By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
In July 2022, Barton County Health Department Director Karen Winkelman asked the Kansas Department of Health Environment (KDHE) if her office could use $50,000 from an Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) grant toward a remodel. The KDHE provided an additional $10,000 in grant money for the remodel, but that still left the health department roughly $11,000 short on the project. Winkelman presented some good news to the Barton County Commission Tuesday morning.
"(KDHE) agreed to fund the additional $10,928," she said. "So at this time, I would like to say that the full project was supported by grant funds, and would like to ask for your approval to pay that all with grant funds."
The remodel included combining two bathrooms into one larger bathroom that includes a shower and washer and dryer for decontamination. The project also adjusted a hallway to allow for more private meetings. Winkelman said the decontamination room has been quite useful.
"This last situation we had, we had other entities," she told the commission. "We had the city of Great Bend, we had the city administrator there, we had several people. Someone from the police department came and used the decon area to shower and also do their laundry there so they did not have to take it home. I feel very fortunate we can open that space up to our partners, also."
Commission Chair Shawn Hutchinson emphasized the county would be getting $71,000 of work for $11,000 when the commission approved using county dollars to cover the remainder last November.