MARIES COUNTY — Phelps-Maries County Health Department officials are seeking county support to establish a permanent location in Maries County, presenting commissioners with a Sept. 21 proposal that could put as many as six or seven employees in the county when the facility opens.

Phelps-Maries County Health Department Director Alex Jones and Community Health Worker and Coordinator Amber Sidwell presented the proposal to the Maries County Commission.

Jones said the department’s long-term goal is to duplicate the services currently available at its Phelps County location and create a fully staffed operation serving Maries County.

“Our goal is to have a fully staffed health department within Maries,” Jones said. “We’re going to have two locations: one in Phelps and one in Maries.”

The department presented commissioners with a request for $200,000 toward purchasing a building, with officials proposing that Maries County use money it has received through national opioid settlements to help fund the project.

The settlement money comes from agreements reached with opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over their roles in the opioid epidemic. Money distributed to state and local governments is intended for opioid-abatement efforts, including prevention, treatment, recovery and other programs addressing the effects of opioid misuse.

Presiding Commissioner Vic Stratman said Maries County’s opioid settlement account contained $83,675 as of the Thursday before the meeting — less than half of the department’s $200,000 request.

“I can’t see that we could commit $200,000 because we don’t know what’s going to be there,” Stratman said of future settlement payments. “But we need to support doing something.”

Sidwell told commissioners the department intends to seek additional funding from other sources rather than relying solely on Maries County.

“We will be reaching out to other entities and funding options as well too,” Sidwell said.

Sidwell said the proposed facility and programs align with allowable opioid-settlement purposes through harm reduction and related health services.

Part of the department’s effort to expand its presence in Maries County would involve harm reduction, which Sidwell said encompasses considerably more than substance-use programs.

“Harm reduction is checking your A1C, checking your blood pressure, making sure that you’re up to date on immunizations and everything,” Sidwell said.

She said the department wants residents to know where affordable health services are available and help connect them with other resources when needed.

The proposed Maries County facility would provide services ranging from immunizations and WIC to harm-reduction and substance-use programs, referrals and other public-health services. Sidwell also proposed establishing a safe syringe-disposal program at the facility.

The program would provide residents with a place to properly dispose of used syringes rather than discarding them in household containers or leaving them in public areas.

“If we’re thinking about families and communities, we want to clean up our parks,” Sidwell said. “We want to clean up the rural areas, the fishing holes, the swimming holes.”

Jones said transportation is one of the barriers Maries County residents currently face when seeking services outside the county.

“We’re dealing with people, farmers who are, you know, that deal with poverty, that deal with financial issues and things like that that may keep them from being able to drive distances,” Jones said.

Sidwell told commissioners that approximately 33 to 47 percent of those using the department’s Phelps County facility are Maries County residents, depending on the month.

“The problem is the travel, the schedule,” Sidwell said. “We often have many that have to reschedule because of transportation issues or work schedules or something like that.”

Sidwell also provided commissioners with an indication of the demand for substance-use resources in Maries County.

“With Narcan alone, because I’m the substance use coordinator part of that, I will say Narcan alone within this community, I have passed out about 600 within the past quarter, just within Maries County residents,” Sidwell said.

She said Narcan has been supplied to ambulance services, law enforcement, schools, grandparents and individual residents.

Jones said the department intends for the Maries County location to offer the same services available in Phelps County.

“Once the word is out that we have a facility in Maries, we’re going to duplicate every service that we have in Phelps,” Jones said. “We want to have full-time people there to address all issues.”

Sidwell estimated the Maries County operation would begin with approximately six or seven staff members and increase over time as needs and programs develop. Officials indicated staffing would be supported through other funding rather than the county’s proposed contribution toward the facility.

Commissioner Rodney Southard questioned whether purchasing property was the best approach, asking whether the department would consider initially renting space to determine demand.

Jones said renting could be an option but emphasized the department is seeking a long-term presence in Maries County.

“If we can find some type of building or something, a location where we can start off, we will start small, but eventually we want to expand in that location to service the community,” Jones said.

After Jones and Sidwell left the meeting, commissioners returned to the proposal and expressed greater support for renting a facility rather than purchasing one.

“I think renting would be a smarter way to do it,” Patrick Kleffner, western district commissioner, said. “That way they can walk off and leave. If something doesn’t work out, they can walk off and leave.”

Stratman later said he could not see the county purchasing a building.

“I can’t see us buying something,” Stratman said. “I wouldn’t recommend buying either.”

Commissioners discussed several types of properties that could potentially accommodate the department, including former medical or office space, but took no action on the $200,000 request.

Jones and Sidwell told commissioners they intend to return for further discussions after the county has had time to review the proposal.