Ohio lawmaker wants to consolidate smaller health departments coshoctontribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from coshoctontribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
COLUMBUS – After battling COVID-19, a proposal from Ohio lawmakers to potentially eliminate health departments that serve smaller cities felt like a gut punch to those still on the front lines of the pandemic.
At least, that s how Beth Bickford, executive director of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners, sees it.
Language in Ohio s two-year budget would require cities with fewer than 50,000 residents to study whether their health department should merge with the county health department. The change could consolidate as many as 18 of the state s 113 health departments. We have significant concerns about an arbitrary number like population being the deciding factor, Bickford said. These conversations and decisions need to start locally, and the communities they represent need to be at the table.