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Virus takes financial toll on health agency

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Zoe Hoops, waitress at JJ’s Steak and Pizza House, on Tuesday writes the night’s specials on the board at the restaurant. District Health Department No. 4 has lost revenue it normally receives from restaurant inspections because restaurants have been closed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

ALPENA — The coronavirus pandemic has hurt District Health Department No. 4’s budget, administrators said Tuesday.

The Health Department had used $91,238 from its cash savings as of the end of April as department staffers worked overtime responding to the pandemic, Deputy Health Officer Judy Greer told the department’s board on Tuesday. As of 2018, the Health Department had $605,433 in reserves, according to its most recent annual report available online.

The department adopted a $4.2 million budget in November, which officials characterized as “a lean budget.”

A $155,000 payment from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was spent as soon as it came in, Greer said.

Greer said the department has not resumed all of its services that bring in revenue. Family planning and immunization clinics are just starting back up, but dental varnish and blood testing haven’t started, yet.

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Mary Hepburn, bartender at JJ’s Steak and Pizza House, pours a beer on Tuesday at the bar.

“There is still a concern going forward of cash flow and budget for the year, but we can’t change anything that is happening,” she said.

Revenue from the department’s Environmental Health Division — which inspects restaurants, drinking water wells, are more — is the department’s “bread and butter” for half the year beginning in the summer, Health Officer Denise Bryan said. But it wasn’t clear how many restaurants had or would reopen after state-mandated closures meant to prevent the virus’ spread.

The Health Department will have to figure that out because it cannot continue blindly through the summer,” Bryan told her board. “We can’t be in the hole by December, so we’re going to need to stay engaged on these numbers and work very diligently to be efficient and bringing as much revenue, and cutting our costs.”

As of the end of April, the department has received 56% of its revenue from restaurant inspections, 15% from well permits, and 12% from septic permits. Greer told the board those numbers are likely to increase.

The department inspected 421 food establishments and issued 78 temporary food service licenses in 2018 in Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties, according to the Health Department’s 2018 annual report.

Because the spread of the coronavirus has slowed, Bryan said the Health Department will be able to save money because staff no longer need to work weekends and be paid overtime.

“We need to save that, in case there were to be an outbreak in the population that we would have to mount a public health response to,” Bryan said.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.

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