Health board plans informational meeting for residents

Given the sudden interest in the powers and duties of the Lincoln County Health Board, members plan to hold an informational meeting about the body, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 16.

Board members will offer a series of short presentations focusing on different aspects of the organization. Discussion will also focus on the board’s relationships with other government bodies, like the county commissioners, and briefly touch on topics like contact tracing, coronavirus testing and financing.

Board chair Jan Ivers said the idea came up after a series of meetings where the board was presented with the same questions from the public regarding structure, money and oversight.

“We keep getting a lot of the same questions about the finances of COVID-19 testing, who gives authority to Dr. Brad Black, what the board of health’s duties are,” Ivers said during a Nov. 23 meeting. “It seems like we try to answer them and then the next week, we get the same questions.”

Ivers pitched the idea during an emergency meeting of the board wherein a new local heath order was up for vote. The proposal, which does not require board approval, would bring Lincoln County’s pandemic measures in line with the state’s response. Members ultimately tabled taking action until the December meeting.

During the public comment portions of the meeting, residents who spoke out panned the order. As in past gatherings, critics wanted to know how Dr. Brad Black, the county’s health officer, could operate autonomously in responding to the pandemic. They also asked whether county commissioners could reshuffle the board, accusing members of adopting a tyrannical and authoritarian approach to pandemic measures.

Black’s authority stems from Title 50 of the Montana Code Annotated, which gives him leeway in responding to imminent threats to public health. The health board is overseen by county commissioners, who have been loath to respond to calls to dismiss its current membership, sans those critical of the local approach to the pandemic.

Ivers envisioned member Mark Peck, who also is a county commissioner, speaking on the structure’s organization. Kathi Hooper, director of the health department, could tackle legal issues while board member Laura Crismore, who works at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, could discuss the science behind testing.

Ivers proposed giving members five minutes to present their information. After each segment, residents could pose questions. She suggested the educational meeting run about an hour in length.

In a nod to the oft-contentious public comment portions of regular heath board meetings, she described the public question portion as intended purely for informational purposes.

“[The board] is not up for debate, it’s not up for criticism; it’s just a plain educational meeting,” she said. “I think we could reach a lot of people who have same question as other people. If you want to debate, it’s not the platform to do it.”

Board member Debra Armstrong, who represents Eureka, asked whether health workers in north Lincoln County also could present to the community.

Her colleague, Sara Mertes, endorsed the suggestion.

“I would welcome [hearing] what you’re dealing with up there, because it’s certainly different from what we’re dealing with down here,” she said.

Before the board settled on Dec. 16 as the best possible date to hold the forum, Ivers again reiterated that challenging the veracity of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than a quarter million Americans to date, was a no-go.

“This is not a debate,” she said. “This is not about whether the pandemic exists or not.”