ASHLAND — After about three years of talks, the City of Ashland and Ashland County have reached an agreement to streamline operations in the Ashland County-City Health Department to a joint district.
City council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract for the Ashland County General Health District Board to provide health services for the city. Previously, both the city and county had their own health districts that operated cooperatively in the same location with the same employees.
“I think all the parties have worked very closely on developing this agreement, and everyone’s excited to see this take place,” mayor Matt Miller said. “Evidently, this is something that’s been talked about a great deal over the years, and finally here we are on the threshold of making it a reality.”
Miller said city and county residents will see no change in services and the city will maintain its own health board. Eliminating the city’s health district and contracting with the county will simplify things for staff and save both sides money as they go through an upcoming state accreditation process.
The contract runs through 2020, with the city’s costs not to exceed $232,000 this year, $235,480 in 2019 and $239,012 in 2020.
“At that time the council can decide if we want to continue in this direction,” Miller said. “If everything is going smoothly, we certainly have that option to continue the agreement.”
County commissioner Denny Bittle thanked the new mayor and new council members for their willingness to cooperate in order to bring a long-awaited agreement to fruition.
“I’m finishing my fourth year in my term, and from day one when I came in it was one of our goals to get this converted, just because of the duplication,” Bittle said.
Bittle offered an example of why the previous arrangement was cumbersome and problematic.
For years, he said, employees of the dual health department were paid twice a month with one paycheck coming from the city health district and the other coming from the county health district.
“It was just kind of a mess to be honest with you,” Bittle said.
Miller said provisions in the agreement will allow the city to make sure the county holds up its end of the contract.
“Whether it’s myself as the mayor and liaison as outlined in this agreement or whether it’s our city health board members themselves, we will have the opportunity to make our concerns known and seek remedy for any problems that develop,” he said.
