Marion County Health Department Administrator Melissa Mallow is questioning if the health department will be able to continuing delivering many of its services with the decision of the county board Tuesday night not to reappoint Dr. Elizabeth Franczyk. Dr. Franczyk has served as Medical Director since 1993, signing all the medical orders for medical services and medication.
Mallow’s comments came during a contentious meeting where board members were deeply divided by the surprise nomination of three new health department members to replace the incumbents.
“I’ve got to talk to two doctors, and going to have to have a special meeting, over 200 orders we are going to have to design, contracts renewed, so more than likely come December 1st, we aren’t doing any services for the citizens of Marion County. No shots, no nothing.”
Franczyk was replaced by Dr. Matt Stedelin in a split vote in a fight led by board member Brock Waggoner.
County board and health department board member Dr. Creighton Engel said what was happening was wrong saying he came to the meeting believing the original appointments had been tabled at the last meeting.
“We kind of got sucker punched on this. I don’t like it. I think it smacks of partisanism, and I don’t like that either. So basically I’m against this and people better look at what is going on here. These people are more than qualified to do this and are doing a great job.”
Waggoner responded with the reason for his push.
“The vendetta is that these individuals allowed the Health Board to run amuck, keep our children masked in schools, keep our businesses closed, allowed the Director of our County Health Department to send out Health Inspectors to put up signs, individual for those businesses that decided not to follow the Governor’s dictates to open up so they could survive. We have individuals on this Health Board that did not pass the constitutional muster.”
County Board Chair Debbie Smith says the health board like the county was following the mandates required by the Governor who threatened lack of certification and state funding for non-compliance.
The attempt to appoint the other two replacement members derailed. A vote to replace Pharmacist Michael Morton with retired Radiologist Dr. Brad Stufflebaum ended in a 7-7 tie, while an effort to replace McKendree nursing instructor and former Salem Township Hospital President Kendra Taylor with Licensed Massage Therapist Debbie Jourdon was rejected.
The two other incumbent health board members, Dentist Kyle Clark and Dr. Seth Hahs, were approved, with no votes against Clark from Waggoner and Tracy Murray.
After the board meeting Smith admitted she had made mistakes. She reported the new names had been submitted by the Republican party leadership and she was sorry for the way she brought them forward. Smith says her motions that did not allow the board to consider the reappointments of the three at Tuesday night’s meeting was due to improper wording on her part. Smith said since there was no vote taken, the motion to table at the last meeting was moot.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth was asked after the meeting, if Dr. Franczyk’s name could be submitted on Monday to one of the two remaining open seats and he felt it could.
The special meeting was set for 7 pm next Monday night in the Marion County Board Room in the basement of the law enforcement center.
