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The Bastrop County Commissioners’ Court voted unanimously to create a centralized public health department, inclusive of Elgin and all towns within the county, earlier this month.
Bastrop County Health Department Interim Executive Director Donna Nichols presented the public health initiative during this month’s first city council meeting. The discussion focused on disease prevention, health promotion and protection, and outlined the efforts needed to establish a countywide public health task force to aid in these efforts.
“Public health is a public service,” said Nichols.
The creation of a new department is necessitated by the county’s population growth of about 68,000 people over the past 15 years, according to Nichols.
The presentation outlined how a public health department would address the need for a centralized public health voice, especially during countywide crises like Covid and the freezes experienced over the past few years.
The creation of a public health department would centralize and address the themes of accountability, better health practices and transparency and sustainability of resources, added Nichols.
The speaker summarized the main objectives of a health department as the three p’s of prevention, promotion and protection.
“Protect against seen and unseen threats to air, water and food, health promotion in terms of education, and supporting all populations and disease prevention,” according to the director.
Accessibility and range of coverage will be a focus point of the new department, targeting communicable disease, chronic disease and injury, environmental public health, sanitation, access to healthcare and maternal, child and family health.
The Bastrop County Health Department stated that legal authority to pursue a public health department comes from chapter 121 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, noting that by having a public health department task force, there would be an ability to apply for governmental funding and grants.
Nichols asked the City Council for one elected official and one community leader to represent Elgin in the task force.
Councilmember Ya-Lecia Love volunteered to be the elected official, but the community leader has yet to be determined. It was proposed by Nichols that this person “understands health, and how to keep people well, [and] quality of life.”
Nichols has requested a letter identifying the elected official and community leader for Elgin, to be included in the submission for a Health Resources and Services Administration federal grant request.
City Manager Thomas Mattis agreed to address and approve this request in advance of the Jan. 26 deadline.
