COVID-19 test results
Pottawatomie County commissioner Dee McKee expressed frustration Monday over the process of getting COVID-19 test results.
She says that despite being tested in Manhattan on Dec. 23, she still has not gotten her results back.
“My frustration is, frankly, I’ve been trying to isolate since the 23rd of last month and I have no record of having it, nor do I have any way to know that I’m potentially in trouble,” McKee said.
McKee also expressed frustration over how test results are being handled by the state.
“The data the state has is certainly not valid,” McKee said. “The company that they sent it to in Texas is a data company. It’s not a healthcare company (through which) to check out whether I had it or not.”
Despite her frustration, McKee commended Leslie Campbell, Pottawatomie County health director, for how she has performed during what has been a difficult time.
McKee has virtually attended the last two county commission meetings.
Extra help for health department
The Pottawatomie County Commission Monday approved the temporary addition of a nurse to the health department to help with COVID-19-related work.
Campbell says that between recently losing a full-time employee, COVID-19 testing and administering vaccines, the department needs extra help.
“We are working all the time to do this,” Campbell said. “This is all we are doing, is COVID.”
Campbell says having to focus on the pandemic has hampered her department’s ability to become eligible and apply for grants.
“We’re supposed to be seeing so many people and doing so much work and we haven’t done hardly any,” Campbell said. “We’ve done COVID all the time. We’ve done a couple of clinics, but it’s just one day.”
With the addition of a temporary worker, the health department will have three full-time and two part-time nurses.
Fleet Maintenance Facility
Pottawatomie County commissioner Pat Weixelman went on what could be the final walk-through of the Public Works Fleet Maintenance Facility last week.
He says that overall, the building looks good.
“It’s got its places where I would question come things, but for the most part, it’s in pretty good shape,” Weixelman said.
Dustin Newman, assistant public works director, says there are still a few things that need to be done before the building is 100-percent complete.
“We have light switches and just minor things that we need to have them switch out,” Newman said. “We have a disconnect switch that they need to wire up still and we have the generator that they to finish wiring so they can test it. A lot of little things but a few big things.”
Pottawatomie County entered into an agreement with Schultz Construction of Manhattan for the construction of the facility in February 2020.
The post Pott. County commissioner frustrated by process of getting COVID-19 test result appeared first on News Radio KMAN.