LV Health Department Needs Undertaker

If last night's meeting of the LV Health Commission is any indication, the Lehigh Valley Health Board is in a hospice, with an undertaker on his way for a closed casket funeral. Public health looks pretty sick in the Lehigh Valley.

The LV Health Comm'n is actually the combined legislatures of Lehigh and Northampton County. Last night, Lehigh County played host at its meeting room in downtown Allentown, which was packed with about fifty people, most of them public health workers or advocates.

Twenty-seven foot John Stoffa dropped by, festooned in his Sherlock Holmes hat, and sat right next to RenewLV's Beata Bujalska. "Hello, I'm a doctor," he told her. I warned Beata to keep her eyes on him, but she still had to mace him a few times before he finally got the message.

"Don't judge me, dude," is all my County Exec could say when the meeting was over.

Unlike last year, when one meeting actually had to be canceled because Northampton County was unable to come up with a quorum, there were seven Council members on hand to match the seven Lehigh Comm'rs.

Now this meeting should have lasted about ten seconds, long enough to elect Percy Dougherty as chair (nominated by Ron Angle) and Ann McHale as vice-chair (nominated by Dean Browning).

But Dr. David Lyon, who has been the primus pilus for Lehigh Valley public health, decided to give a presentation about the LV Health Department's progress. Big mistake. He compounded that error by presenting a "worst case scenario," under which each county would have to kick in approximately $1.7 million. To make matters even worse, he claimed there are only about 35 public employees in Allentown and Bethlehem, when the truth is that Allentown alone has 36 employees. Commissioners and Council members alike began to express reservations.

Glenn Eckhart, noting there are 66 current employees in Bethlehem and Allentown, questioned how hiring an additional 20 will give residents in outlying areas the same level of service as in the cities. He also questioned whether the cities will contribute to the cost.

Dean Browning noted that each county only generates about $100 million per year in real estate tax revenue. "1.7 million out of a $100 million budget might be more than some of us are willing to bear."

Bruce Gilbert echoed Eckhart's concerns about whether 20 new employees can provide the same level of service as 66 employees in Bethlehem and Allentown. He also wondered why local hospitals are not kicking into this effort.

Percy Dougherty, "very disappointed" by the lack of detail, thought we would have the hard numbers by now.

Ann McHale suggested letting the voters decide what to do, in a non-binding referendum, but nobody went along with that idea.

Tom Creighton called the bi-county health department a "waste of money." "We're just creating more government here."

Ron Angle cross-examined Dr. Lyon about the health department's commitment to Allentown and Bethlehem. "It doesn't match up. You're saying that, with 95 people, you'll cover two counties." He also wondered whether municipalities will have to fire their sewage enforcement officers, now that the LV Health Department wants to take over. "This sounds great, but in the big picture, people all over the two counties are gonna' want to hear that they're getting what Allentown and Bethlehem already have. It's that simple. ... You are not going to do that for pennies a day in the real world."

Dr. Lyon tried to minimize this objection, noting that needs will be different in areas outside Bethlehem and Allentown.

The LV Health Department does have its share of supporters, including Peg Ferraro, Dan McCarthy, Gloria Hamm and Andy Roman. But then Roman described a pretty strange public health department, one that looks for dirty bombs and bio terrorism. Roman has public health confused with emergency management.

Members of the public have similarly unrealistic expectations, viewing a public health department as some sort of Deus Ex Machina. One Emmaus Senior noted that her highrise was without water for a week. She thinks a public health department will solve that problem. It won't. A Williams Township resident thinks a public health department will stop unpleasant odors at Chrin landfill. It won't.

By night's end, Dr. Lyon was reassuring Commissioners and Council members he will probably only be seeking a couple hundred thousand per county, but they are now thinking of a department that will quickly start demanding more money. His "worst case scenario" may have been the worst case he could have presented.

Dr. Lyon conceded he's no salesman. No argument there.

Right now, it appears that the LV Health Department is dead. Northampton County: Angle, McClure, Thierry, Gilbert, Dietrich, Cusick and even McHale have concerns. Lehigh County: Dougherty, Browning, Eckhart and Creighton have reservations, and Leiner just resigned. To go forward, the LV Health Department will need five votes from each county.

I support this concept, and believe it could work. But for the next several years, that can happen only if the LV Health Department relies exclusively on whatever grant money it secures elsewhere.