The Union County Health Department (UCHD) is making steady progress with its building renovation plans.
After a meeting Wednesday morning, the board of health approved of a budget total for the UCHD’s construction renovation plan of its building, located on 940 London Ave., that more accurately reflects its initial budget goals.
With a guideline around $500,000, the plans now include a possible budget, ranging from its base at $531,364.8, with alternatives going as far as $600,000. Quotes for the jobs included contracting with Johnson Laux Construction.
“The only thing at this point the board approved is that $531,364.8 is close enough to that $500,000 budget mark we had set,” UCHD public information officer Jennifer Thrush said. “Knowing we put a little wiggle room in there for us that we can move forward with (the health commissioner) finalizing negotiations with the county commissioners to see what else we want or don’t want to be included, from a county perspective.”
Thrush said the new plans for renovation include remodeling both of the department’s main lobbies, making the reception area more “seamless” with the potential for future expansion and “allow WIC office to move out of storage closet.”
The renovation will also include remodeling the board of elections space and add cubicles for sanitarians.
The UCHD had to sacrifice some features in order to come up with a smaller budget. The project will not include any add-ons, removal of walls to create more space and the co-location of a Federally Qualified Health Center.
“However, with the way the remodel is setting up, if we wanted to still be able to do that in a few years, we could do that,” Thrush said. “It’s going to make some minor changes to allow that to continue.”
She said the next steps are for health commissioner Jason Orcena to communicate with the county commissioners to let them know the UCHD is “comfortable with the budget” and see what other parts can be negotiated.
The board was presented with several quotes for renovation additions that would add onto the budget. Some may have to be done based on what the construction crew finds, but it depends on whether the health department has its own team to fix it in-house or if they need the construction company to install them.
If the department wanted to replace the lighting with LED lights, it would cost an extra $17,488.98, new card readers would cost $7,019.35; and an IT wiring job could cost up to $16,198.5.
The department is investigating if it needs to incorporate an extra $27,500 for architectural fees. If it does, then the new base bid would be $558,864.8.
Also at the meeting, the board approved amending a contract with the Ohio Department of Health to extend its contract period to June 30, 2019, and increase the total award funding to $70,000, going up from $35,000.
Shawn Sech, UCHD director of health promotion and planning, said this is an addition to an initiative started after June’s meeting, where the funding will be going to SBIRT training. That training involves an interviewer observing drug use in a person’s life and giving recommendations for treatment.
Sech said the money will go toward expanding those services beyond Memorial Hospital, with the OBGYN department as a focus for the training.
She said it’s also focusing on people who go to the hospital and when they answer a health questionnaire, they indicate they “abuse substances.”
“We’re hoping to target that percentage of the population that’s at a moderate risk for abuse of substances,” Sech said. “We’re hoping that by referring them to treatment through a medical provider… and then giving them all the resources to seek assistance, will help get people the treatment or assistance that’s needed.”
She said this is a measure to help prevent future cases of drug overdoses from happening.
Also at the meeting:
-The results for the 2018 Youth Behavior Risk Survey will be presented at a Council for Union County Families meeting in September.
-The board approved of a contract with Blessings in a Backpack for the purpose of providing weekend meals for students at North Union Elementary and Middle schools, beginning Sept. 1 and ending July 1, 2019.
The board will meet again Sept. 19.