The reorganization of Westmoreland County's human resource office continued on Thursday as commissioners filled positions in the department that oversees about 2,000 workers.
Earlier this year, commissioners overhauled the department by forcing the retirement of its longtime director and hiring a private consulting company to run the office.
On Thursday, commissioners approved a $20,000 upgrade throughout the department.
Commissioner Ted Kopas said the department has lost several other employees because of retirements, which caused Thursday's reshuffling.
One employee will oversee staff at the county nursing home, juvenile detention center and jail, all in Hempfield. There will be a wellness coordinator for county workers, to be paid about $37,000 a year.
“This is a work in progress. We'll have to see how it works,” Commissioner Charles Anderson said.
Commissioners replaced the former human resource director and his $90,000 annual salary with Felice Associates, a Greensburg company that is being paid $216,000 this year.
The company hired a human resource director for the county and oversees all labor issues.
The hiring of a wellness director will be paid from credits the county has earned from its insurance carriers.
“We started the (wellness) program on a volunteer basis, and now we have over 900 employees in the program. We need to find one person to coordinate it,” Commissioner Tyler Courtney said.
Since the program's inception last year to encourage a healthier workforce, it has been run by a handful of staffers with other primary responsibilities, Courtney said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
