WARSAW — Kurt Carlson, who served as the executive director for Bowen Center for nearly four decades, was terminated immediately last week by Kosciusko County in his role as coordinator of Health First Kosciusko after 14 months in the position.

Carlson was informed of his termination on Thursday with a hand-delivered letter in which he was told the county and health Department determined that he lacked "a philosophical alignment" with the county in the administration of funds and services.

[caption id="attachment_106924" align="alignright" width="350"] Kurt Carlson (R) is pictured last year in a story for New Now Warsaw about Health First Kosciusko. Carlson was fired this week by Kosciusko County in his role as coordinator of Health First Kosciusko coordinator. Liz McCollough, left, the assistant administrator in the office, was named to run the office on an interim basis. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

The letter was written by county attorney Ed Ormsby.

Carlson was instructed to clean out his office by the end of the day and return all county property.

The letter added, "Since you are an at-will employee of the county, no cause is required for this termination.

The letter added, "We understand that this news may be difficult, and we want to thank you for your contributions during your time here."

News Now Warsaw reached out to Cary Groninger, president of the county commissioners and Bob Weaver, county health administrator. for comment. Weaver referred any questions to the commissioners for comment and Groninger did not return a phone call on Monday.

Carlson did not return a call on Monday.

Weaver did confirm that Liz McCollough, an assistant administrator in the office, will serve as interim.

Carson retired from Bowen Center — now known as Bowen Health — in 2022 and is credited with expanding services throughout northeast Indiana over several decades.

He also played a key role in the county's establishment of testing and vaccinations during the pandemic.

Health First Indiana was established about three years ago and heralded by then-Gov. Eric Holcomb, with the goal of vastly increasing health care programs through county health offices.

The Health First Kosciusko budget, under state guidelines, grew from roughly $900,000 in the first year to $1.8 million in the second year.

Carlson led an expansion of health services with the funding in his role.

The office relies on approval and support from an advisory committee and the county health board.

The post Health First Kosciusko coordinator Kurt Carlson fired by the county appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WARSAW — Men in Kosciusko County continue to die of overdose and suicide at an alarming rate.

That's one of the facts that surfaced in statistics recently released by Kosciusko County Coroner Tyler Huffer.

The numbers look at both suicide and overdose deaths in the county over the past two years.

Those numbers were then posted by the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office on its Facebook page.

The numbers indicate incidents of suicide over the past year was on the rise while overdose deaths were in decline.

The number of suicides in the county rose from 11 in 2023 to 15 in 2024. Of the 15, only two were women, which is consistent with national trends in which men continue to take their own lives at a higher rate.

Two of the victims were 77 years old.

[caption id="attachment_105422" align="alignright" width="170"] Tyler Huffer[/caption]

A review of overdose deaths and suicides by Huffer looked at cases in which the individuals died in Kosciusko County and not ones where they were transported elsewhere and then died.

The release of the numbers has been applauded.

Sheriff Jim Smith said his office was encouraged.

Kurt Carlson, executive director of Health First Kosciusko, which makes recommendations on policies focused on improving health outcomes, also expressed appreciation for the transparency.

"Being willing to share the data … I think it’s quite appropriate to share that publicly,” Carlson said.

As reported recently by News Now Warsaw in December, the number of overdose deaths fell from 25 in 2023 to 9 in 2024.

The ages of the victims ranged from 60 to 21 and unlike last year, all of the overdose deaths in 2024 were men.

Huffer says each of those numbers often represents somebody’s child, parent or grandparent.

“It can all be prevented and that’s what we’re here for,” Huffer said.

“What we’re trying to do is just make it really available and be more transparent so we can get these numbers lowered.”

Both Smith and Carlson credited much of the fall in overdose deaths to Narcan, also known as Naloxone.

Narcan, also known as Naloxone, can reverse an overdose if applied quickly.

Carlson said he's a strong believer in the strategy.

"Narcan has really, dramatically reduced the number of fatalities as a result of overdose,” Carlson said.

In a statement from Smith, he pointed to a multi-faceted effort by different groups in the effort to combat the overdose epidemic fueled in part by Fentynal and opioids.

Smith said mental health groups, and community partners such as LITE and Fellowship Mission, JCAP, KCRP, the Coroner's Office, and law enforcement in general are having an impact within the community to aid these individuals.

Transparency 

[caption id="attachment_105447" align="alignright" width="300"] The sign outside of the coroner's office in Warsaw is seen Wednesday morning. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

The release of the numbers has been part of a concerted effort by Huffer who was first appointed in 2022 through a Republican caucus and then elected last year.

Soon after his appointment, he erected a sign outside of his office on Old Road 30 that tracks the number of annual overdose deaths.

The move raised a few eyebrows at first, but Huffer said the reaction has since been favorable.

"I’ve actually received lots of compliments trying to bring this awareness to the community,” Huffer said. “They’ve called my cellphone, ‘Thank you for doing this. Thank you for making this an awareness campaign for our son or daughter who overdosed.’ “ 

What next?

Huffer also established a county Suicide Overdose Fatality Review committee that looks into the history of those cases in hopes of determining gaps of service or things that could have helped prevent the deaths.

Upward of 20 people are participating and include representatives of local schools, health officials, law enforcement, hospitals, and other agencies.

The effort goes hand-in-hand with the Health First mission.

“Once Tyler got into office and saw the opportunity to use his office to sort of spearhead this, I was privileged to be asked to be part of that,” Carlson said.

Funding for the efforts came through a grant written by Tammy Cotton, executive director of LITE (Living in Transition Effectively), who also serves as coordinator for the committee.

Carlson said the year-old committee is still maturing and making progress.

Huffer said the goal is to find gaps in service.

Carlson said he's unsure if they've identified gaps yet. “I don’t know if we’re there yet, but I think we're identifying some things that maybe we should be doing better for more people.” 

One thing both agree on is the common link between suicide victims and grief.

Huffer said he believes grief is a common aspect and that he thinks some kind of intervention or support could be beneficial.

[caption id="attachment_105450" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The coroner's report also included a summary of overall work in the office for 2024.[/caption]

The post Kosciusko Coroner highlights overdose, suicide statistics appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW — Kurt Carlson, the former longtime director of Bowen Center, is coming out of retirement to serve as the coordinator for Kosciusko County’s huge expansion of health services under the new Health First Indiana program.

The post Carlson eager for new challenge as coordinator of county health initiative appeared first on News Now Warsaw.