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BACKUS-Cass County commissioners Tuesday approved reorganizing health and human services.

The agency started as a separate health department and a separate human services department. After the two were combined under a single director, they have continued to operate under separate supervisors.

Now, the board voted to eliminate the public health nursing director position and to have the social services manager oversee both programs. The former nursing director will continue working for Cass.

She will fill a vacant public health nursing position. Since her former pay grade was higher, her salary will be frozen at the current level until pay in the new, lower grade rises to that level. This is standard practice for Cass employees.

Administrator Joshua Stevenson said private companies now provide a lot of the services public health used to provide. He said this shift accelerated after the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Health as well as human service employees will now be hired under the state merit system.

Cass County offers a prescription drug discount card to the public, which can be used at any participating pharmacy in the county.

Cards are available to county residents from pharmacies and county health-humans service offices at 400 Michigan Ave. W, Walker; 218 Washburn Ave. E. Backus; or 190 Sailstar Drive NW, Cass Lake.

People using the cards have averaged 20 percent savings from full cash price on branded drugs and 20 to 70 percent off generic retail, Jamie Richter, Cass health services, reported.

Foothill Christian Academy donated 30 "Hugs" backpacks and 10 to 20 hygiene bags to health, human and veterans services, to be distributed to people in need who are taken out of abusive/bad homes.

HEALTHCAREfirst, a Web-based home health and hospice software and billing and coding service and analytics provider, has named Cass County's home health care service an honors recipient for consistently providing quality care from the patient's point of view.

Jeff Woodford, veterans services officer, obtained board approval for his assistant, Stephen Sether, to attend a one-day training in Fargo, N.D., in February, and for either Woodford or Sether to attend regional quarterly veterans administration meetings in Fargo.

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