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Strongsville council adopts contract with Cuyahoga County Board of Health after presentation on services and proposed fee change
Summary
After a presentation from Cuyahoga County Board of Health staff, Strongsville City Council unanimously adopted an emergency ordinance authorizing a 2026–27 agreement with the Board; the Board cited expanded services, new data tools and a proposed 12% adjustment in fees to offset declining grant revenue.
Strongsville City Council voted unanimously on Nov. 3 to authorize Mayor Perciak to enter into an agreement with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health to provide public-health services to the city for calendar years 2026 and 2027 (Ordinance 2025-116). The vote followed a detailed presentation from the Board’s director of external affairs, Ms. Rush, and brief council questions.
The Board’s presentation described expanded outreach and service capacity, new data tools on the Board’s website (ccbh.net), a speaker’s bureau for community presentations and a mobile medical unit planned to launch in 2026. “People have no idea what we do until there’s a bad outbreak or a pandemic or something terrible,” Ms. Rush said, explaining the Board’s push for more public engagement.
Ms. Rush said the Board is upgrading its informatics and publication of inspection and outbreak data, with plans for a community-level executive summary report card (red/yellow/green) to help local officials target follow-up work. She identified accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board as the Board’s primary quality standard and described routine public posting of inspection results for pools and food-service establishments.
The Board framed a proposed fee adjustment — repeatedly referenced in the presentation as a 12% increase — as a response to higher operating costs and diminishing grant support. “That’s why we have to do the 12%, 12%,” Ms. Rush said, adding the change is intended to maintain programs ranging from prenatal care to naloxone distribution (she noted an example cost of naloxone kits at about $28).
Council members asked how Strongsville-specific data would be presented. Ms. Rush said the Board is working to tighten its reporting so the countywide datasets can be filtered to the city level; on that point she summarized the work as: “Yes but not yet,” and committed to provide more targeted summaries when available.
The ordinance authorizes the mayor to execute the agreement and was moved to suspend rules by Councilman Carbone and seconded by Councilman Kaminski. The roll-call adoption was unanimous. The ordinance was adopted as an emergency measure and covers the two calendar years specified.
What this means: the county health department will be the city’s primary provider of public-health services under the new agreement; City Hall and the Board will continue to coordinate on the timing and scope of data-sharing and on any fee changes. Ms. Rush offered contact information to follow up and encouraged officials to invite Board staff to local events and senior-center programs.
The council’s action followed the Board’s presentation during committee earlier in the evening; the formal adoption occurred later in the meeting by unanimous roll call. The agreement is set to take effect under the emergency language included in the ordinance.
