"Turmoil" A Commonly Used Word at Thursday's Bent County Board of Health Meeting

It was a fairly large crowd at Thursday's Bent County Board of Health meeting. It's likely not usual but given the number of recent changes from the resignation of the director to several nurses quitting their jobs, residents wanted answers.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Wednesday night but due to the fact that board member Isaac Snyder wasn't able to make the meeting due to being hospitalized, the meeting was rescheduled to Thursday at 5pm.

Perhaps the real surprise came when Thursday's meeting started with all three Bent County Commissioners present seated as the board. Commissioner Jennifer Scofield is the only one of the three on the Bent County Health Board.

County Attorney Nathan Shultz explained to the crowd that all three commissioners would be seated on the board until some things could be worked out. There's also been some confusion on how the meetings have been scheduled. "We're trying to figure out what went wrong," Shultz added.

One of the topics for discussion was what to do about a soon-to-be vacant position for the Director of Public Health and Home Health Services. This comes after now director Joni Wilk handed in her resignation. Since that moment Bent County Public Health has also reportedly had several nurses resign. We asked why. There wasn't an answer for that.

The audience brought up concerns about Wilk's last day being June 13th and how would be the interim director until one could be hired. The board decided to reach out to Otero County Health Department Director Rick Ritter since he was familiar with health departments and Bent County. However, he doesn't have experience in the Home Health Care area, which was also voiced as a concern about what to do about that. Wilk was asked if she would consider staying, and she said she had been there ten years. "I won't say no but I won't say yes," Wilks finished.

No real answers, just a lot of frustration from the public at the meeting and the board, who didn't really have answers either.

Board member Cathy Tempel mentioned reaching out to the state for assistance on what to do next and how to get there. She said they could be a good resource for at least some mentoring on what to do.

An hour or so into the meeting, Bent County Resident Barb Martin raised her hand to speak with extreme concern about patients receiving care, about whether or not they would just be dropped until a director is in place. Wendy, a physical therapist stated she's not taking new referrals and finishing up with her current patients but reassured Martin that patients will not be abandoned.

To hopefully clear up some confusion and seek some clarification, Alisha Hall asked who will sharing information about meetings, and posting on Facebook for the Bent County Public Health. It was learned that an employee of the health department was doing that.

Amid all of the confusion, there are some things we learned for certain:

• The board will reach out to Rick Ritter in Otero County to ask for help

• The board is now at five members instead of three with the addition of Commissioners Phil Hemphill and Alan Stump.

• Board members are not supposed to be discussing business outside of meetings, per statute.

• The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Bent County Public Health Board will be June 11th at 5pm.

• That meeting on June 11th will be open to the public to attend in person.

• A zoom option will be offered for those unable to make the meeting in person.

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Phil Hemphill, Alan Stump and Jennifer Scofield, Bent County Commissioners are all on the Bent County Board of Public Health until further notice.

Health Board Member Cathy Tempel joined by phone as she was traveling.

We shared the meeting event page and the Bent County Public Health responded it was a zoom only meeting. Later, in person, that was cleared up. This was one of the many things those in attendance mentioned as being confusing.

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