By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Fees for some vaccines and services at the Rowan County Health Department are going up dramatically, while a few are going down.
The majority of fees approved Tuesday by the Rowan County Board of Health are staying the same, but some are more than doubling.
Among those are fees for urinalysis (from $9 to $15-23), a certain hepatitis A vaccine (from $20 to $40) and a combined hepatitis A/B vaccine (from $50 to $90).
The fees for women’s pelvic and clinical breast exams are rising from $40 to $70.
A few services’ fees have dropped a bit, including certain vaccines for rabies (from $239 to $220), rotavirus (from $103 to $90) and meningitis ($110 to $105).
“Some of our fees went up nominally, and others went up substantially,” said Sharon Owens, public health nurse director. “It has to do with the state’s cost analysis and the cost of services.”
She said the state does a cost analysis for each of its health departments every year, and it used that to recommend the new prices to Rowan County.
State officials are urging counties to make these changes, Owens said, and it’s possible that the department would receive less funding if they don’t.
Some of the fees are charged on a sliding scale based on income.
A few dental fees also are going up, including those for oral evaluations for children younger than 3 years old (from $48 to $60), preventative teeth cleaning (from $29-40 to $43-62) and painkilling medication (from $45 to $75).
Fees for environmental health and animal control remain unchanged, except for an increase from $7 to $10 in the rabies fee for reclaimed animals at the shelter.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board:
• Heard from several members of the public about the county’s animal control and animal shelter operations and discussed other animal control issues. 
• Acknowledged new member Charles Noble Davis Jr., who will replace Philip Roals on the board at the end of the year.
• Introduced Barbara Ellis, who is replacing Leonard Wood as the new county health director.
• Approved a preliminary health department financial summary for fiscal year 2011-12.
• Celebrated the department’s re-accreditation.
• Accepted a $42,000 Eat Smart Move More grant from the state, which will be used to develop a sidewalk plan in the West End community and to buy and install two children’s play structures at Kelsey-Scott Park.
• Accepted a $300,000 Beacon Grant from the state to fund completion of the county’s electronic medical records program.
• Accepted a $75,000 grant from the Cannon Foundation and a $50,000 Robertson Foundation grant for Smile Center renovations.
• Approved the use of up to $100,000 in health department Medicaid escrow funds for Smile Center renovations and equipment.
• Approved a decrease in Robertson Foundation funding for Health Link from $50,000 to $25,000.
• Approved a refund to Susan G. Komen for the Cure of nearly $2,700 in unused money from a $19,200 grant.
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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