At a crossroads
Tama County Public Health & Home Care celebrates 60th anniversary, welcomes new director
Trending
TOLEDO -- It's a pivotal moment in the history of Tama County Public Health and Home Care as the agency celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026 and welcomes new director Kelly Purk as questions linger over whether the Home Care half of the organization will continue to receive public funding in the future.
The staff hosted an open house honoring the 60-year history at its building in Toledo on Wednesday, complete with kolaches, punch and coffee. Purk told the News Chronicle the team is currently working with the state on the state-level realignment of public health, and the Home Health agency has been decertified since the departure of former director Stacy Koeppen earlier this year, meaning it can no longer accept Medicare or Medicaid.
"We are still operating our Home Health side, but it looks different. So we can accept VA payment sources, our sliding fee or no fee, which is that indigent population at the cost of the county taxpayer dollar. We do some of the private insurance," Purk said. "So our caseload has significantly declined. It's been tough, so we're trying to reach and see where we can gather new revenue sources from, think outside the box and see how we can continue to operate and keep going... We're just hoping to be here another 60 years. We're trying to not lose the legacy."
Purk has worked with the agency for the last 4 ½ years as a case manager Registered Nurse (RN), and she said the staff has gone from 18 to eight people in the last year alone due to the funding uncertainty. When she was told the Board of Health was looking for an RN to take the director position, she sought longtime office operations manager Lori Johnson's blessing first, and Purk felt the job should be held by someone within the department because it wouldn't be fair to bring an outsider into such a difficult situation.
"We may not be here in July. It may look completely different in six months or three months. We just don't know. We're really trying, but we don't know. And to put someone else through that seemed unfair. I know what I'm getting into," she said. "I'm not an administrator by nature. I'm a nurse, so I did tell the Board of Health 'You're hiring a nurse.' I have a lot to learn, but I'm willing to try."
Purk, who moved to the area in 10th grade, graduated from STC in 1993 and today calls Tama home, said one of her major goals is to survey the public on what they expect from Public Health and Home Care and their level of comfort with taxpayer spending on the agency. She explained that her job requires a balancing act between the two main parts of the job, whether it's in-home IVs and nursing or managing communicable diseases and dog bites on the public health side.
She is also in the process of cross-training as many people as possible.
"That's the main balance there is really just making sure everyone can do it because we're such a small department now," she said.
Johnson, who has been with the department for 40 years, believes Purk will do an excellent job.
"I told her I wouldn't apply unless I had her support," Purk said.
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.