New Health Department Designed for Next Pandemic
By Misty Green
The announcement made during the Macon County Committee of the Whole meeting on September 3rd revealed plans for the construction of a new health department next spring. The purpose of this new facility is to anticipate and prepare for future scenarios, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, that necessitate large-scale vaccination efforts.
In Tennessee, an allotment of over $168 million has been directed to 80 local health departments in 89 non-metro counties. Of these, 87 counties have accepted funding, resulting in plans for the construction of 17 new county health department facilities and the renovation of 70 existing ones, as reported on TN.gov.
The Tennessee Department of Health has demonstrated adaptability in response to evolving evidence and has continued to offer free COVID-19 testing at all local health departments throughout the pandemic. Taking a lead role in the state’s vaccination efforts for COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable diseases, the Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program has prioritized equity at the center of vaccination distribution, engaging with community partners to reach minority and underserved populations. As of April 2021, over 1 million Tennesseans had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with the Department continuing to administer vaccinations through various channels, including in-person appointments, drive-thru initiatives, and partnerships to reach homebound individuals.
Furthermore, the Department has taken proactive measures to address vaccine hesitancy, with a third-party survey in the spring of 2021 revealing that safety concerns and uncertainty about short-term and long-term side effects were primary reasons for hesitancy among Tennesseans.
The survey also revealed that Tennesseans most trust their physicians and medical staff.
With the vision of “A Healthy Tennessee”, the Department received over $675 million through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“The Health Department will be coming in the Spring,” Macon County Mayor Steve Jones said, “And it will be right behind the Administration Building, but it will be a little smaller… The way it is designed, if the Health Department ever had another situation such as COVID, where they are having to do mass vaccinations, they will be able to stage it there and go down all the way to the park area if they need, circle, and come back behind the new building… It will have an awning in the back that you can pull under and do vaccinations and circle and go back out… Should make it easier to handle because quite a few cars can go in there… They are fixing to bid it out and the state is paying for it,” he added, “There is a lot of dirt that needs to be removed,” Mayor Jones said. Commissioners then gave approval for newly elected Road Supervisor Ben Cook’s Highway Department to haul dirt to the schools.
Under the Budget Amendment section of the agenda, the Library had submitted a request.
“This is for the Library’s General Funds,” Mayor Jones said, “This is decreasing expenditures for the assistant director $27,942.90, and increasing expenditures for clerical personnel $27,693.30, and custodial personnel $249.60, totaling $27,942.90… This is just moving money within the general library line,” he explained, “What this is doing, the young lady that was the Assistant Director is no longer there, so they are taking the money and are not going to have the Assistant Director, and are letting her move back to a position in the library, so it is the same money, it is just being reallocated into a different line item.”
“I thought we had to have an Assistant Director,” District 2 Commissioner Keith Newberry questioned, stating he was going off of his memory, “But I thought they came and needed more money to hire an Assistant Director or something.”
“This came through Dana (Richardson) and I don’t think she is here tonight,” the Mayor said, “So, we can ask her if you want to, but we just need to send it on, and we will ask her to explain that.”
“I just don’t want to move it if we have to move it right back,” Newberry asserted, with District 7 Commissioner Barry King stating he agreed.
“If we don’t do it then, then she won’t be able to pay the other lady,” Mayor Jones said, and the motion was sent on to the full body meeting on September 16th, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the City of Lafayette meeting room.
In fact, the Macon County Public Library does appear to be served by the Tennessee Regional Library system, the Falling Water River Regional Library, where the mission statement of Secretary of State Tre Hargett shares, “Our mission is to exceed the expectations of our customers, the taxpayers, by operating at the highest levels of accuracy, cost-effectiveness.”
Therefore placing standards at each Tennessee State Regional Library consisting of a staff of five positions: Regional Director, Assistant Director, Administrative Services Assistant, Technical Service Assistant, Library Information Systems Specialist, plus one Network Service Consultant.
