“It would generally be working with an entity to acquire the materials to do the testing and then also have infrastructure in place, whether it be stationary or mobile, to do testing and lab results, and be able to deliver data analytics” she said. “The same entity would need to be able to pivot to vaccinations when they become more broadly community based.”
She informed the commissioners on Monday that county officials were starting to contact health providers to let them know up to $50,000 is available to get the enhanced COVID-19 testing rolling out now. Bids are not required for contracts below that amount.
“The commissioners are looking for healthcare providers who are willing to do the testing immediately, before the end of the year,” Commissioner Cindy Carpenter said. “So that we can get those folks who are inadvertently exposed over Thanksgiving and over the holidays tested as quickly as possible, before they spread COVID-19 to others,”
She also wanted to amend the proposal request to cover $200 for each test for the general public and $250 for rapid testing for frontline workers to eliminate health insurance red tape. Boyko said as the proposal request stands now private insurance would be billed first and the county would make up the difference.
Boyko said there are five criteria for selecting a provider that range from pricing, staffing capability, their locations, methodology for doing the testing and the provider’s financial situation.
“It’s also important who is reading the responses and how knowledgeable they are about the practice of medicine,” Carpenter told the Journal-News, adding the commissioners don’t have that expertise. “The health commissioner has to be the lead voice in assigning this contract.”
The commissioners already approved the expenditure, which had to be done before a Nov. 20 deadline. Federal rules mandate the money be spent by year’s end.
Because the county is now allowed to use CARES Act funding to reimburse for public safety salaries, there is more general fund money available for the vaccine program.
“We will take that same amount and reallocate that general fund money to finish up these CARES projects,” Boyko said.
Former Butler County Health Commissioner Dr. Robert Lerer said the county already has a “playbook” for mass immunizations so “we’re not reinventing the wheel.” He said the new vaccines look very promising, the details will be important.
“The fact that we’re getting 90%-plus protection of people meaning 90 out of 100 people are protected, is tremendous news,” Lerer said. “Because influenza has rarely achieved 60% effectiveness, which is why people still can get the flu even though they’ve had the flu shot.”
With predictions that hospitals could become overwhelmed because of increasing coronavirus cases, Lerer said giving tests and administering vaccines does not require hospital-trained personnel.
“People that do injections can be at the level of licensed practical nurses and others that would never work in a hospital,” Lerer said. “The majority of physicians are office based and not hospital based.”
Officials at the Butler County General Health District declined comment declined comment on what the programs would look like.
Several Butler County leaders, including all three county commissioners, two West Chester Twp. trustees and West Chester Twp. Fire Chief Rick Prinz have been diagnoses with the virus. Prinz spent two days in the intensive care unit at West Chester Hospital and two days on the COVID care unit.
He told the Journal-News the disease hit him hard, with no warning signs Oct. 27. He said he felt fine all day and “like a light switch” he started shivering uncontrollably, went to bed, and an hour later his fever shot up.
“I experienced a course of 13 days with 102 fever,” Prinz said. “That fever just wore me down day by day by day to the point where I think I scared (his longtime girlfriend) when I told her I can see how people succumb to this, because at this point I just don’t have any energy left, I’ve nothing left in the tank.”
Prinz said his doctors told him the chances of him catching the coronavirus again are slim, only one person in the U.S. has gotten it twice. He said his department is prepared to help the commissioners’ effort.
“I think the program is absolutely essential,” Prinz said. “The West Chester Fire Department is poised and ready to participate to help deliver that vaccination to the public as soon as we get some more information about how that will unfold.”
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