Is Allegany County heading for trouble?

Could Allegany County find itself in another situation like the one its health

department has faced over the last few years?

The department's Certified Home Health Care Agency (CHHA) has lost $3 million over the last five years, an average of $600,000 per year. Public Health Director Lori Ballengee notified legislators of this in late October/early November, partly through the County Human Services Committee.

Legislator David Pullenm, Esq., R-Fillmore, said it's time for the county as a whole to learn from what happened.

"I certainly hope we can take some steps to diminish or eliminate the possibility of

things like that happening again," he said. "Most of us on the board were unaware that

there were losses at all, let alone the losses that have come to light."

He said one question is, why did it take five years for the CHHA's losses to become

known?

"To have a new department head (Ballengee) tell me that a division of her department has been having serious financial problems that she was not aware of and the board was not aware of...that's not good news, he said.

Pullen said the County Board of Health has made it clear that it did not know about the

losses.

"They relied upon the reports of former public health directors regarding how various

programs were functioning, he said. "It now appears those reports were incomplete,

inaccurate, or downright deceptive."

On the other hand, Pullen praised Ballengee for her response to the situation.

"I've been pleased with what's coming out now. She's been in office for less than a

year. She inherited a situation that's been in place for years previously," he said.

"She brought that to the attention of the Board of Health and legislators very quickly. It's prior to her coming into office that we had a problem there."

The Board of Health responded to the fiscal crisis by agreeing to sell the department's

home care and long-term care programs to a private agency.

Legislator Ronald Truax, R-Cuba, chairman of both the Board of Health and Human Services Committee, said, "Once the sale is made, theyll have to evaluate the department to see what they'll need for staffing. There's staffing changes when you sell half the department."

Legislator Daniel Russo, R-Wellsville, a member of the Human Services Committee, noted the county now has a budget committee, to which each department must submit monthly reports. When this happened, there was no committee. The Budget Committee was established last year or the year before last, he said.

Russo said he doesn't see the problems like the ones the Health Department faced happening anymore.

"When problems occur, they have to be talked about, not just swept under the carpet, he said. "You're supposed to learn by your mistakes and that department learned by theirs. Now, it's a matter of getting true reports. Through the Budget Committee, you've got to show pure numbers."

Russo said he was met with disbelief when he brought out information about the Health Department's financial situation. He said some of the money lost might not have been lost if county lawmakers had listened to him.

"I had done some research about the nurses and the clients being served per day," Russo said. "I did research on the health department and found out that some of the

reporting that was going on was incorrect. They acted like I didn't know what I was

talking about."