Vaccines saved after power shut off to county health department

By Charlene Sims

MOUND CITY – The generator at the Linn County Health Department saved thousands of dollars worth of vaccines in early August when the electricity to the department was disconnected because of nonpayment of outstanding bills.

In an interview earlier this month, Linn County Health Department Director Amanda Snyder confirmed that a repair company had been called about an issue with the generator. She said that she had been on vacation and received a call that the generator would not stop running.

It is uncertain how long the generator was in operation.

Mike Shapel, the maintenance manager for Linn County, went over and then contact the company contracted to service the generator.

A service call was made by the company and the report was that the generator was running because there was no electricity to the building.

Snyder said she called County Clerk Danielle Souza to see what had happened and learned that there had been a mix-up with the bill. The bill was paid immediately.

The Journal also contacted Souza on Sept. 5 to see what had happened and Souza said she did not know but would refer the information to her AP ( accounts payable) team. She asked what Snyder had told the Journal.

On Monday, Sept, 22, discussion was held on a question from the audience about whether the Linn County Health Department had to run for a month with the generator because the electricity had been turned off.

Commission Chair Jim Johnson and Commissioner Jason Hightower both said they had heard nothing about that. Souza also said she had heard nothing about the generator being in operation.

Commissioner Alison Hamilton said that she had no knowledge about that situation until Saturday, Sept. 20, when someone came to her job and asked her about it. Hamilton said she did not have a clue about it and she did reach out to Snyder.

Johnson asked, “We have been running on the generator for a month?”

Hamilton said that was not her understanding.

“I think Danielle can answer to the best of her ability but that wasn’t my understanding,” said Hamilton. “It was just an error in switching over from billing from physical to online. It was missed and I know that maintenance did come over and try to check it out.

“Amanda was on vacation at the time. I’ve only had a quick conversation about it with Amanda on the phone and then she was unable to come this morning because she is sick."

“I don’t know anything about any generator behaviors. When I was made aware that the power was out, it was restored within the hour when I was made aware of it. I can check with my office and see if there’s any information that I’m missing but as far as I know that’s how it was handled,” replied Souza.