Some property purchases require third-party testing of well water, and the Wayne County Health Department will begin providing that service Oct. 28.
Dan Burk, director of the health department, said the new service fills a void, because no private business currently provides well testing. Some federal housing loans require third-party testing.
The health department will charge a $25 administration fee to collect the sample and deliver it to Hoosier Microbiological Laboratories in Muncie. HML then charges lab fees that will cost about $35, depending on the specific tests requested.
County property owners wishing to test their well water can conduct their own tests when a third-party test is not required. Testing bottles are available from the health department. Returned samples are then driven to HML each Friday morning. The health department charges a $10 courier fee for that service, plus the property owner must pay HML’s lab fees.
Details about both testing programs are available online at in.gov/localhealth/waynecounty/environmental-health/drinking-well-education/.
Health officer
The contract for Dr. Jennifer Bales to become Wayne County’s health officer was approved by the health board Oct. 15. After signatures are obtained on the contract, it will be presented to Wayne County’s commissioners for approval.
The four-year contract pays Bales, a Reid Health emergency room physician, $40,000 annually to oversee the health department although day-to-day operations are typically run by the director and deputy directors. Bales had requested changes to the original contract presented to her, and Dr. Paul Rider, chair of the health board, said he agreed with the adjustments.
Vergence agreement
The health department is contracting with Vergence, an Indianapolis-based company, to provide workers who are not county employees. The department often hires positions that are funded through grants, so they are hired as contract workers rather than county employees.
Under the contract, those workers would be Vergence employees. Vergence charges the county 135% of each employee’s wages to hire and manage the employees and provide benefits.
“I think this makes it easier for everyone involved,” Burk said.
Adjustments in wording about background checks delayed final approval of the contract.
Records cabinets
Burk has been investigating cabinets to store the health department’s birth and death records. He had found cabinets that store the bound volumes horizontally on rollout shelves; however, commissioners asked that Burk receive a second quote.
Burk has reduced the cabinet price from Spectra Associates to $9,873 from $14,322 for two cabinets. The health board and commissioners approved the new price.
A version of this article appeared in the October 23 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.