The board of Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn. continues to oversee the agency’s operations, five weeks after the executive director of the financially troubled organization resigned.

Patrick Donahue, president of the organization’s board, said Wednesday that the group was solvent but would undergo some changes to improve its financial condition.

The board also will search for a new executive director to replace Jan Jenkins, who served in the role since May 2002.

“I’m not sure that the ads have gone out, but we will be soliciting applications for a replacement,” Donahue said of the executive director position.

Jenkins, 62, formally resigned at the start of the year from Visiting Nurses, which has about 90 employees and serves about 950 county residents.

According to Jenkins, her resignation was a mutual agreement between her and the association’s 15-member board.

“I have no animosity toward the association,” Jenkins said. “I think it’s a wonderful organization and serves a tremendous need.”

Donahue referred all questions regarding the resignation to Jenkins.

Jenkins was selected by the board as executive director in 2002. She previously had worked for the Visiting Nurses Assn. from 1977 to 1980. Between stints with the organization, Jenkins worked for United Methodist Homes in Topeka.

Jenkins said she was now retired, getting things done around her home and likely would start volunteering.

Visiting Nurses has been dealing with mounting debt and financial issues. Last June, the agency was $240,000 in the red. It ended 2003 more than $590,000 in debt. It also has had to turn people away from the program while eliminating employee pay raises and slashing overtime pay.

“We fill a vital notch in the community,” Donahue said. “We want to continue doing that and providing the best services possible.”

He said the board was working to figure out how to best maximize funding it receives from local agencies, such as the United Way of Douglas County and the Douglas County Commission.

Since October, the board has been reviewing operations of the organization’s home-health care program. Board members also have contracted with New York-based Gentiva Health Services for an undisclosed amount to assess the structure of the organization. Gentiva Health Services is the nation’s largest provider of home health services.

“We expect to be announcing some changes throughout the year,” Donahue said. But he emphasized there would be little change in the care of clients.