By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – A year after the COVID pandemic began, Minnehaha County Commissioners heard about some changes it caused at this week’s meeting.
Although the agenda was short, it did include three briefings from county agencies, which made the the session run well over an hour.
Chief Deputy for the Sheriff’s Office, Jeff Gromer, told commissioners about the new health management contract with Correctional Medical Management of Sioux Falls, which replaced their old provider, to take over health services at the county jail.
Gromer explained that their previous health care provider had problems with staffing, mainly due to COVID issues, and he expects the new local provider to have fewer problems in that area.
Commissioner Jean Bender expressed her delight that the county’s money would now be spent locally with MMC.
The standard fee for this service is contracted at $260,000 for this year to manage the jail, but many costs for health care would be passed onto inmates needing medical services.
Assistant Minnehaha County Human Services Director Lori Montis reported on money received from the One Sioux Falls funds for COVID relief.
The money, which was given to the state from the federal government, was passed down to communities through the SD Cares program.
Montis said that just over a half a million dollars had been spent so far to help people with rent, mortgages, utilities, etc.
And, she added, that there is still a balance of $172,279 remaining in the fund.
People wondering about COVID -related assistance can contact the Helpline by calling 211.
For the third report, Dr. Jeff Luther, Quality Assurance Director for the Minnehaha County Rural Ambulance Service, gave a detailed presentation on how the ambulance services had handled the pandemic in their communities.
The five county ambulance services saw their peak of 2020 COVID-related in the last three months of the year.
And while some workers did have health issues of their own, the overall average response time on calls was still just over 12 minutes.
The next county commission meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
All people are welcome to attend the meetings, and time for any public input is always provided.
