The following is a personal letter from Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner and is not an official health department communication or a levy endorsement by The Times-Gazette.
This is Public Health:
Our food inspectors visited a facility in July and discovered that it was dealing with a significant roach infestation. At our suggestion, the facility closed for deep cleaning and called in additional pest control experts. We reinspected and cleared them to reopen the following week.
A young boy came in to the Highland County Health Department this month after injuring himself on a piece of farm equipment. Our nurses provided a tetanus booster, and talked to the family about the importance of getting these types of vaccinations before injuries occur so they can be more effective.
Our sanitarians were in court again last week, working with our County Prosecutor to force a property to install a septic system and to stop dumping sewage on the ground. This enforcement process is frustratingly long for all of us, but is our only tool in Ohio to deal with sewage nuisances.
Our staff attended three back-to-school events this past month, offering childhood vaccinations and other support services to young families preparing to start school again. Childhood vaccinations are an important part of keeping our kids healthy. It is especially important for kids in our community who are facing illness or compromised immune systems, which can make them more likely to get sick.
A local family was exposed to a bat in their home last week, and they were concerned about rabies. Our Environmental Health division helped to collect and ship the bat to a state lab for testing, and based on the results, will help connect this family to post-exposure treatment if needed.
Last month our birth and death records team helped a Highland County resident who was born in Florida figure out how to quickly get a birth certificate shipped to them in order to make a job orientation deadline. This included helping this person make it through the online ordering process.
A local man, nearly blind, came to our office in June with a jumbled box of medication that had been handed to him from a local doctor’s office. Our Director of Nursing spent over an hour sitting with him and developing an organizational system to help him take the right medication, at the right time.
I could fill a book with short stories like these, and they only scratch the surface of what our health department team does for the community. For over 100 years, the Highland County Health Department has supported the health and safety of Highland County. And, since about 1980, the health department has asked the community to pass a levy to support the important work that we do. Each year, this levy covers between 40 percent and 50 percent of our health department activities. We can’t function without it.
This November, the health department is proposing a REDUCED LEVY, which will collect less in taxes from property owners, at a lower rate, than our current levy. The proposed levy rate is 0.7 mills, and represents the smallest county-wide levy in Highland County. For a homeowner, this amounts to $25.00 annually for each $100,000 of property valuation.
Please help us support the over 60 public health programs in Highland County that prevent disease, protect our kids, and provide safe food for our community. Vote yes for LOWER TAXES, and let’s keep Highland County healthy.
