Local News – Friday, March 24th, 2023

The Dent County Health Center (DCHC) Board of Trustees held their regular meeting Thursday, March 16th. In attendance were Board members Kim Smith, Shirley Larson, Dennis Floyd, and Bob Parsons, plus Administrator Zach Moser and Assistant Administrator Roma Jones. Also attending were Board member candidate Bob Gravely and State Representative Ron Copeland. Informal discussion with Copeland took place before the meeting. He had spent time before the meeting getting to know Health Center staff and learning about its services. The Board expressed their appreciation for his interest and attendance. Administrator Moser presented the communicable disease report which included 34 new COVID-19 cases for February. Moser reported the Communicable Disease nurse has been working through the backlog of elevated blood lead cases. He said 33 cases were active in February. Four sexually transmitted infection screenings were also conducted during the month. Moser noted that influenza cases have decreased and there were five total cases reported in February. He reported that the pertussis outbreak in late January and early February resulted in over 30 individuals being investigated, but only two individuals actually had pertussis. There were six animal bites treated during the month. In the diagnostics report, Moser said that 147 blood draw appointments were completed in February. Moser said that 16 COVID-19 vaccines, three Influenza vaccines along with 82 other vaccinations were administered in February. There was a total of 354 appointments held during February plus WIC appointments totaled 329. Moser noted that in February there were 124 urine drug screenings were conducted on behalf of the Dent County Treatment Court. Assistant Administrator Jones gave the environmental report where she conducted 12 total inspections, one recall and fielded 19 environmental questions. In the Administrator’s report, Moser said that 312 children are currently enrolled with 21 providers in the Childcare Subsidy Program and nealy $600,000 grant funds have been provided so far toward the program. Moser announced that the Title X (Ten) Family Planning Program will be accepting patients on April 3rd. The program will offer free and reduced cost birth control, IUDs, STD testing and treatment, basic infertility consultations, and more. It was pointed out that Title X does not pay for abortion or sterilization services and that the Dent County Health Center would not provide those services even if thay were paid for. Moser reminded the Board of the first ever DCHC Health Fair, combined with an Open House, coming up April 13th from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. He said a variety of services will be offered on a walk-in bases with no lab orders required. Moser reminded the Board members of the May 26th deadline for the personal financial disclosure to the Missouri Ethics Commission. February and January expenses were reviewed and approved. In new business, Moser presented the 2022 Annual Report that is required by the DCHC Bylaws. He discussed the last minute change of the list of employees and board members that was inspired by his discovery and review of the first annual report from 1963. The changes over the last 25 years were outlined in the foreward by long-time employee Joan Raulston and provides a unique perspective. Copeland commented that the Annual Report was a great resource and said he would share it if he could get an electronic copy. Moser agreed to send it to him. A sliding scale for the Title X program was reviewed and discussed. It was approved by the Board. Moser presented a Capitalization Policy recommended by the accountant and auditing firm. The Policy was approved by the Board. Moser presented a revised 2021 Agreed Upon Procedures report in which the statement regarding the FDIC Insurance as of 12/31/21 to include the fact the Bank of Salem had pledged securities to cover 100% of Dent County Health Center’s deposits that were not covered by FDIC. The Board approved the revised report. The next regular meeting of the Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees was set for Thursday, April 20th at 5:00.

The Missouri Department of Revenue has announced the upcoming Request for Proposal, or RFP of the license office in Eminence, located at 16260 Pine Street in Eminence and the license office in Viburnum, located at 8 Missouri Avenue in Viburnum. Bids will start being accepted on March 22nd, and must be submitted by April 4th. For a list of bid opportunities and bid response instructions, please visit Missouri’s statewide electronic procurement system, MissouriBUYS, at missouribuys.mo.gov/. Interested groups or individuals who wish to bid to operate the Eminence License Office must have an active Federal Employer Identification Number, known as FEIN, and must submit the proposal under the legal entity name for which the FEIN was assigned. The Missouri Department of Revenue, through the Office of Administration, is posting an RFP for the Eminence license office and Viburnum License office contract, since the current contract is close to expiring. Interested bidders have approximately 10 business days to submit their proposal for the operation of the license office in the competitive bid process, as outlined in the RFP. A scheduled tour of the current location may be requested by emailing the procurement contact listed on MissouriBUYS. Proposals will be evaluated on items as outlined in the RFP. All of the proposals will be evaluated by a review team at the Department of Revenue, and the proposal that scores best in the areas outlined in the RFP will be selected to operate the office. License offices are operated by independent contractors and are overseen by the Missouri Department of Revenue. All license office contracts in Missouri are awarded through a competitive bid process.