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A popular senior transportation program through the Grant County Senior Center was topic number one at the November 19, Grant County Commissioners meeting. The senior center is operated by the county, and a transportation program is available to transport seniors to doctor’s appointments in Southwest Kansas. Ludivina Gonzales, CHW, is the Senior Center Director and she touched on the program at the November 6, commission meeting where she discussed the difference between the senior center advisory committee and Senior Center Inc.
“Ludi, last time she was in here, she discussed the Southwest Transport a little bit and we talked to her just about Senior Center Inc. She kind of had mentioned (Senior Center Inc.) kind of wanted to maybe start a different board or maybe look at their bylaws at the Senior Center Inc., to see what difference there was from the county side to see if Senior Center Inc., takes on Southwest Transport and tries to do it and what all is involved there,” said commissioner Mark McGaughey.
The county appoints board members to the senior center advisory committee, but not to the Senior Center Inc.
McGaughey said the board members for both entities are the same people, but County Clerk Sheila Brown said they haven’t always been.
Senior Center/Senior Center Inc., president John Nickel said the bylaws state the board members will be the same for both.
“I’m not aware that the Inc., side can appoint a different board member without a change in their bylaws,” Nickel said.
Commissioner John Martin said the commissioners and senior center board met to figure out the responsibilities between the two and said he thought the meeting went well.
“And then Ludi (November 6) was allowing that they were wanting to disassociate themselves from us somewhat,” Martin said. “Kind of gave me a feeling like there might be some hard feelings harbored over there and all.We’d like to bridge that. We don’t want that kind of relationship at all.”
The commissioners wanted to meet with Nickel to clear things up.
“What’s the temperature of the board over there?” Martin asked. “Do they feel like we’re working against them or with them? Because we sure want to address it if it’s not a positive thing.”
Nickel is on the board at Southwest Health, and both the Senior Center county side and Inc. side. He said he thought the Inc., side would take on the transportation of seniors to their appointments using the senior center bus. The bus was purchased through the Inc., side but the county provides a place to park it.
When one of the board members quit, Gonzales asked if she could take over the transportation side, which she has, at what Nickel said is minimal pay. He also said Gonzales had talked to the Senior Center board, but not the county commissioners before she took those additional responsibilities in late September or early October.
The Inc., board wants to use Southwest Health since Nickel is retiring and leaving the area next year.
“We feel like it fits into what the Inc., side can do through the senior center,” Nickel said. “Ludi tells us that she gets phone calls all the time, ‘Hey how do I get a ride on this.’ We have not been profitable, but we’re not missing it by much. And we’ve averaged a loss of about $10,000 per year and the state makes that up.”
Nickel added that they are holding their own, but a few more riders would help.
“That’s one of the things that Ludi is working on for us, to change the grant, the way the grant is set up, and some of those things,” Nickel said, “so we can broaden our horizons.”
Changing the Inc. board would allow them to manage Southwest Health.
Martin said the county would need to get blessings from their insurance to allow Gonzales to continue to do the transportation.
“We talked to her about that and that’s why I made sure it was talked about at the board’s level,” Nickel said. “I thought it had been brought up here (at county commission) and was told it was.”
Martin said he absolutely sees the need for it and the county needs to try to figure out how to make it work and support it.
“Dialogue between that advisory committee and us is important,” Martin said. “If they want to be on the Inc., board, that’s fine, that would have no bearing on us. But we need everybody to understand how that committee got put together and what its responsibility back to the commissioners are. I think we’ve lost some of that in translation over the years and that’s where some of the confusion is coming in.
“I sure would like to make that a better conversation.”
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