Supervisors unanimously approve Public Health District

Pinal County will become the fifth county in Arizona to form a Public Health District, following a unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors last week.

The Public Health District puts into place a mechanism to meet specific health care needs as prioritized by county officials. The money raised for the Public Health District will come in the form of a .001 tax on goods purchased within the county. The tax will not apply to food purchases. On a $10 purchase the tax will amount to one cent. The tax will begin to be levied in October.

In a report to the Supervisors, County Manager Terry Doolittle said over 50 meetings were held across the county to gather feedback about the proposed district. Many of the meetings were held with Pinal towns and cities, chambers of commerce, business associations and volunteer organizations. Doolittle presented an overview of the district to the Maricopa City Council last month.

“The general consensus has been one of support,” Doolittle said.

Currently the Pinal County Division of Public Health is 75 percent grant funded, while the rest comes from the general fund. In the past two years, however, the amount of grant funding from the federal government has dropped due to a focus on getting the money to Homeland Security efforts.

Currently four Arizona counties have health districts: Yuma, Apache, Navajo and Greenlee.

After a thorough study of the health needs within Pinal County, officials have identified the following areas that will be addressed by the Health District:

Childhood Immunizations – Currently the national average is at 80 percent for children who receive proper immunizations. Pinal County’s average is 43 percent. The focus will be on getting children from newborn to two years of age up to date on their needed immunizations

Sexually Transmitted Diseases – The increase in the number of people who are contracting an STD is growing exponentially within the borders of Pinal County. The money designated for trying to control STDs will go toward hiring more investigators; currently Pinal County has one person who serves in that capacity.

Increasing clinic hours and capacity – This two-fold approach will see the hours of public health clinics increase to include evening and weekend hours, along with providing more services at those clinics. Also included is a plan to purchase a fleet of mobile clinics to serve more areas

In his public comments, Vice-Chairman and District 3 Supervisor David Snider said he is not surprised by the strong support for this issue.

“The health of this county directly affects our businesses,” Supervisor Snider said. “It is not just an issue of foresight but of economic development. In fact, 95 percent of the communications I have received have been positive. Revenues for this Health District will not just come from people here in the county, but from everyone who does business in the county. It will be paid for by a wide spectrum of people.”

“The need is definitely there for a Health District,” Snider said.

Photo by Joyce Hollis