Health department celebrates financial health
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ALPENA -- District Health Department No. 4 (DHD4) updated the health board on Tuesday about the department's financial improvements over the last year. Leadership says it was a team effort to bounce back after a challenging time.
In February, DHD4 solved its budget deficit of approximately $500,000 through administrative actions, additional funding, and layoffs. As of Tuesday, Finance Director Michelle Konwinski said that DHD4 is in a better financial place than it was a year ago when the department was concerned about making payroll.
She said that pay roll is approximately $75,000 a month.
"I’m very happy with this," Konwinski said, regarding the DHD4 budget. "We started at this time last year, we did not know if we had enough money to make payroll from pay period to pay period ... this is a far cry from where we were a year ago."
The department's fiscal year began Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027.
"For us to go from not having $75,000 in the account to having over $1.2 million in the account ... We’ve come a long way. We’re very pleased with that."
Konwinski said that the department currently has $1.2 million in the general fund and $500,000 in net income. She explained from 2023 to 2025, the department had a net loss for the year. Konwinski joined the department's finance team as director in July 2025.
"For us to turn the corner into having over $500,000 in profitability, it's a very big turn," she said.
Konwinski added that the department achieved this success by aggressively seeking additional funding and restructuring.
"Some of that involved reduction in staff, some of that involved changing in how we do things," she said. "Some of it involved aggressively seeking additional grant funding. But it was a very big effort on the part of everyone at District 4."
Since 2025, DHD4 eliminated its contract with District Health Department No. 2 (DHD2), eliminated a human resources position, an IT position, and a finance position, according to Konwinski. There were also changes in admin, demoting some positions.
"Not to mention the change from the District 2 agreement to what we’re doing now, there was a lot of savings there as well," she said.
The board also approved a motion to reinstate part of the previous IT director's salary. In February, the board voted to demote the IT director and eliminate an IT position.
They estimated a cost savings of $66,000, at that time.
"When we were looking at an FY26 budget deficit, we were forced to lay off one IT employee, as well as temporarily change the position of the sole remaining IT employee from that of a director to that of staff," Konwinski said in a statement via email. "In (Tuesday's) meeting, and after providing the Board of Health with an FY27 balanced budget over the last three meetings, we requested reinstating the administrative level of this position, but stopped short of the director position. This individual is currently doing the work of what was formerly done by two people."
Konwinski noted the IT employee's dedication to DHD4 despite being demoted and increasing his workload.
"We took his assistant away, and doubled down on the amount of work we expected on top of giving him a pay decrease, so that's a tough pill to swallow," she said. "If you’re asking somebody to do more work, and then you’re giving them a reduction in pay, that's pretty tough."
"He's done it, he's done it with a smile," Konwinski added. "He hasn't pushed back at all. He's done it because he's been here for a long time."