Primghar, Iowa — (O’Brien County Bell-Times-Courier) — The O’Brien County Supervisors discussed and debated the benefits and costs of changing the Mental Health Region membership beginning July 1, 2020.
During the course of the discussions some concerns about partner providers were asked and answered. The two regions, Northwest Iowa Care Connections and Sioux Rivers largely share providers. No providers reported any concerns. The reimbursement for transportation to law enforcement was a concern. Sioux Rivers’ method of paying for patient transportation was limited to mileage and expenses. There was some uncertainty as to how Sioux Rivers reimbursed for transportation expenses. O’Brien County Sheriff Allen Schuknecht reported that he had visited with Shane Walter, CEO for Sioux Rivers. It was agreed that Sioux Rivers would reimburse mileage at 50 rate per mile, $25 per hour convenience fee, and service fee of $30 each time a court order had to be served. Schuknecht also had visited with the Lyon County Sheriff and reported he is satisfied with the changes from Care Connections to Sioux Rivers.
A brief discussion about initial funding by O’Brien County for services, and how money “in the pool” might be handled if O’Brien County changes at any time in the future. There was some concern that O’Brien County would be required to pay into the Sioux Rivers pot any money it may have as a balance in the Care Connections pool and then not be able to move “their” money at any time in the future, should O’Brien County change regions again. Walter was contacted and said via speaker phone that O’Brien County would need to pay to the region the requested per capita levy, anticipated to be set at $30.49, but should O’Brien County leave, the balance would be returned at a proportioned, per capita rate.
County Auditor Barb Rohwer noted that state law allows each county to retain enough money from their levy to pay their in-county administration. Abby Wallin is an O’Brien County employee. She is a part-time court advocate for both Sioux Rivers and Care Connections. She is also part-time General Relief in O’Brien County, giving her fulltime status. Her advocacy in other counties is paid by the appropriate region.
Once the last few financial questions were answered to the satisfaction of the supervisors, they approved passage of a resolution to give notice to Care Connections they will end membership on June 30, 2020; request to join Sioux Rivers effective July 1, 2020 and for Rohwer to step down as fiscal agent for Care Connections. The motion was approved.
This story provided by our News Partner, O’Brien County’s Bell-Times-Courier https://www.belltimescourier.com/
