Kent County health official outlines inspections, vaccinations and lost COVID-era programs

Dr. Adam London, a Kent County Health Department official, told the county committee he recently accepted national accreditation and summarized the department's 2024 workload and program changes, including the loss of two COVID-era-funded programs.

The presentation, given at a Kent County commissioners' committee meeting, laid out inspection counts for food, pools and body-art facilities; clinical volumes for sexually transmitted infection testing, vaccinations and tuberculosis treatment; and staffing and site information for county public-health services. London also told the committee that a wastewater surveillance program funded through COVID-era grants and a refugee resettlement subrecipient program have been cut or are winding down.

The overview matters because the figures show day-to-day public-health activity the county oversees and highlight services that will change if federal or grant funding is not restored. The department's monitoring and inspection work affects restaurants, pools, wells and body‑art studios; its clinical services affect maternal and child health, STI and vaccine access across the county.

London opened by noting accreditation milestones and staff turnover. "A couple of weeks ago, we received that accreditation from the National Association of County and City Health Officials," he said. He told commissioners the department has tracked national workforce turnover and that roughly half of the staff began working after February 2020, when COVID-19 arrived.

He provided specific 2024 figures: Kent County has about 2,600 licensed food-service establishments; the department conducted about 4,200 routine food inspections and nearly 1,200 follow-up inspections in 2024. The department issued about 700 temporary food licenses (for festivals and short-term events) and performed roughly 377 preopening inspections for new establishments. "So a lot happening there, to make sure that those establishments are safer to dine at," London said.

In environmental health, the department performed over 200 lead-related inspections in 2024, including 74 lead risk assessments in homes where a child had blood lead levels above the action level London cited (5 micrograms per deciliter). There were 54 clearance inspections and 73 lower-level screenings. The department oversees about 363 public pools countywide and conducted 176 follow-up pool inspections last year, London said.

London said the state passed a law in 2010 requiring inspections and licensing for body-art facilities; in 2024 Kent County carried out 103 routine inspections of permanent body-art facilities and 95 inspections of temporary body-art operations, with 63 follow-up inspections. "With body-art facilities, often there is something that maybe is a higher risk for blood-borne pathogens," he said.

On wells, London said the department averages about 600 well permits a year and conducts final inspections after new wells are installed. He attributed recent dips in well finals to broader economic trends in new housing starts.

Clinical services accounted for thousands of patient visits in 2024, London said. The department logged more than 4,200 visits for people seeking evaluation for suspected sexually transmitted infections; staff identified about 328 cases of chlamydia and about 151 cases of gonorrhea. The department recorded 12 active tuberculosis cases last year and performs hundreds of tests and latent‑TB follow-up each year.

Vaccination services were a major highlight: London said the department held more than 12,000 vaccination appointments in 2024 and administered more than 50,000 vaccines in total. He also noted a travel-vaccine clinic that served about 1,200 people and that 93 provider offices participate in the Vaccines for Children program, which supplies vaccine doses and reimbursement for eligible children.

London flagged long-term improvements in HIV outcomes: "Back in the mid‑nineties in Kent County, we were losing 30 to 40 people a year to AIDS. Now it's 3 to 4 people a year to AIDS in Kent County. It's a huge improvement," he said, crediting wider testing, preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and more accessible treatment.

He also highlighted maternal-and-child supports, including WIC and breastfeeding coaching. London said initiation rates for breastfeeding among the population the department serves are about 79 percent and offered to provide follow-up data on continuation at six weeks and six months when commissioners requested it.

Two programs funded with federal or COVID-era grants were described as ending or scaling back: the refugee-resettlement subrecipient work the department performed through the state has been cut and will phase out in the coming months; and a wastewater surveillance program funded through COVID grants has been phased out and is expected to end by late summer, London said. He said staff from the refugee program are being repurposed so positions are not being eliminated.

Commissioners asked about locations and staffing. London said the department has about 270 full-time equivalent positions, about 10 percent of county employment, and operates four county locations (Fuller [main], North County, South County and the Sheldon human services complex), plus smaller clinic sites. He said Fuller is under renovation and is expected to reopen by fall for a public ribbon-cutting.

Commissioners also asked about consumer-facing tools: London said the department's website links to searchable inspection records for restaurants and other licensed establishments.

The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; London said he will return next month with additional mortality and morbidity measures and more detail on the community wellness program.

Acknowledging the department's staff, London singled out two longtime employees, Sue Sefton and Barb Hawkins Palmer, noting they have a combined 78 years of experience at the Kent County Health Department and remain at work because "we love working with kids and families."