Editorial: Split gets messier yet

• Nobles County

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Talk about it

The dissolution of the Nobles-Rock Community Health Services agency wasn’t going to be simple to begin with.

As it turns out, it’s getting increasingly difficult. Employees began pursuing union talks several weeks ago, in the interest of ensuring their positions and compensation. That action seems almost pre-destined to result in some sort of litigation down the road, as Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre said at last week’s NRCHS meeting. “It’s going to cost the health board to get this resolved,” Oldre said. “Attorneys are expensive, and there could be mediation involved.”

Nobles County Administrator Mel Ruppert said last week that initial conversations in Nobles County were that NRCHS employees would receive formal notification of the termination of their positions in September. Existing employees would then have the opportunity to reapply for the positions, either through Nobles County or Southwest Health and Human Services.

In the meantime, as workers exercise the avenues available to best protect themselves professionally, we can’t help wonder how productive the agency will be in its final months with morale no doubt being a serious issue.

We also continue to lament that this breakup is taking place in the first place. One example of a reason why: It was recently revealed that Nobles County lost as much as $300,000 in grant funding per year for family-home visiting because the ongoing NRCHS transition kept the county from providing information necessary to get the money.

We’ve said repeatedly that all kinds of collaboration in this day and age are more necessary than ever. That message needs to be heard in Nobles County.

Tags: nobles county, opinion, editorials, nrchs