Localities in California and Colorado are contracting with private companies to create their own health departments, spurred by a disregard for regional COVID safety mandates.
For some counties and cities that share a public health agency with other local governments, differences over mask mandates, business restrictions, and other covid preventive measures have strained those partnerships.
Melissa Demirci is a project manager at an engineering firm and is passionate about empowering and encouraging young women to pursue careers in civil engineering or other STEM-related fields.