Turns out removing several hundred boxes of moldy, old hospital records is a bit more challenging than expected.
Terry Call, planning and zoning administrator for Allen County, told commissioners he hit a stumbling block when trying to find a home for the records.
About 700 boxes of records are currently stored in the basement of the Medical Arts Building at 826 E. Madison St. County and hospital officials want to move the records, remediate mold in the basement, seal it and remodel the building so it can be used as a health clinic.
Commissioners last week promised to find a new home for the records, and were eyeing a storage building at the Southwind Extension District location at 1006 N. State Street.
But the records must be kept in a climate-controlled area, Call learned. Few of the county’s facilities have climate-controlled storage rooms available, especially big enough to accommodate them (at least 16 ft. by 24 ft.).
The former EMS building has a heated storage room with available space, but it would need some remodeling and air conditioning to make it work.
“Is this a necessity or a nicety?” Commissioner David Lee asked, wondering if climate control is essential for all the records.
For legal reasons, some financial and medical records must be kept for a specific number of years. The hospital has destroyed all of the records it could.
Commissioners Lee and Jerry Daniels asked if it might be possible to identify records that can be destroyed soon. Maybe only a small portion of records would need the protection of climate control.
Lee planned to meet with a hospital records official after Tuesday’s meeting to learn more. Commissioners also planned to invite her to a future meeting to discuss options.
They also asked Call to get a cost estimate on what it might take to remodel the room in the EMS building.
Highway truck traffic
Commissioners are considering how to handle traffic when construction closes a portion of U.S. 169 between Humboldt and Chanute. Construction is expected to begin in the summer.
Daniels asked Mitch Garner, public works director, if the county should make adjustments that allow local truck traffic for deliveries to industries like Monarch Cement and B&W Trailer Hitches.
Neosho County passed a resolution to issue a waiver for local truck traffic.
