HERMANN — A pair of staffers with the Gasconade County Health Department has been helping the Osage County Health Department deal with a backlog of inspections, a result of being short staffed.

Department Administrator Kenna Fricke Monday morning told her Board of Trustees that the local agency’s emergency planner and inspector, Doug Clark, and Drew Struttman, the department’s environmental specialist, have been spending time conducting inspections in Osage County. The assistance is being provided through a contract with Osage County government.

Unlike the Gasconade County Health Department, which is a separate political entity with its own board, the Osage County Health Department is part of county government, operating under the supervision of the Osage County Commission. Fricke noted at Monday’s monthly Board of Trustees session, that the Osage County health agency administrator has been dealing with a staff shortage for some time.

“They really struggle to get support from their commission,” Fricke said.

Board President Stan Hall suggested that perhaps Fricke should check with her counterpart in Osage County regularly during the year to see if the Gasconade County agency can help with any inspection backlog.

Meanwhile, Monday’s session included board approval of a 2024 operating budget that calls for $1.15 million coming into the agency and an estimated $974,000 being spent. The approval was granted with the understanding that those numbers could be adjusted after the final income and expense figures are determined at the end of this month.

An exhaustive federal government review recently of the department’s Women’s, Infants and Children (WIC) program received high marks, earning praise from Fricke for program coordinator Rhonda Sheible. All aspects of the program were scrutinized by the monitor, she said.

“There are so many rules” involved in the program, the administrator said, adding that the review was up close and personal. “Literally, standing over your shoulder” seeing how the process was done by Sheible, who conducts a number of screenings for WIC clients. “Rhonda knows them all,” Fricke said. “We did really, really well on that,” she added.

In fact, the administrator noted, the findings were that the department received some of the highest marks possible and that such a level of success might not be reached in future reviews.

“It was stressful, but (the staff) did really well,” she said.

Department employees will be receiving a 3-percent cost-of-living increase, Fricke said, pointing out that agency personnel still isn’t where she would like it to be.

“We’re still at the lower wage, but I feel we’ve got some great benefits,” she said. The Board of Trustees are scheduled to meet next on Monday, Jan. 29.