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Failure of health levy will lead to more cuts

Carla Ealy, Director of Environmental Health for the City of Middletown, inspects a pool at the Reyton Inn in Middletown, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011.

Staff photo by Greg Lynch. Carla Ealy, Director of Environmental Health for the City of Middletown, inspects a pool at the Reyton Inn in Middletown, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011.

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By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer 7:29 PM Wednesday, October 26, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — If the Middletown Health Levy passes, Jackie Phillips, health commissioner, envisions her department serving as the driver behind residents’ health.

A failed levy, she said, may mean the city’s overall health becomes stalled.

“There needs to be one central place where the community goes for its needs,” Phillips said. “We should be that place that arranges and collaborates” with other agencies.

The health department is asking voters to approve a 0.5-mill property tax levy that would generate $422,138 a year for immunizations, programming and outreach, Phillips said. Approval would cost an additional $15 a year — Phillips compared that to one large pizza — for owners of a $100,000 home.

Phillips said a rejection would lead to deeper staff cuts to a department that has already lost eight positions over the past five years and had its budget cut $15,000.

Staffing levels will continue to be reduced if voters reject the levy, Phillips said. She said the staff will likely be cut down to three, not including three positions covered by grant money. Lost positions would include a nursing director and a sanitarian, who inspects local restaurants and pools.

Phillips said the department in 2008 received twice as much in city subsidies than today.

More than half of all local health departments experienced negative job impact in 2010, collectively shedding 6,000 employees and reducing the working capacity of three times as many, according to a recent study by the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Phillips said she wants voters to show their support for the levy with a “strong passage.” She hopes 80 percent of the voters approve the levy. That, she said, would indicate residents value their overall health and understand the value the department adds to the community.

The health department, which serves the city’s population of about 50,000 in addition to nearby communities like Franklin, Trenton and Monroe, issues about 8,000 birth and death certificates a year, Phillips said. If the levy fails, those certificates will be issued in either Hamilton or Lebanon depending on where the birth or death occurred, she said.

She said the health department’s goal is “the whole health of a community” whether that’s checking restaurant cleanliness, providing immunizations, or providing educational programs.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.

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