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Jul 09, 2023

Salem health board parts ways with coordinator

Aug 26, 2023 SALEM — The city health board voted to part ways with the department’s accreditation coordinator in its August meeting. The board voted unanimously to terminate the employment of

Aug 26, 2023

SALEM — The city health board voted to part ways with the department’s accreditation coordinator in its August meeting.

The board voted unanimously to terminate the employment of Accreditation Coordinator Sara Houchins in the wake of a nearly 20-minute executive session for the discussion of personnel matters. Houchins has held the position since 2021, prior to which she served as deputy registrar. Health Commissioner Alanna Hughes and Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey cited unsatisfactory performance as the cause for the termination. The department will initially seek to fill the vacancy internally.

Other personnel matters discussed included the department’s ongoing search for a part-time Hispanic liaison, to be hired on a contractual basis, for department events. Hughes said that while the position remained unfilled, she had received interest from one potential applicant who speaks both English and Spanish fluently. The department also continues to seek candidates for a part-time outreach specialist, who would also be hired on a contractual basis. Should the department fill these positions, their salaries would be paid through the Workforce Development grant, which Hughes also provided the board with an update on.

Hughes said that the grant had been approved and a new budget justification for the grant had been submitted, noting that no further modifications could be made this year.

“I’ll present that in December. I can’t revise it any more this year, so I’ll present it in December so that anything we need to revise, I can get revised in January,” said Hughes.

Hughes said that other expenses to be drawn from the grant this year were end-of-year longevity bonuses, the salary of part-time Housing Code Enforcer Chris Davis who was recently hired on a contractual basis, any potential staff training expenses in September and October.

In his report Director of Environmental Health Alan Masters provided an update on an ongoing dangerous dog case within the city. The report said that the owner of the dog had yet to provide the required veterinary documents for the animal, with Hughes noting the dog in question had been found running loose “more than four times.”

Dickey said that the owner was being charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor in relation to the matter and had previously been cited for dog at large for her failure to control the animal.

“She has twice before been cited for dog at large and does not control her dog. This time it came through a window and attacked another dog that was being walked by a child and was trying to kill the dog, but the neighbors were out in their yards and got it away,” said Dickey.

Masters’ report also said that he had been receiving assistance from local Boy Scouts with mosquito trapping; however, no trapping was being done at the time due to a tree falling on the mosquito traps.

Also discussed was the soon-to-be released new Covid-19 vaccine booster shot, which Hughes said would be taking particular aim at the emergent Eris variant. Hughes said the department was waiting for confirmation from the Ohio Department of Health of whether the department would receive doses of the booster through section 317 of the Public Health Service Act or be forced to purchase doses from Moderna directly. Hughes noted that should the department have to purchase the boosters directly, they would be unable to provide them for free.

Board President Pro Tempore Judy Sicilia also sent out a warning to those on Medicare to be aware of a growing fraud. Sicillia explained that under a government program which concluded in May eight at-home covid tests would be completely covered under Medicare; however, Sicillia explained that tests could still be submitted from up to a year prior, and scammers have been submitting fictitious tests under the program.

“Be on the lookout, there is a really big fraud going on where you’re getting home covid tests billed that you didn’t run; and you might not notice it because you aren’t paying for it,” said Sicillia.

Sicillia said that she had personally experienced five such fictitious test submissions, and that this particular fraud was so common that when she reported it, Medicare staff immediately guessed what had happened.

“One of them was on Christmas day last year, and even the lady at Medicare said, ‘have they no shame,’ on Christmas day,” said Sicillia.

Sicillia said that while it may be easy to miss when reviewing your bill, it was important to remain on the lookout for these fraudulent tests and report them to Medicare officials.

“It’s important to call the fraud number on your Medicare bill because they can’t track them if they don’t know,” said Sicillia.

The board of health will meet next at 2 p.m. Sept. 20.

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