Delco to establish a health department

Delaware County Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the establishment of the Delaware County Health Department — and while just an administrative step, county officials continue to be on track to opening it in January 2022.

The move comes one week after council opened the Delaware County Wellness Center in an 11,235-square-feet space at 125 Chester Ave. in Yeadon. The facility is testing for COVID and distributing scheduled vaccines with its future goal slated as the location of the county health department.

“This resolution is the first official step for the county towards starting the process to establish a county health department under the Pennsylvania law,” county Deputy Solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein said, adding that the Pennsylvania Department of Health had already given its certificate of approval for its creation.

Some next steps include appointing a board of health and hiring a health director, followed by getting the department open and operating.

“This is a really important ... step in the process for us to open our health department in time for January of 2022,” Delaware County Vice Chairman Dr. Monica Taylor, who’s headed the county’s effort on the issue.

County Councilwoman Christine Reuther added that the process has taken a lot of strategic planning and analysis.

“It has truly taken a village,” she said, adding that efforts had begun even prior to COVID-19 showing why such a department is essential. “I’m just grateful for the work everybody has done to make this happen.”

Reuther noted that Gov. Tom Wolf included funding for the Delaware County Health Department in his budget address.

Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer highlighted the timing.

“I just want to pile on by noting and having everyone recognize that this is on schedule,” she said. “And despite the pandemic, the steering committee got this done and has this on schedule to have this up and running within the schedule that we have hoped for.”

County Council Chairman Brian Zidek noted that the need for a county department was a campaign issue as far back as Democrat David Landau’s 2009 council run.

“This has been something that people have campaigned on for decades,” he said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the ball rolling until January of 2019. As luck would have it, a pandemic started two months later.

“Unfortunately for the county, this was not put into place earlier,” Zidek continued. “I think we’d be in a far better place than we are today had this been there but we’re not crying over spilled milk, we’re charging ahead and doing what we can to make sure that we’re prepared for the next one that’s going to occur like 150 years from now and also to make sure that all the good things that a county health department provides for its citizens is in place as soon as it can be.”

The all-Democratic county council began creating topic teams after the November 2019 election and one focused on public health. In January 2020, a panel discussion was held at Elwyn to delve into issues surrounding public health and it included neighboring counties’ perspectives on the merits of a county health department.

In March, COVID presented itself in Delaware County, as well as the state. Five months later, council approved a request for proposals for an economic impact study of a county health department and recently, the strategic plan was completed.

Last month, listening sessions began with coalitions and organizations and meetings are expected to continue with a variety of groups from municipal officials, schools, non-profit organizations, NAACP branches and more.