WESTFIELD – The Legislative and Ordinance Committee (L&O) voted Monday to propose an amendment to the nursing division supplies revolving account at the request of the Health Department.
The L&O will present the amendment to the City Council Monday to begin the process of adopting the amended order which typically requires two council sessions to complete final passage.
The City Council voted to establish the nursing revolving account last year, as allowed under Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 44, Section 53E1/2 which authorizes revolving accounts, to collect Medicare and insurance reimbursements for services, such as nurse visits and TB testing, provided through the Nursing Division of the Health Department.
The amendment expands the “specific purposes” for which those funds can be used. The original order did not include training and certification for the nursing staff. The division currently has two nurses.
Nurse Debra Mulvenna said that the licensing and training funds have been coming out of the Health Department budget, but will now be paid through the revolving account. The public health nursing staff has to be “recertified” every two years and is required to attend training to accumulate “continuing education units (CEU),” training which is an annually component of the certification process.
The original order authorized the funds to be used for immunizations, including syringes, gloves, gauze, alcohol prep pads, bandages, disposal pads, biohazard sharps containers, EpiPens and hand sanitizer.
The revolving account is also used for also purchase of Tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) Influenza and other vaccines, sharps disposal consistent with state regulations (105 CMR 480.125), home visit supplies, public health community education materials and payments to an insurance billing vendor.
The L&O also supported amending the cap placed by the council on the revolving account, increasing it from $10,000 to $15,000. Money in excess of that limit is placed into the city’s general fund.
However, L&O Chairman Christopher Keefe said this morning, the account can be expended to keep it below the cap and to keep funds coming into the revolving account.
Adding the nursing training and certification process will help with that process, while preserving Health Department funding which can then be used for other purposes.
