The Cole County Health Department will become a regional implementation team for COVID-19 after the Cole County Commission approved a contract Tuesday with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The contract is for $128,000.
"The money can be used for personnel time, but we can also use it to cover costs at vaccination clinics," Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell said during Tuesday's commission meeting.
The region encompasses 13 counties in Central Missouri: Cole, Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Camden, Cooper, Gasconade, Howard, Miller, Moniteau, Montgomery, Morgan and Osage.
"We have a great group that already is pretty much servicing eight of these counties, so expanding to the other five makes sense for us to take that on," Campbell said. "Chris White from my staff is helping, along with Cole County Emergency Management Director Sierra Thomas, and staff from the local hospitals have volunteered to be on it.
"We've seen over the last few days this team is needed as we stepped up in helping to assist the coordinating of Missouri National Guard vaccination sites," Campbell added. "No one else stepped up to do that in this region, so we did."
Since the Cole County Health Department was working with the National Guard on its first vaccination clinics, it agreed to continue working with the Guard after a state request for proposals in November got no applicants, Campbell explained.
"This will be ongoing involvement with those projects," she said. "If large corporations or businesses need help to get employees vaccinated, we can work to get them vaccinators. The goal is to pair up those that need the vaccines with those that can give the vaccines once the supply is adequate."
More CARES Act spending approved
Also Tuesday, the County Commission approved several internal county government requests for federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Prior to Tuesday, Cole County had $124,405 remaining of the just more than $9 million it received in May from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The County Commission is looking to spend the remaining money on one-time expenses.
Items approved Tuesday included $8,740 for an iPad and Wi-Fi network equipment at the Prenger Family Center on Stadium Boulevard in Jefferson City. Director Michael Couty said the juvenile detention center has been doing court proceedings via virtual meeting providers, but the current system is taxed and once went down in the middle of a court hearing.
Also approved was $4,325 for the Cole County Recorder of Deeds Office to perform electrical work and add another window to serve the public.
Commissioners also approved $3,687 for Cole County Public Administrator Ralph Jobe to purchase two laptops for him and his chief deputy to hold meetings with clients, as well as $1,174 to upgrade a desktop computer in the office. Many of the office's clients can't be seen in person because most long-term care facilities have yet to open to outside visitors because of COVID-19 regulations, Jobe said.
The commission also approved $18,000 for the Cole County Health Department to pay for training classes for nine employees, as well as $2,272 for Emergency Management Director Sierra Thomas to pay for repairs to a large cooler her office shares with Cole County Emergency Medical Services that can be used for emergency storage of deceased individuals.
Last week, the commission approved spending up to $6,000 for a refrigerator at Cole County EMS to store COVID-19 vaccines; Assistant EMS Chief David Boyles told commissioners Tuesday they found a refrigerator that costs $4,327.
Cole County has $87,878 remaining in CARES Act money.