Otsego County board asks state to remove funding from health department

GAYLORD — The Otsego County board of commissioners last week passed a resolution urging the state to take away funding from the Health Department of Northwest Michigan.

Meanwhile, they also amended a measure they passed earlier this month which originally sought to hold funding for the health department in escrow, “until such time as the health department is viewed,” by the county board as following state laws and department bylaws. The revised language, rather, asks to withhold funding from the state for the Health Department.

Ultimately, both resolutions appeal to a clause in a September budget bill, Public Act 87, that calls for health departments to lose funding if they impose mask orders in schools. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed that bill, including the mask clause, but has said her administration will not enforce it, based on its questionable legal merit.

The Otsego County board resolutions challenge her on that, though Commissioner Doug Johnson warned the move was largely symbolic.

“The only reason I mention this is I don’t want to see people getting their hopes up,” he said.

Commissioner Julie Powers, who serves on the health board and introduced the previous defunding resolution, said she agreed, but felt something needed to be done to get the attention of Lisa Peacock, health officer for the Health Department.

Peacock has been the target of much of the ire of the anti-mask mandate contingent.

Some commissioners expressed concern about possible repercussions — including the threat of losing other important Health Department services.

“We’re playing with fire on this one,” said Commissioner Jason Caverson. “We were playing with fire with the last one. This is not about masking. I don’t see how this will benefit anyone. School will be out before anything takes effect. The long term effect to the health department is going to be with us. We were elected to serve the people, but we’ve got to serve a majority of the people.”

Caverson was the only commissioner to oppose both of the resolutions, although Johnson opposed the second resolution as well.

“I want to commend the board for stepping up … What you’re doing is making a stand,” said citizen Stephanie Jacobsen. “You’re letting people know everybody know that you are aware of what’s going on and you’re not going to just stick your heads in the sand. I think I can speak for everybody when I say, we appreciate that. We’re here not because the masks and the vax, but we are here because we want you to continue to stand up for us.”

The meeting was heavily attended, both in person and online, including a handful of high school students who opposed the mask mandates. Many said they had been involved in the walkout protests over the issue at the start of this school year.

The health department’s school mask mandate was announced in late August, days before the start of the school year, and has been a point of contention in Otsego County and others in the subsequent months.

Michigan Compiled Law grants health departments authority to take steps to protect the public health in times of emergency.

Speculations and misconceptions were rampant among the citizens providing public comment. Multiple times, either the virus or the vaccination were labeled as a “biological weapon.” Scientists and U.S. Intelligence Agencies have concluded multiple times that the genetic mutations found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus which enabled its transmissibility to humans were not genetically engineered. A report from the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence again confirmed that last month.

Many questioned why the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin was not being used to treat COVID, with one speaker stating she had to sneak the drug into the hospital for a family member. There is currently no scientific basis for the suggestion that ivermectin is an effective treatment against COVID-19. The primary study that has been used in support of such a treatment was a preprint — meaning it had not been peer-reviewed — that came from an Egyptian university. It has since been retracted for plagiarism and data manipulation.

Some proponents of the health department who spoke at the meeting claimed Whitmer had line-item vetoed the mask clause in Public Act 87 — striking down only that provision, but leaving the rest of the budget bill in place. That’s not the case.

Leading up to the bill signing, Whitmer’s administration gave a strong indication she would use her veto powers, but she ultimately kept that section intact. Simultaneously, her office released a letter saying it was unenforceable according to existing state laws.

Janelle Hendrian, chief medical officer at Munson Healthcare, was one of the few, if only, qualified medical experts who spoke. She painted a picture of a health system that is badly overrun with increasing COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated.

“A lot of people I see online comments that people don’t think the hospital is overwhelmed, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with people leaving because of vaccine mandates … that number is exceptionally low and is not impacting our operations at all.”

She said the hospital is seeing record numbers of inpatients. About 20 percent of those new cases are school-aged children. The next largest category is the age group that would include parents of school-aged children. She said the hospital is at pandemic red level, and that they are consistently at code triage .

“We really believe it’s critical to address this pandemic and any other health crisis with with science — and that’s good science, not the social media science that is pervasive out there — and the best epidemiological processes that are out there,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Otsego County board asks state to remove funding from health department