By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Just months after the Kosciusko County fired its Health First coordinator over policy concerns, another strong message was sent Wednesday night.
That’s when County Attorney Ed Ormsby made two strong pronouncements to the Health First Kosciusko Advisory Committee at the start of their meeting.
Rarely does the county attorney representing the county commissioners take such direct measures to convey policy issues to county boards.
The first was a reminder that under state law enacted earlier this year, only Indiana residents — and not illegal immigrants — are entitled to services provided by programs funded through HFI.
Documenting the status of recipients needs to be done on forms used for the programs, he said.
“That would satisfy our obligation that the funds are only going toward services for those persons and not those that are here illegally,” Ormsby said.
The law states that funds can only be used for Indiana residents who are lawfully present in the United States.
That comes after the firing of Kurt Carlson in March over what was described as a lack of “philosophical alignment” with the county administration.
Carlson’s firing came without warning and was delivered by Ormsby in a letter that informed him that it was immediate.
At the time, officials refused to elaborate on what those issues were, but the county’s HFI budget last year included a program that provided prenatal vouchers for undocumented residents.
That service has since ended.
At the time, State Sen. Ryan Mishler had said some state lawmakers were upset with some of the Health First initiatives across the state, but did not specifically reference Kosciusko County.
Ormsby also clarified on Wednesday that all funding proposals must be initially reviewed by the county commissioners before HFI further considers the programs, and that final approval is also needed by the commissioners.
He also pointed out that all such programming plans across the county need the commissioners’ approval.
Previously, in some cases, not all policies were previewed or approved by the commissioners.
“I think there was some concern that some activities of the health department were not in line with the public official’s policies,” Ormsby said.
“We don’t want the health department acting in a way that is contrary to elected officials’ policies who are responsible to the citizens who elected them,” he said.
If the contract for services is with another group, the county does not have to verify residency unless money is directly given to recipients, he said.
The advisory committee had little reaction to the directives.
The committee is currently in the process of developing a budget for next year, which is expected to be much smaller compared to 2025 because of state cuts initiated at the state level.
Ormsby’s comments are at the very beginning of the county live stream.
