Tippecanoe board plans search for new health officer

Members of the Tippecanoe County Board of Health discussed the withdrawal of Dr. Gregory Loomis’ resignation and, later, return as the county's health officer - and the plan to recruit a new one over the longer term.

Loomis told the board at its quarterly meeting Wednesday why he had resigned.

“I felt my time was up and I had served to the best of my abilities,” Loomis said.

After more discussion with members of professional and community workers, Loomis decided to rescind his resignation. This withdrawal was accepted.

The search for his successor continues. But since Loomis’s original appointment as health officer, the job description has changed considerably.

The job has changed from half a day a week to a full-time position, and board members said the job description should change to reflect that.

Loomis proposes a salary of $175,000 for the upcoming year. Despite this, the board agreed it will be difficult to find someone to fill the role without a salary closer to $300,000.

“You’re not going to find a health officer to take over the extensive practice that I’ve developed during the last two years for $175,000,” he said. “It’s not going to happen, not when nurse practitioners are starting out with $220,000.

“This is becoming more and more of an important role. Rather than just being the person who told you to boil your water, it became a job where we looked into social determinants of health and different aspects of that,” Loomis said.

A new job description has been drafted and is awaiting approval.

“We need to have a full-time engaged health officer who's involved in all of the social determinants of health in the community,” he said. “As well as establish affiliations with all the members and all the partners in the community, including Purdue University.”

Since Loomis first became the health officer two years ago, the health board itself has undergone changes.

“What was supposedly in place, clearly wasn’t working. Death rates were going up. Our infant mortality rate was going up. Some things needed to change,” he said.

“We’ve expanded our services considerably. With the help of an incredible team, we’ve become the second-largest health department in the state extending into the community where services were lacking, especially with vulnerable populations,” Loomis said.

Dr. Monica Keyes joined the board to help decrease the infant mortality rate.

“Her and Aubrey Kitchel have brought that down 44% in one year. So, we’ve been very successful there,” Loomis said.

The rate of opioid deaths has also decreased by 24% in the last year.

Given these improvements, Loomis and the board expressed concerns about finding the right person to take his position.

“What we stand to lose is the incredibly humbling strides that this team has made in a positive direction with so many partners,” he said.

“I remember Dr. Michael Bohlin saying to me before I took over, 'Just remember, every time you cross the border into Tippecanoe County, you’re responsible for 200,000 people,'” he said. “That requires a lot of work, so we need to find someone that’s up for the job.”

Community health improvements

Gateway to Hope has gained a free medical clinic offering mental health care, Xylazine wound care, Hepatitis C testing and treatment, STI testing and treatment and a fully operational pharmacy.

The clinic also acts as a food bank and clothing bank.

The board provides free birth certificates through LTHC Homeless Services to assist the homeless population in getting IDs issued to help with housing.

All CityBuses now offer free Narcan. A new Narcan kit box was recently installed in the CityBus station in downtown Lafayette.

“The very next day, we had to use (the box) to save someone's life,” Loomis said.

The Tippecanoe County Community Corrections medical unit has reduced ambulance calls and visits to urgent care by at least 60%.

"Dr. Bohlin made it very clear one of the most important things people can do in this atmosphere is getting them on their meds. That really makes them feel better,” he said. “How can people make healthy decisions if they don’t feel good?”

Their goal is to make sure people coming from jail or the Department of Corrections being moved to Community Corrections are getting ready to be released back into the community as productive citizens, Loomis said.

Other forms of care they will need include Hepatitis C screening, recovery from substance use disorders and severe mental health issues.

“We’re not just looking at one medical piece of the puzzle. We’re looking at the whole person being ready to be released into the community,” he said.

The board is anticipates a drop in the county's recidivism rate with these improvements funded by a $350,000 grant from the state to start a Medically Assisted Treatment program.

“We’ll be treating people here on site for substance use disorders by partnering with the Recovery Cafe on Ferry Street,” Loomis said.

“With the help of an incredible team, we’ve become the second-largest health department in the state extending into immunity where services were lacking, especially with vulnerable populations,” he said. “I mean those experiencing homelessness, substance use disorder, fetal infant mortality (numbers that were atrocious), and suicide numbers that I have not addressed. We need to address those, and we’re going to do that this year.”