GOLD BEACH – The Curry County Board of Commissioners has contracted with Jefferson Behavioral Health (JBH) to supply an interim mental health director for the county through June 30, 2012, while Jan Kaplan, the current director of health and human services, searches for an agency to take over Public Health.

Under the contract, the county will pay $40 an hour for the services of Becky Martin, the retired manager of Jackson County mental health, who has 27 years experience. 

“The $40 will be charged against money we receive from JBH,” Commissioner George Rhodes said.

 JBH funnels mental health care funding for Coos, Curry, Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties, 

Martin is expected to work in Curry County approximately three days a week.

Meanwhile, Kaplan will remain director of Public Health and the administrative services of Health and Human Services Department under his current title and at the same rate of pay while he attempts to find an agency to take over Public Health.

Commissioner David Itzen said that Martin was eager to go to work.

Martin will report directly to Itzen, who is liaison to that department.

The commissioners earlier voted to forgive $190,000 in loans from the county general fund to the Public Health Department.

“What’s at stake is being able to provide the services,” Rhodes said then. “For the Health Department to continue to operate, it needs to be able to look outside the county. It’s impossible to move with that loan hanging over its head.”

Kaplan said there would be no way any entity would take over the $190,000 debt.

“We could close the health department, but there would be no way to collect it. There’s no profitability in the health department, no place for that money to come from. At some point, it needs to be written off,” Kaplan said.

Commissioners then directed Kaplan to make plans for separating Public Health from Mental Health. The two departments were merged in early 2010, a few months after Kaplan was hired to run the Department of Human Services.

Commissioners and the Curry Health District Board had earlier directed Kaplan and Health District CEO Bill McMillan to develop a business plan to merge Health and Human Services into the Health District. That has since fallen through.

The Health District last week at the suggestion of its consultants began laying off 22 employees to save $1.2 million a year, the amount the district lost last year due to the economy the resulting declining use of Curry General Hospital.

The Curry Health District received an audit report in late October which noted it had lost a substantial amount of money during the past two fiscal years, which could endanger the district’s ability to stay in business.

Commissioners said that due to loss of timber funds, the county is unlikely to be able to operate public health next year.

“We see the need for public health department under local control instead of giving it back to the state,” Commissioner Bill Waddle said.

Rhodes said that if the state took over the county health department, it would not run it, but would likely contract it out.