By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County Health Department is trying to juggle a pandemic and being on the ballot at the same time.
The health department staff has been stretched thin conducting contact tracing of the more than 1,500 local people testing positive for coronavirus so far.
They have been walking through COVID regulations with local nursing homes. They have been helping schools so they opened back up as safely as possible. And they have been notifying local fire and EMS departments about positive COVID-19 cases in their areas – so they are aware of the risks when they respond.
In their “spare time,” the health department staff is performing all their regular services.
So, with less than two months till the general election, the board of health is wondering how to get the word out to the public about the renewal levy on the Nov. 3 ballot.
In the past elections, the health department would struggle to make sure voters knew the public health services offered.
But the year the pandemic may help with the public awareness campaign
“Certainly the public is aware of what happens here,” Frank McLaughlin, chair of the health levy committee, said Thursday during a Wood County Board of Health meeting.
“This may kind of sell itself,” he said.
But in case local voters are still unaware of the health department’s role in the pandemic and other more traditional services, a levy committee plans to get the word out.
The health department is asking for the renewal of a 0.5-mill levy. The 10-year levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $13.16 a year. The levy brings in about $1.5 million a year.
The health board agreed to keep the levy as a renewal, rather than ask for more money. After the pandemic hit, the decision to go for a renewal was reinforced.
The health department has partnered with other agencies to work on the local response to the pandemic, and has been available for conference calls for public officials.
While responding to the pandemic, the health department is continuing its other traditional services, such as:
- Inspecting restaurants, septic systems, tattoo operations, animal bite reports, swimming pools, private water supplies, smoking complaints at businesses, housing code complaints, and landfill explosive gas concerns.
- Keeping track of and responding to requests for birth and death certificates.
- Providing immunizations.
- Monitoring infectious diseases.
- Operating a community health center, which offers basic physical, mental and dental health care, plus a pharmacy.
- Offering nutritious food for pregnant and nursing mothers, plus young children.
- Working on emergency preparedness.
“These are the kind of things the department does that people may not be aware of,” McLaughlin said.
At the same time, the health department has worked to access more federal and state funding, in an effort to decrease its dependence on local levy funding.
