Delaware County Council is taking the next step in establishing a county health department by meeting next week with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, writes Kathleen E. Carey for the Daily Times.

“This is a priority. This is definitely a priority for all five of us,” said Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer.

The hope is a county health department will be able to gather and share information on public health issues and patterns.

“We are the most densely populated county in the state without a health department.,” Schaefer said. “That is staggering to me. Given (our) population density, staying on top of public health patterns and trends is really critical.”

Without a health department, the county also has no power to enforce public health decisions, like a response plan to a measles outbreak.

A county health department may be able to identify larger than usual clusters throughout the county with various health indicators or situations, allowing other officials to do their analyses to see if responses are needed.

A recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation of Norwood cancer rates, for example, would have benefitted from information gathered early by a county health department.

Read more about creating a county health department here.

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