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The Health First Kosciusko Advisory Committee has OK'd funds for bringing a nurse practitioner to Fellowship Missions and reimbursing Magical Meadows for an automated external defibrillator.
At its meeting on Wednesday, the committee heard from Health First Kosciusko Coordinator Liz McCullough on the two funding requests, which are for special monies the Kosciusko County Health Department is receiving from the state via its participation in Indiana’s Health First initiative.
McCullough said of the first request that the nurse practitioner would "help kind of relieve the ER at both hospitals for ... issues that may arise."
"It's also to build a relationship with people that come to Fellowship Missions to make them just feel a little bit more comfortable in getting medical care," she said.
McCullough said Fellowship Missions asked for $15,000, which would pay for "equipment costs, operational costs and possibly (the nurse practitioner's) salary."
She said Fellowship Missions would be required to have the nurse practitioner overseen by "a certified physician."
Committee member Sue Ann Mitchell, who serves as a Kosciusko County commissioner, said she supported the request.
"I just think in the documentation they provided, it showed a pretty clear case that a whole lot of people were having to go to the ER from there and having a nurse there could probably preclude a lot of that," she said.
The committee unanimously approved the request.
It also unanimously approved a request from Magical Meadows for reimbursing the therapeutic horseback riding facility for an AED it purchased for $2,475, with a cabinet and supplies.
The requests must also have approval from the Kosciusko County Board of Health and Kosciusko County Board of Commissioners.
In other business, the committee:
• Heard the state was placing an emphasis on fighting infant sleep deaths as there have been 10 statewide in the month of August.
• Heard that since Health First funds have been given to the Northern Indiana Maternal and Child Health Network for syphilis testing, women's rapid testing rates have increased by 17% and men's by 76% from 2024 to mid-year 2025. There haven't been any positive tests so far, said McCullough.
• Heard the county ranked 78th in the state for child vaccination rates.
The committee's next meeting is 6 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Kosciusko County Courthouse's Old Courtroom.
