Agency unable to meet minumum state standards, health officer says
By: Marjorie Censer
At its present level of funding, the Princeton Regional Health Department is unable to meet its minimum state standards, Health Officer told the Princeton Regional Health Commission Tuesday.
Mr. Henry is requesting more than $190,000 from Princeton Township and Princeton Borough in additional funding for 2006 so that his department can operate at a basic level, he said. The increases include funding for a public health liaison, department secretary, public health nurse and an animal control vehicle.
"This is the money it’s going to take for us to meet our minimum standards of performance," he said. "We’re just talking basic needs here."
The state requires the Health Department to meet the New Jersey Public Health Practice Standards, and Mr. Henry said his department has fallen short.
For three months last year, the department was unable to host its monthly well-baby clinic at the University Medical Center at Princeton because it could not find a new pediatrician to conduct them. Mr. Henry said in an interview Wednesday he had a difficult time finding a pediatrician willing to participate because of the low wage, and he eventually had to increase the hourly rate.
The department’s failure to host the clinic was disappointing to Mr. Henry, particularly because residents have come to expect it.
"It’s also a long-standing tradition of the Princeton Health Department," he said. "It was just a shame that we didn’t have it for three months."
In addition, the Health Department has not offered sufficient health education and has not been properly following up on communicable disease cases. Mr. Henry said the department desperately needs a public health nurse.
"There’s no real acceptable reason why we can’t have a public health nurse," he said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, he and members of the health commission said they would like to raise restaurant and vital statistics fees to increase revenue. That additional revenue, members said, should provide increased funding for the Health Department.
In 2005, the Health Department spent about $463,000, slightly under its $472,000 budget. For 2006, Mr. Henry wants a $656,000 budget.
If the department continues to fall short of the state’s minimum standards, Mr. Henry said state officials can put pressure on him and on the governing bodies to properly fund the department.