What was as soon as a longstanding and distinguished public well being company has now break up into three elements.
Tri-County Well being served Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties for greater than 70 years, however after heated disputes over masks necessities in the course of the pandemic, Tri-County Well being dissolved and every county now goes its personal means.
The brand new Adams County Well being Division will not be ranging from scratch. Officers say they need to preserve the profitable applications that Tri-County Well being is leaving whereas rolling out new ones to serve the group.
A brand new yr and a brand new period for Adams County, launching its personal well being division from the ashes of Tri-County Well being.
“Our purpose was to essentially maintain what Tri-County had there, after which we’ll regularly take a look at and reevaluate what else is required locally,” says Government Director Dr. Kelly Weidenbach, “I feel you are going to discover that we’re extra current locally, extra seen”.
She calls it a possibility to redefine public well being in a post-pandemic world.
“Covid actually taught us that management on the native stage generally is a excellent factor to make sure that we tackle the wants and desires of the residents of our group,” Weidenbach mentioned.
Earlier than splitting up, Tri-County Well being performed a group wants survey. The brand new Adams County division is now tailoring its choices to its backside line.
“Psychological and behavioral well being was one thing that got here up repeatedly in group enter, additionally diabetes training and prevention, in order that’s one thing that we provide that the opposite two well being departments do not,” Weidenbach mentioned. The Adams County division additionally presents a number of different applications.
“Our immunization program, sexual well being and household planning, mom and child house visits, we now have WIC, which is a dietary complement for girls and kids,” Weidenbach mentioned.
There may be additionally an environmental division that does well being inspections, however Weidenbach says the division is not going to oversee the Suncor Refinery in any means.
The division is headquartered within the Adams County Authorities Constructing and has 4 different group places that have been current Tri-County Well being services. Adams County Well being launched with 160 workers, a lot of whom already labored at these services.