SALISBURY — The Rowan County Health Department has asked the Rowan County Board of Commissioners to approve sign-on and retention bonuses for positions that have proven hard to fill.

The funding for the bonuses would come from the American Rescue Plan Act, according to a request to the commissioners from Alyssa Harris, the county health director. The department is specifically targeting regional grant funding to make the bonuses competitive.

The sign-on bonus would total $1,000 for four separate positions, so Harris is asking the commissioners to approve a cost of $4,000 for that part of the request. The positions that the health department is having trouble filling are communicable disease public health nurse, clinic public health nurse, dental assistant and dental office supervisor.

Anyone who enters those positions in a full-time capacity would be required to stay with the health department for 30 days to be eligible for the bonus.

The retention bonuses would be paid out to all employees who work in selected occupations with the health department who are still actively employed and have not submitted a letter of resignation. Each employee would receive $750. Selected roles include full-time interpreters, full-time office assistants, full-time clinic nurses, and full-time dentists and dental hygienists. The total cost that Harris is asking the commissioners to approve is $18,000.

The request for the bonuses is listed in the consent agenda for the upcoming board meeting on Monday, which means that it has been grouped with 26 other items that will all be voted on at once. The consent agenda is a way for the commissioners to group together items that are viewed as non-controversial, and so do not require any discussion before the commissioners vote on them. For example, other items on Monday’s consent agenda include scheduling hearings for the next board meeting, a request to allow the HOPE Team to apply for grant funding and a proposal to increase the monthly fees for the North East Water System $1,000 a month.