Ellis County health department billing, vaccine costs and records changes affect revenues

County administrator Darren Myers told the commission the health department has recently moved to a new electronic health-record system, shifted vaccine ordering and stock management in-house, and is pursuing Medicare Part D reimbursements. Myers said these operational changes are intended to improve billing accuracy but leave some near-term uncertainty in budget assumptions.

Myers gave specific vaccine figures: "there's, like, roughly $275,000 in expenses for vaccines, but that accounts for about $335,000 in revenue." He added that when health‑department revenues fall short the county offsets the shortfall with sales-tax support; Myers noted sales-tax support for the department has risen from about $207,000 to roughly $439,000 annually. Commissioners said the county will monitor how the new records system and billing practices stabilize revenue projections before making larger budget changes tied to the department.