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Maryland Is Facing a Public Health Crisis, and It’s Not COVID-19 Anymore
Health Officers in Maryland sit at the top of the organizational charts for local health departments, where the most impactful public health work happens. In Maryland, they’re being fired or quitting at an alarming rate.
What do you think of when you think of your local health department? Do you think of some obscure building somewhere where work is done that you don’t know much about? Do you think of the people with the thermometers going into kitchens and restaurants to make sure your food is safe to eat? Do you think of people at health fairs taking your blood pressure and handing out pamphlets about safe sex and other healthy habits?
Local health departments in the United States have the most impact on public health because of the way that public health is set up in this country. The police powers given to local and state governments by the United States Constitution made it so that most regulations and mandates regarding quarantines and insolation during the pandemic had to be approved at the local level. Yes, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, or the Food and Drug Administration all give their expert opinion on…
