Guthrie County Health Services Director Jotham Arber is a man with many hats, mainly for his job.

Arber says that he runs administrative services for Guthrie County Public Health, Environmental Health and the Transfer Station, along with Audubon County Public and Environmental Health, Cass County Public and Environmental Health, and Adair County Environmental Health.

Arber tells Raccoon Valley Radio that all the departments fall under one umbrella, but that each county is only in charge of paying for the services they receive.

“The nurses and health aides that we hire in Audubon County, are in Audubon County, and they serve Audubon County people. The nurses and staff that we hire for Guthrie County are in Guthrie County, and they service Guthrie County people. We may go back and forth sometimes between counties when there’s a need to have extra backup or whatnot, but for the most part, we position ourselves with employees that are in those counties so that we don’t drop any services in the counties that we’re at, so that they’re paying for what they get.”

Arber mentions that Audubon County has relegated administration in the departments that service their residents to Guthrie County Public and Environmental Health, and that they pay $250,000 for said services. He adds that in no way, are any of the counties paying for services that are being rendered in another county, that each county only pays for the services provided to their residents.