O’Brien County, Iowa — The Nurse Administrator of the O’Brien County Public Health Office, Judy Nieuwenhuis, recently resigned, and many people in the county have been wondering why.
Dr. Ryan Becker is the Chairman of the O’Brien County Public Health Board, the group that oversees the County Public Health Office, and is also the Medical Director for that body. Dr. Becker had high praise for Nieuwenhuis’ job performance, especially since she took on the position during challenging times.
(As above) “First off, I’d like to say Judy did an outstanding job. I mean, she was there for about a year-and-a-half or so, and she took over a program that was really struggling to begin with. With our previous administrator, too that we were having difficulty with. And so she took in, she really started off with some great programs.”
However, as time went on, Becker says some questions arose.
(As above) “As we progressed there were some things that, we as a board, we’re just questioning in terms of certain things that were being put in place. And it was all out of good nature, good hearts from Judy, there’s no doubt about that. And what she expressed to us is that she, in the end, just wanted some more support than she had gotten, some more encouragement. She felt like she was always being looked down upon and criticized, I guess not only from the Board of Health standpoint, but sometimes from the Board of Supervisors, too. And that’s ultimately, from what I gathered and from what I was told, and what she shared, that’s openly why she ended up resigning.”
Earlier this year, there was an area of concern brought up to Nieuwenhuis by the Board of Supervisors. Becker explains.
(As above) “It was mentioned in the Board of Supervisor’s meeting that they were questioning why sometimes the office of the Board of Health was closed, and the reason given was that there are certain programs that are not done within the office, so not always is there a chance for the, whether it be the nurse administrator or a nurse to be present in office. And so the impression that the Board of Supervisors was gathering was that it was closed too often, and that they wanted it to be open especially during normal business hours.”
The Nurse Administrator position has been a part-time job, with two other part-time nurses working in the department, as well. Dr. Becker says they plan to make the Nurse Administrator position full-time, and reduce the staff to one additional part-time nurse. He says applications for the Nurse Administrator Position are still being accepted.
(As said) “The Nurse Administrator position is still open and we’re encouraging those that are qualified, to apply. We would recommend that those who want to apply have an RN, registered nurse degree. They’re encouraged to apply all the way up until June 15th, which is not too far away, this next week. We’ll be reviewing those applications, and my hope is that we’ll have somebody in that position come July.”
As for Nieuwenhuis, Dr. Becker says she did an “excellent job” as Nurse Administrator, and he wishes her the best of luck in the future.
