Health officials still unsure what to do if sewer system is shut-off in Mt. Union

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

The Henry County Board of Health is bracing for serious health repercussions from issues between RUSS and the City of Mt. Union regarding unpaid septic system bills by some residents in Mt. Union.

However, after repeatedly turning to state officials for direction, the board is still unclear as to what their role would be should systems be turned off. The Board of Health met on Tuesday to discuss the issues surrounding the possible shut off of roughly 15 septic systems in the City of Mt. Union. According to the board, state health officials have not given local health officials direction on how to deal with any health hazards that arise should that many systems be shut off, or if any proactive steps can be taken before systems are fully shut down.

?I have repeatedly gone up the chain of command and everyone is just saying this is uncharted territory,? said Jodi Sutter, Henry County Environmental Health Specialist, as she gave an update on the issue to the board. ?I have talked to the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) and the Iowa Department of Health, and have not gotten much from either of them. At this point, all we can do is wait until we hear back from either of these entities as to what our protocol should be.?

According to Community Health Director, Travis Johnson, the Board of Health does not have any financial assistance or grant money available to help put in a home septic system(s) should any be turned off by RUSS. As it stands, if a local citizen were to issue an official complaint of a septic-related health issue in a county home, the Henry County Board of Health would get involved to the extent that it needed to in order to stay compliant with state regulations.

With many questions yet to be answered from the state level, the local board of health says they are resolved to wait for official direction before acting on any possible health issues in Mt. Union should systems be shut off.

In other news, Johnson says he expects changes to occur within the public health department as a result of the state?s recent modifications to Medicaid.

?The changes with Medicaid and the Managed Care Organizations (MCO?s) will impact our department to an extent. We aren?t sure how much it will financially impact us yet, but it will impact some of our home health services and some of our Medicaid waiver programs,? said Johnson.

Currently, Johnson expects roughly 12 to 15 clients that are receiving services from the Henry County Public Health Department will be directly impacted by the changes in Medicaid.

?We are working with the clients we already have to help them understand the changes, which has been somewhat of a struggle. There are a lot of new things to understand and quite a bit of new information to digest,? said Johnson. ?But we will get there and our staff does want to make sure our clients understand and that they have the coverage they need.?

Finally, before adjourning, the board did approve a public health board self-assessment grant for another year as well as a public health services grant for fiscal year 2017.

The Henry County Board of Health will meet again on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, at 12:30 p.m., in the Henry County Health Center Board Room.