Cloud County health officials report power loss to vaccine refrigerators; state to assess

Tonya Sulanka, Health Department Administrator, told the Cloud County Board of Commissioners on May 28, 2024, that a weekend lightning strike appeared to have caused a loss of power to the department's immunization refrigerators and that the State would perform an evaluation that day to determine whether any immunizations were compromised.

Sulanka also reported that Katie Kearn (referred to as Katherine Kearn elsewhere in the minutes) recently completed the University of Kansas School of Medicine Support for Tobacco Recovery (STaRT) training and is a certified Tobacco Specialist. The board approved a personnel action reclassifying Katherine Kearn from receptionist to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Coordinator and raising her hourly wage from $16.80 to $17.30, effective June 3, 2024; the motion was made by Commissioner Ron Copple, seconded by Commissioner Michael Cleveland and passed unanimously.

Why this matters: if refrigerated vaccines lost required cold-chain control, the county may need to replace doses and notify affected programs and patients; the state evaluation will determine next steps. The reclassification and certification affect the health department's staffing and program capacity for maternal, child and tobacco-recovery services.

The county's minutes did not specify whether doses were spoiled; the record shows only that the state evaluation was scheduled for the day of the meeting. The board took no public action at the meeting to authorize vaccine replacement pending the state's assessment.