Bancroft County, Iowa

Board of Supervisors

Meeting of October 21, 2025

Bancroft County, Iowa · Open to the public

Agenda

1. Call to order
2. Approval of minutes and claims
3. Public Health: regional mental health capacity briefing
4. Public comment
5. Adjournment

Minutes

The Bancroft County Board of Supervisors met in regular session at 9:00 a.m. in the Supervisors' Room of the courthouse. Chair Ostergaard called the meeting to order.

Present: Supervisors Ostergaard, Whitmore, and Cabrera. Also present: County Auditor Gene Prewitt, recording.

Minutes of October 14, 2025 and claims of $143,841.41 were approved, 3–0 (Whitmore/Cabrera).

Public Health Director Dr. Lena Foss briefed the Board, at the Board's invitation, on the shortage of mental health providers serving the county. Bancroft County currently has no resident psychiatrist and relies on a regional Mental Health and Disability Services (MHDS) region for crisis and outpatient services, with wait times that have grown over the past year.

Foss noted the state legislature is expected to consider subacute mental health facility legislation in the coming session, and that a regional partnership among several rural counties, including Bancroft, is one possible path to expanded local capacity. The Board asked Foss to keep it informed as the Public Health Board of Trustees pursues the issue.

No public comment.

Motion by Cabrera, seconded by Whitmore, to adjourn. Motion carried 3–0. Meeting adjourned at 9:21 a.m..

_________________________
Marian Ostergaard, Chair
Attest: Gene Prewitt, County Auditor

Minutes approved as presented at the following regular meeting. Fictional demonstration record.