County health department seeks new inspector

Local foodies may have noticed a lack of restaurant inspections reported over the past month. 

That’s because the county Environmental Health Department seeks a new inspector, said Health Program Manager Ruth Ramirez. 

The health department regularly updates its public portal with restaurant inspections, but suddenly stopped reporting them after Feb. 21, following inspections of two schools and a daycare center. 

“We are in the process of assigning a new inspector into the area,” Ramirez told InMaricopa Wednesday. “We’re going to be opening a position, and everybody in Pinal County, and everybody that can be qualified can apply.” 

Ramirez said the situation over the past month should not set the health department behind. 

“We do [inspections] quarterly, and the district is all caught up,” she said. 

Ramirez declined to comment on why previous inspector Marcella McDonalds no longer works with the health department. 

Since inspections abruptly came to a halt, the health department has visited The Roost on Tuesday, which was updated on the county portal today as an “excellent.”  

Today, Ramierz refused to comment on who inspected the bar, and why, but confirmed the health department is still hiring a new inspector.