Resource Summary
The Northeast Kansas (NEK) Multi-County Health Department is a collaboration between three rural counties: Atchison, Brown and Jackson. It operates as a single agency, but provides public health services in each county. It also operates a home health agency, which is located in the city of Hiawatha and serves all three counties. The arrangement allows the counties to share one administrator and one accountant between all four locations. The counties receive many benefits by offering public health services through this sharing arrangement, such as staffing efficiencies, a revenue stream from the home health agency (which contributes to the financial stability of the entire health department), and moral support among peers from different counties.