Hancock health department gets 4% funding increase

FINDLAY — The Hancock County District Advisory Council approved a 4% funding increase for Hancock Public Health at its annual meeting Monday. The District Advisory Council's purpose is to elect officers, appoint members to the Hancock County Board of Health, receive and consider annual or special reports, and make recommendations to the Hancock County Board of Health regarding matters for the betterment of health and sanitation within the district, or for needed legislation. Members include township trustees, city and village mayors, and a representative of the Hancock County Board of Commissioners. The funding request was approved on a vote of 18-2, with representatives of Delaware and Liberty townships voting no. Nine members of the council were absent. The council also heard a report from Health Commissioner Lindsay Summit and other leaders at Hancock Public Health. Summit said the health department ended 2025 with a deficit of around $108,000, but that is a decrease from having ended 2024 with a deficit of around $400,000. She said her team has been working hard to create a more stable financial situation. This includes looking for additional grants, raising fees for services like plumbing inspections and even seeking out unclaimed funds. The health department began contracting with an organization for vaccine purchases and billing, ensuring that they don't end up buying too many doses of vaccines which then go to waste. Additionally, staff have had mandatory furlough days and some individuals who left the department were not replaced to reduce staffing. In March 2025, Hancock Public Health abruptly lost $213,000 in promised federal grant funding, including funding to remodel the organization's clinic. The renovation was completed after Hancock Public Health found other funding sources. It now offers space to see more patients, along with a dedicated laboratory. "That's really increased our ability to see more patients, help more people in the community," said Laura Reinhart, director of nursing. Chad Masters, director of health promotion and planning services, gave a report to the council on the work completed in 2025 in the fields of epidemiology, health education and harm reduction. This includes helping parents learn about safe sleep practices for infants and ensuring car seats are correctly installed, along with increasing the availability of naloxone in the community. He said the naloxone efforts have made a difference and overdose deaths are down, although suicides have increased in Hancock County. "We started off 2026 with me walking into a room full of employees saying, 'Merry Christmas. I'm sorry, your insurance rates have increased significantly, there'll be no pay raises and you're going to have 10 mandatory furlough days,'" Summit told the council. "So, we've rallied as a team, all of us. We're all still here. We're making it work." She stressed that the flexibility, creativity and dedication of her staff had made the health department's work possible. "It's been a struggle," she said. "But, I will be honest, I've seen people in these walls, they're making stuff happen. It's tiring, but they're getting it done." Summit's request for a 4% increase in funding was based on the consumer price index. The contract states that the annual cost is to be shared proportionally between townships and villages and the city of Findlay, and can increase by no more than 5% every three years. The new contract allocates $381,449.25 from the city of Findlay and $281,940.75 from townships and villages. The council also re-appointed Dr. Cheryl Huffman to the Board of Health, and appointed Dr. Bihu Sandhir, chief medical officer at Blanchard Valley Health System, as the city of Findlay's representative. That seat had been filled by Barbara Pasztor, chief operating officer, acute care services/chief nursing officer at BVHS, who must leave the board due to term limits. The health department's full 2025 annual report is now available as a PDF at https://www.hancockph.com.