County Departments Lauded for Cost-Saving, Innovative Programs
(McKINNEY, Texas) – Three Collin County departments recently received
statewide and national recognition for their innovative, creative and efficient use of tax dollars
to carry out local government programs and functions.
The county’s Health
Care Services, Information
Technology and Human Resources
departments were named this month as winners in the Texas Association of Counties’
(TAC) Best Practices Awards and the National Association of Counties’ (NACo)
Achievement Awards programs.
Among the winners TAC Best Practices winners were:
The county’s Indigent Health Care Program, for drastically reducing money
spent for Emergency Room visits by contracting with a private clinic to provide
routine medical care to qualified, indigent residents at a fraction of the costs of
past years. The program also freed up money for hospitalizations and treatment
of serious medical illnesses, while providing extended office hours and locations
for regular doctor visits through the private provider.
Rather than buying and installing more than 100 miles of high-speed fiber optic
cable for its expanding internal network, and online programs and services, the
county’s IT department struck an agreement to share existing “dark” – unused – strands
with local educational and government entities, saving millions in installation and
maintenance costs.
Human Resources and Health Care Services worked together to reduce
employee health care claims and treatment costs by starting up a health and
wellness program that includes regular health screenings, disease detection,
management and prevention measures, and fitness and weight loss programs.
The effort cut health claims by 19 percent within two years.
NACo Achievement Awards went to:
Human Resources, for working with county law enforcement agencies to
phase in a customized pay-for-performance evaluation system that rewards
officers who excel in their duties, rather than simply hand out across-the-board
pay raises.
The county’s health and wellness program, already mentioned as a TAC award
winner, was cited by NACo for staff efforts to reduce rising employee health care
claims and treatment costs.
For more information on these award-winning programs and
the people who carried them out, please contact Public Information officers
Tim Wyatt (972-548-4673) or Eric Nishimoto(972-547-4772).
