Douglas County unveils public data dashboard for births, deaths and vital records processing

At a Douglas County Public Health Board of Health meeting, staff demonstrated a new public data dashboard that will let residents view county population metrics, births and deaths by year, and net migration.

Elizabeth Walker Short, who presented the dashboard, said the tool uses state demography and Colorado health data. "The star of the show really is total number of births and deaths by the year," she said while showing live graphs and toggle controls for year ranges.

Why it matters: the dashboard is intended to make locally relevant demographic and vital statistics more accessible. Walker Short said the county also plans dashboards for restaurant inspection data, environmental health and seasonal disease trends such as West Nile virus, pertussis, flu and COVID-19.

Presenters explained the difference between initial and additional birth or death certificate requests: an initial certificate includes the state's system-access fee, while additional copies printed at the same visit are charged at a lower rate because there is no extra system-access cost. Staff said current in-person pricing is $20 for the first certificate and a reduced fee for additional copies obtained during the same visit; if requested on a separate day, the first-copy fee would apply again.

Staff said the dashboards were being finalized for publication and should go live on the department website shortly.

Ending: Board members praised the presentation and asked staff to expand dashboards to other public-health program areas as resources permit.