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Health director reports falling hepatitis and overdose visits, WIC award and environmental‑health hiring challenges
Summary
Burke County Public Health reported reductions in hepatitis A and overdose emergency visits, a USDA Gold Award for WIC, rapid turnaround in vital records and a temporary backlog in environmental‑health inspections while new hires train; the board accepted the quarterly report.
Burke County Public Health Director Danny Scalise told the Board of Commissioners that the department’s recent work shows marked public‑health wins and operational pressures.
Scalise said county hepatitis A incidence fell from the very high rate the county had when he was hired to effectively zero in recent reporting, attributing improvements to harm‑reduction and education efforts. He said other sexually transmitted and blood‑borne infection trends (chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B and C) are also moving in a favorable direction and that overdose emergency department visits and overdose deaths have decreased.
“Today, we stand as tied for with a number of counties the best in the state. We went from about 62 per 100,000 to effectively 0,” Scalise said describing hepatitis A trends. He also noted overdose ED visits declined year to year and that naloxone distribution and community fatality review teams contributed to harm‑reduction efforts.
Scalise highlighted the department’s recent USDA WIC Gold Award and said WIC spending that stays in the county totaled approximately $1,800,000 in the most recent reporting period. He said Burke County’s vital‑records processing is among the fastest in the state, and the health department was recognized as the county health department of the year in 2024 for innovative practices.
Scalise also described programmatic and staffing actions: the department has expanded partnerships with universities, formalized internship and practicum placements, and is using quality improvement (Lean/Six Sigma) methods. He said environmental‑health inspection workloads lag in the short term because many staff are new and must complete required training and authorizations; the department has contracted experienced registered environmental health specialists to help clear the backlog while new hires finish training and predicted the unit will be back on schedule by the end of the fiscal year.
Commissioners accepted the quarterly health department report on a motion; no further action was required.
Ending: Health department staff said they will continue hiring and training environmental health inspectors, expand outreach and maintain harm‑reduction programs; the board formally accepted the report.
