News : Benton County Board of Health terminated by Benton County Supervisors: Updated

UPDATED: Over the weekend the final member of the Board of Health has officially received her letter of termination from the board, by the Benton County Supervisors.

We, the former members of the Benton County Board of Health (BOH), are notifying the citizens of Benton County that the five members listed on the county's website as board of health members have been terminated effective immediately as of October 3rd, 2023 by the Board of Supervisors without a cited reason.

Certified letters were sent to five board members from the County Attorney's office, and signed individually by the three supervisors: Tracy Seeman, Rick Primmer, and Gary Bierschenk. Of note, one of the BOH members resigned in February for personal time constraints, and her position was filled by the Supervisors, but whose name was never updated by the county on the website. The former board member has notified the county that she erroneously received a termination notice, but has not received follow-up communication. The existing board member has asked the auditor for clarification of her position but has not received a reply.

Agendas and minutes from the Board of Supervisors meetings do not show that the Board of Health terminations were to be discussed, and as far as we are aware, there has been no public discussion of the terminations. In reviewing the publicly available YouTube videos of the Supervisors' meetings, we believe discussion of the BOH happened in closed session rather than an open forum. Per Iowa Code 21.5(3), action taken on discussion in closed sessions must be done in open session. We do not see any motions related to the terminations in publicly available documents.

Initial certified letters sent to former BOH members on October 3rd did not cite any reason for termination. Each member responded to the letter and asked for the reason for our terminations, citing Iowa Code 331.321 (3) "Except as otherwise provided by state law, a person appointed as provided in subsection 1 may be removed by the board by written order. The order shall give the reasons and be filed in the office of the auditor, and a copy shall be sent by certified mail to the person removed…" A subsequent certified letter was sent to BOH members that stated "This letter is to clarify pursuant to Iowa Code 331.321(3) that the Board (of Supervisors) has chosen pursuant to its powers not to continue your appointment." Each member was in the middle of their term, none ending sooner than 12/31/2024.

The BOH has been very engaged in its history and supported public health and emergency management efforts throughout numerous floods, tornadoes, and a pandemic. However, over these past 10 months, the Board (of Health) has been especially active following the decision in February by Virginia Gay Hospital to terminate their long-standing contract with the County to provide Public Health Services. The BOH worked tirelessly to establish a county-based Public Health Department and hire an incredibly talented Benton County Public Health Administrator. The BOH had just approved a job description to hire an additional staff member to further expand public health services in the county, and was looking forward to accepting applications for this role.

Iowa Code Chapter 137 specifies the essential duties of County Boards of Health and states that "All members of a county board shall be appointed by the county board of supervisors." Given the recent terminations, Benton County does not currently have a full and active Board of Health; the Benton County Supervisors have not publicized nor replaced the open positions, which they are required to do as soon as possible, per Iowa Code 137.105(1)(g). We fear the additional staffing expansion, potential ability to respond to public health emergencies, and strength of the department will be directly impacted by the absence of an active governing Board of Health.

The people of Benton County were being served by a seasoned team of medical professionals motivated by a desire to safeguard the well-being of county residents. It's unfortunate that 21 years of combined volunteer service was ended this way.

Signed:

Maggie Mangold, MD, chairperson

Braxton Morrison, MS, NRP, vice-chair

Kailtin Emrich, MPH

Wendy Michels, RN

Lisa Staab, RN