Clark County Public Health Director John Wiesman opened his presentation to county commissioners on Monday by asking what they were doing at 9:15 p.m. Dec. 3.
He said the on-duty public health employee got a call from Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center: an infant had been brought in with bacterial meningitis.
Meningitis, an infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings, can lead to deafness, brain damage and sometimes death.
Public health employees worked to get preventative doses of antibiotics for family members, and a county public health nurse spent the next day contacting 10 families that had been in contact with the infant in the previous 10 days. The county provided antibiotics for two of the families whose members couldn’t get them immediately and followed up with eight other families to make sure they got and had taken required doses, Wiesman said.
“Much of what public health does is invisible to the public,” Wiesman said.
County commissioners have to adopt a balanced 2011-12 budget by the end of the week.
Monday was the first public hearing for Wiesman, other department heads and elected officials to make their pitches for additional funding. The issues have already been discussed in work sessions with the commissioners, but this week the public will have the opportunity to comment on the $890 million two-year budget.
Public testimony will be heard at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. today at the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St.
A third hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Public Service Center.
Wiesman, whose department is approximately $2 million short due to state budget cuts, had been asked to give specific examples of the health department’s work.
The proposed budget does not include a 1 percent levy increase, which commissioners can implement without a public vote, but commissioners signaled Monday they might be willing to increase the general fund levy by 1 percent and the road levy by 1 percent. Commissioner Steve Stuart asked both Wiesman and Public Works Director Pete Capell for specific examples of what property owners can get for the few extra dollars they’d be paying next year if the levies are increased.
Commissioner Marc Boldt nodded in agreement when Stuart asked for the examples.
Commissioner Tom Mielke did not attend the hearing.
Boldt said Mielke was working on his home remodeling project.
Wiesman, who said after the hearing that he will give commissioners an example today of what $3 can buy in terms of tuberculosis medicine or a nurse’s time, gave other examples of public health work on Monday.
Those included a recent student who had tuberculosis. The health department worked with the child’s school to send home letters to parents to notify them that their child may have been exposed to tuberculosis and then public health employees did skin tests for 130 staff members and students.
He also cited a routine inspection by a public health employee at a local hotel that showed there was no chlorine or any disinfectant in the swimming pool.
Think of having family members stay at that hotel, Wiesman told Boldt and Stuart.
He asked them if they would want their grandchildren or nieces and nephews swimming in a pool that did not have chlorine.
“I don’t think so. I know I wouldn’t want to,” Wiesman said.
He also mentioned that all three septic tank lids at a Clark County Fire & Rescue station were leaking water recently, and a public health employee worked on the septic system to avoid a system failure, which would have cost taxpayers up to $12,000, Wiesman said.
“This is just a sampling of what the community health department does,” Wiesman said.
He said before people go to a restaurant, they can check the restaurant’s health score on the department’s website.
He said public health, like fire and police services, is a public safety issue.
“We protect food, water and air,” Wiesman said. “This is what the public expects from us.”
In an Aug. 25 letter to the commissioners, Renate Atkins, chairwoman of the Public Health Advisory Council, wrote that cuts to the communicable disease unit put the community at risk.
Last year, the department made 1,456 home visits to clients with tuberculosis to ensure treatment and prevent the disease from spreading. Employees administered 308 tuberculosis tests to people who’d been exposed to tuberculosis.
Wiesman cut $2 million by eliminating or reducing outreach services and cutting staff. He is asking for $1 million to make up for state cuts.
While Wiesman lobbies for money, finances remain tight.
At the start of the hearing, County Administrator Bill Barron told commissioners that increasing county employees’ share of health care costs will be a “key feature” of balancing expenditures with a flat revenue forecast.
“The budget calls for employees to pay an additional $5.8 million for health care in the next biennium,” Barron said. “How this is accomplished will depend on the outcome of ongoing contract negotiations.”
The county has approximately 1,640 employees. Since 2007, 270 positions have been cut.
Stephanie Rice: stephanie.rice@columbian.com. or 360-735-4508.
