HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Casey Swarts of Hutchinson spoke to the Board of County Commissioners during public input regarding a choice they have to make regarding their March 29 Request for Qualifications for a doctor to act as a Medical Consultant to assist the county health officer. This is required because the county health officer is Karen Hammersmith, RN, since she is not a doctor.
Swarts said in his comments that the two current applicants for the job are Dr. Deanna Marshall from PrairieStar and Dr. Scott Pauly from the Hutchinson Clinic. Pauly is the current Medical Consultant.
Swarts also said he attended the Republican event last week and State Senator Dr. Mark Steffen mentioned the vacancy. Swarts further added that Dr. Marshall testified as a proponent for a bill sponsored by Steffen in the 2023 legislative session that would have restricted what county health officers could do in public health situations similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The position, as currently written in statute, is for public health. This isn't for just all general health items at the Health Department, the medical consultant is specifically for public emergencies, like the one with COVID-19.
The statute intends for this consultant to be an individual.
Swarts spoke in support of Pauly's retention. No one else spoke at public input Tuesday.
Reno County Administrator Randy Partington told the commission he believed not all of the potential applicants may have known about the opening in time to apply, so he intended to leave the application process open until the end of May, to see if they get any additional interest.
Information on the second applicant's identity was not made public by county sources prior to Tuesday's meeting. Hutch Post asked County Administrator Randy Partington for the names, but he would not disclose those prior to telling the commission, and did not independently confirm Dr. Marshall's identity in the meeting.
Dr. Pauly reached out to Hutch Post independently and confirmed his application. Dr. Marshall had not done so as of Tuesday's meeting.
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