The Union County Board of Health approved an agreement in an effort to streamline the health department’s vaccination services.
During their meeting on Wednesday, board members voted unanimously to approve a service agreement with VaxCare, a vaccine management company.
Union County Health Commissioner Jason Orcena said VaxCare will provide inventory management services for the vaccines administered at the Union County Health Department, beyond just COVID-19 shots.
He explained that VaxCare acts as the billing entity, while UCHD will be the service provider.
“Basically, we become contract service nurses,” Orcena said.
He noted that UCHD previously worked with VaxCare but Director of Nursing Krista Finch recently recommended procuring the company’s services once again.
In response to a question from Board member Donna Burke, Orcena said the health department stopped working with VaxCare under the direction of the previous director of nursing, who felt vaccine inventory should be managed in-house to reduce costs. However, Orcena said the financial savings did not necessarily pan out.
“We don’t make money on vaccines by any stretch of the imagination,” he added.
He said VaxCare will lighten the administrative load for the health department, as the company purchases vaccines, manages inventory and works with patients’ insurance providers for payment.
“The biggest savings is in administrative cost,” Orcena said, emphasizing that working with VaxCare will not create additional revenue for UCHD but simply reduce existing costs.
Through shifting the administrative burden, Orcena said the hope is that it “will become very clear what we’re earning versus what we’re spending in personnel costs.”
Finch added that VaxCare has a multi-state network through which the company purchases vaccine supplies, which can help in the case of scenarios like flu shot shortages.
She said the company also has an expanded “vaccine menu” compared to last time UCHD worked with them, which could open the door for the health department to provide vaccines for illnesses like Shingles.
Working with VaxCare would make it so “we won’t have to spend thousands of dollars to procure a small number of vaccines,” Finch said.
She explained that VaxCare will resupply the health department’s vaccine stock based on its usage.
UCHD will still receive vaccines from the Ohio Department of Health that are free for people who are uninsured or underinsured and meet certain income requirements.
Finch emphasized that working with VaxCare will not prevent the health department from helping the neediest community members.
“We’ll never turn anybody down,” she said.
Orcena noted that the agreement with VaxCare is not technically a contract but a service agreement, so the health department can exit at any time.
In other business:
– The board approved the 2024 pro forma budget of $6,667,891.
Fiscal Officer Amy Hamilton said the projected 2024 numbers are slightly more than a 4% reduction from the 2023 budget, as all COVID funding is removed.
She added that UCHD generally budgets for a 5% increase in contracts, along with 3% budgeted for inflation this year and 2% next year.
Since personnel and contracts are the agency’s biggest expenses, she said she is not terribly concerned about the impact of inflation on the budget. Orcena added that the health department is benefitted by the fact that its lease is on a fixed rate through 2028.
“We do suffer from some inflation but I would say not as much (as other agencies),” Hamilton said.