Lack of money hurts public health, county official says

Restaurants, day care centers and swimming pools are going uninspected. Tuberculosis investigations have been scaled back. And only the most serious sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis and HIV, are getting the full attention of public health authorities.

That's the message the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment plans to deliver Monday at its annual meeting, where a lack of funding is expected to be the theme.

Public Health Administrator Rosemary Bakes-Martin said the department's presentation about the past year and what's ahead will not address a possible tax increase, but the department will point out where it's falling behind.
"There's not enough money being put into public health," Bakes-Martin said. "That's the bottom line."

Funding for the health department has declined from $5.1 million in 2001 to $3.8 million in 2007, or about 25 percent. In that same period, the county's population has increased by more than 62,000 people, she said.

With 209 people responsible for a fast-growing population, inspections are lagging. Last year the department completed fewer than half its state-re- quired inspections of restaurants and other foodservice providers. That same year, complaints about possible food-borne illnesses or against restaurants more than doubled. Complaints increased by more than six times from 2005, going from 60 to 369.

Six public swimming pools such as those at recreational centers, hotels and city parks were closed last summer because of E. coli contamination. Bakes-Martin thinks more frequent inspections would catch such problems before closures are required.

The county has gone from trying to contact anyone who tested positive for latent or active tuberculosis to only those exposed to the active form of the bacterial respiratory disease. Bakes-Martin predicts the county could eventually decide to send letters to people exposed to active TB urging them to get tested by a doctor rather than ensuring they are tested and offering treatment.

In June 2007, a 19-yearold woman, Kalpana Dangol, who was living in Colorado Springs and attending Colorado State University at Pueblo, died of tuberculosis. Of more than 200 possible exposures, 17 people in contact with her tested positive, three of them in El Paso County.

Bakes-Martin said the health department's funding dropped in part to pay for a new county jail that opened in March 2005. The county used Certificates of Participation, a form of debt that does not require voter approval, and cut money from the health department and other areas to pay for them.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0198 or bnewsome@gazette.com

IF YOU GO

The El Paso County Department of Health and Environment will hold its sixth annual meeting, "Local Public Health: End of the Road or New Beginning?" from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Pikes Peak Regional Development Center, 2880 International Circle.