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MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS - Tuesday, January 7, 2025

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their regular weekly meeting on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. The meeting was held on Tuesday due to the Courthouse being closed on Monday. The twelve-inch snow recorded in the area disrupted the schedules of many local business and professional offices.
All Commissioners were present for the meeting as well as the County Clerk, Heather Weston. Also in attendance was Mike Reiman, Commissioner-elect.
All new electees will be sworn in at the next meeting on Monday, January 13. All persons who won an elected office at the last election will be present to be officially sworn in to their office.
David Dohe, Emergency Management Coordinator, was present to inform the Commissioner of an upcoming training sponsored by Homeland Security. Dohe and Kyle Kopsa will travel to Pueblo, Colorado to participate in a two-day training program.
Missy McGinnis, Emergency Medical Service Coordinator, gave the Commissioners her end-of-year report. The ambulance service recorded a few more runs in 2024 than the previous year.
She reported one of the ambulances is in the mechanic's shop in Glen Elder. The ambulance service expects the delivery of a new ambulance sometime in 2025 which was ordered two years ago. Because of the extremely long lead time between the order of an ambulance and its delivery, the Commissioners plan to order another new ambulance sometime in 2025.
McGinnis wanted to publicly thank the citizens of Beloit and Mitchell county for their cooperation with the requests of public officials for motorists to stay home during the recent blizzard. McGinnis reported that there was virtually no traffic on the streets of Beloit and the highways in the County.
Because of the local folks adhering to the request for no travel on the dangerous icy and snow packed roads, the ambulance service made no calls during this hazardous time. McGinnis and other officials noted the good judgement of local folks in avoiding car wrecks, minor, major or otherwise.
The Commissioners approve the payment of the yearly premium for liability insurance for county vehicles. A payment of $92,397 was authorized to K-WORCC for this regular insurance payment.
An invoice for the County's yearly contribution to the North Central Kansas Juvenile Detention Facility in Junction City in the amount of $1,977.15 was approved.
After reviewing the report, the Commissioners approved the 2024 audit report submitted by the firm of Lindberg, Vogel, Pierce, Farris Chartered. It was noted that the audit was a clean report.
Janelle Kircher, CEO of the Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems gave several updates and reports to the Commissioners. She told the Commissioners that the New Year's Eve celebration hosted by the hospital at the new building at the fairgrounds was an unqualified success. She said about 150 people attended the affair highlighted by a champagne toast at midnight to greet the new year.
Kircher reported the hospital has recently won several awards:
• MCHHS has been named as one of the 50 cleanest hospitals in the United States.
• The CMS has listed MCHHS for its excellence in its birthing and infant care policies.
• The USA News and World Reports has named MCHHS to it its number one spot on its list of the 100 outstanding obstetrics and labor departments.
• A new surgical procedure will soon be initiated at the hospital, according to Kircher. A surgical robotics procedure will begin soon to assist the hospital in staying current with procedures across the nation.
The 400 Wing of the hospital is scheduled for a make-over. It is hoped that the redecoration can be finished by the end of January or mid-February. The cost of the makeover will be self-funded by the Hospital.
Kircher announced that the 100th anniversary of the hospital will be celebrated in 2029. Various celebratory activities will be scheduled to celebrate the event.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA