Marion County commissioners on Dec. 10 approved Amendment No. 4 to the county’s intergovernmental agreement with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), adding $558,570.23 for local public‑health services.

Ryan Matthews, administrator with Marion County Health and Human Services, told the board the amendment covers the remainder of the 2025–26 fiscal year and breaks down into three program elements: $345,086 to state support for public health (PEO1) to fund communicable‑disease investigation and surveillance; $173,934.23 for COVID‑19 active monitoring (funds remaining from 2020); and $39,550 for public‑health emergency preparedness and response (PE12).

"That $558,000 is actually spread over three program elements," Matthews said, explaining that some of the award represents timing and restoration of previously reduced amounts rather than wholly new dollars. He said the COVID‑19 monitoring allocation reflects funds that were removed and later reawarded after state-level reviews and litigation.

The chair asked county public‑health staff to return with a plan for investing preparedness funds. The chair said the county should consider targeted outreach on methamphetamine and its link to serious mental illness and asked that staff coordinate with prevention teams and department leads. "I think it's an emergency at this point," the chair said, urging development of a community awareness campaign.

Matthews replied the preparedness funds typically support incident command system (ICS) training, exercises and planning for events such as wildfires, storms or pandemics, and said county prevention and treatment programs could be leveraged for outreach. "We can leverage resources across multiple programs that kind of touch that space," Matthews said.

Commissioner Kevin Cameron moved to approve the amendment; the chair seconded and the motion passed on a voice vote. The approval increases the IGA to a new total of $8,069,934.83, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027.

Next steps: staff will return with proposed investment plans for the preparedness funds and with any implementation details for prevention and outreach programs tied to the new award.