Macon County to hear public comments on health department takeover
Macon County Commissioners will gather public comments on Tuesday, Sept. 9, ahead of a potential decision to take over the county health department.
In North Carolina, county health departments are tasked with acting in residents’ best interest to promote good public health, including environmental health, personal health, vaccinations and disease tracking.
The health department board is made up of 11 total members, including designated experts like a pharmacist, an engineer and a veterinarian, as well as four members of the general public. Commissioners Barry Breeden and John Shearl are also both liaisons between the commission and the health department board.
On July 8, a joint meeting was held between the commissioners and the board of health, where commissioners voiced concerns, saying that they’ve heard complaints from residents and even health department employees. Health Department Board Chair Jerry Hermanson said he’d only heard one complaint, but Shearl said that hasn’t been the case with him.
“People, especially employees, they’ll come to us in fear of retaliation,” Shearl said.
One matter discussed was wait times for certain permits, which Shearl said could be upward of seven weeks, but Public Health Director Kathy McGaha said is now less than two weeks.
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On July 17, the public health board held a special meeting. According to reporting from the Franklin Press, at that meeting, there were 15 members of the public who offered comment. That story notes that none of those comments endorsed the commissioners’ proposal, but some regarded leadership concerns and personnel issues.
For example, Jessica Jones, a nurse for the health department, said that there was only her and one other nurse on staff, not the five allotted. But that was just the beginning. Jones also noted a lack of supervisory presence and the fact that several employees left due to the “poor supervision” and “toxic workplace.”
“I’m tired of the toxicity, poor management and it’s time for a change … In the last week, there have been discussions, meetings and promises and changes that I feel that would never have happened without the commissioners stepping in and I am grateful for that,” Jones said.
While the commissioners will have the final say, public comments have swayed leaders in other counties when considering this exact decision. In July, Madison County’s commissioners voted not to take control of the health board after floating the idea in May. At the June meeting where the public had the chance to weigh in on the proposal, 20 people spoke strongly in support of the independent health board, and a Asheville Citizen-Times story claimed that 850 people had signed a petition in support of the Madison County Public Health Board.
“This is generally regarded by the public as a terrible and illogical idea,” Jim Baker, a former Madison County commissioner and retired judge, said at that meeting. Baker added that without the expertise that health board members have, commissioners will take longer to make decisions, and they won’t be as informed.
“The majority of the Board of Health is composed of health care professionals with years of training in a variety of health fields,” Baker said.
There are three ways this can go. First, things could be left the way they are, in which case the health board will remain its own governing entity able to hire a director to serve at its pleasure, as well as employees.
A second option is for the Department of Social Services and the Health Department to merge and serve under one director. This has happened in other counties over the years, including Haywood and Swain counties.
Under the third option, the one that seems to be favored by at least Breeden and Shearl, commissioners would assume control of the board. Were this to happen, commissioners would have the power to appoint a director and staff and would also set policy. If the county assumed control of the board, current board members would stay in their basic roles, but instead of having a vote on setting policy, members will be reduced to an advisory role.
According to the UNC School of Government, 21 counties have the county commissioners acting as the public health governing board and 32 counties have public health and social services under the same department.
The public hearing is part of the regularly scheduled monthly meeting and will begin at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 on the third floor of the Macon County Courthouse.
