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.
Denise Chrysler directs the Network for Public Health Law’s Mid-States Region located at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The Network assists public health practitioners to use law to protect the public’s health by providing direct technical assistance; developing and providing training, materials, and practical tools; and connecting individuals with one other to help build a public health law community. Previously, for 27 years, she provided legal services to Michigan’s state health department.