Centre County doesn’t have a local health department to navigate COVID-19. Should it?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Centre County has operated without a local health department, a gap that has not gone unnoticed.
When the pandemic first started, Commissioner Michael Pipe said one of the first thoughts at the county level was: “How could we get a county health department up and running?” But, he said, while a pandemic might be the most useful time to have a local health department, it’s the worst time to try and establish one.
After realizing how much time and resources were needed to create a local public health entity, officials decided looking to the Pennsylvania Department of Health for guidance was the best way to navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
“I do think, from my perspective, there will be other pandemics in the future,” Pipe said. “There will be other health crises in the future, hopefully much further on, but the research is showing that ... diseases like this are becoming more likely, not less likely.”
Act 315, the state local health administration law, provides funding to improve local health administration and assist counties and municipalities in establishing health departments. Currently, there are six county and four municipal health departments funded by Act 315 — covering 41% of Pennsylvania’s population, according to the state DOH.
The most recent county health department was formed in Pennsylvania over a decade ago, Pipe said. Without a pandemic, it would take between two to three years for the county to establish a local health department, he added.
Even under the “best of circumstances,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said Centre County would need an active legislature to approve the department after spending years working with the state organize it. Commissioner Steve Dershem added that it would be an “incredibly expensive endeavor” for the county to take on and would not offer anything the state isn’t already providing.
Although the commissioners are hesitant to make establishing a countywide health department a priority, one local municipality is considering an Act 315 health department.
State College Borough Council recently discussed the feasibility of establishing a local health department. The idea that was initially explored in 2009 but was tossed out because it “wasn’t in the borough’s interest at that time, particularly financially,” Assistant Borough Manager Tom King said during a Nov. 30 work session.
But, “circumstances have changed in the last 11 years,” King said.
“Of course most recently, during this pandemic that we continue to try to navigate through, it’s become even more apparent of the need to be somewhat self-sufficient in being able to have a health department that can do all the things that the state can do and other Act 315 health departments have been able to do during the pandemic,” he said.
Health departments created under Act 315 are reimbursed on a per capita basis. King said that State College would see roughly about $7-8 per person to help support a department. As part of exploring the idea, the borough has “earmarked” funds in the 2021 budget to use if it decides to pursue creating a health department.
The borough health department would require, at a minimum, a medical director and certified health nurse.
“We believe we’re at a place now where this is certainly worth the exploration and very likely, worth implementing in 2021,” King said.
If deemed possible, King said a proposal for the health department could be brought back to council for approval in 2021. If the borough decides to pursue an Act 315 health department, the board of commissioners said they are open to having dialogue with council members.
“A great thing that a county health department or any health department provides are relationships and collaboration,” Pipe said, adding that Centre County has a positive working relationship with the DOH. “We would hope that the State College Borough would collaborate with us and discuss what their thoughts are on this.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
