swearingen is most excited about is the potential for the health department to give out grants for programs that would benefit citizens, she said.

“It’ll be very interesting to see who comes to us to ask us for things that they think that they need in the county,” Swearingen said. “People who are out there every day … who need the funding and can’t find the funding; and that will better serve our citizens.”

HFI funds could also be used to give aid to surrounding counties, like Brown County, which are smaller and may not get as much funding from the state, Swearingen said. Counties like Brown could partner with Johnson County on programs they cannot normally afford to put on by themselves, she said.

West appreciated the comprehensive budget proposal. The flexibility of how the funds could be used was one of the reasons why the county is reconsidering opting in, he said.

There are fewer regulations for the HFI funds compared to other grants the county health department typically gets. That provides more freedom to allocate it to needed areas, Swearingen said.

If the county does opt-in and follow the proposed budget, one new position will need to be added: a grant manager. This role, which would be paid for with the funds, would manage the proposed grant program, along with the department’s other needs, she said.

The county would not lose any of its other health grants by opting into the program, though one position would be moved into the HFI fund. The grant for the school liaison position will be done, and the state wanted it moved under HFI that could also be a use for the funding, Swearingen said.

County council member John Myers, along with council member Ron Deer, expressed some concern about how officials don’t know how long the grant program will last. Commissioner Brian Baird said it would depend on the legislature, and Swearingen added that it’s funded through the state’s legislature’s current two-year budget.

If the monies were to disappear, the health department could cover the positions for at least five years with other funds, Swearingen said.

“We’re not a health department that needs these funds to do what we’re already doing,” she said. “These funds would just be to build and to grow and to do other projects outside what we’re already doing.”

Near the end of the meeting, and in…