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Allen Co. health commissioner to retire
By Mackenzi Klemann - mklemann@limanews.com
Luhn
LIMA Allen County Health Commissioner Kathy Luhn will retire from Allen County Public Health in September after 33 years with the agency, during which Luhn helped the agency earn accreditation and lead its coronavirus pandemic response.
The Allen County Board of Health is now conducting a state-wide search for a new health commissioner who would assume the position upon Luhn’s retirement Sept. 30.
Luhn accomplished one of her primary goals as health commissioner when the agency was accredited by the national accrediting board in 2019.
But Luhn’s work was most visible after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, during which Allen County Public Health was responsible for tracking the spread of the disease in the community and assisting with the COVID-19 vaccination effort.
ELLA ABBOTT / WBOI
The Allen County Health Department’s vaccine clinic has been administering about 1,300 vaccines a week, but said it has the capacity for much more.
The clinic opened on January 13 and is open Wednesday through Saturday each week. The health department administered about 700 vaccines in the first week and almost 1,300 in the second week.
Department administrator Mindy Waldron said the clinic is prepared to take on much more and she hopes to see the amount of appointments increase each week. But she also said they’re limited by how much vaccine the county is given.
“I would feel comfortable that, without long lines, we could probably do upwards of 700 easy, and go to 1,000 if we pulled the trigger on bringing in the rest of our staff, a day, Waldron said. Whereas, we’re only doing about 1,300 a week and it is just related to vaccine coming to us.”
Pandemic restrictions on restaurants, bars and gyms could be eased on Wednesday if Allen County s COVID-19 positivity rate continues to trend downward .