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Waupaca County board votes to create stand‑alone Department of Public Health
Summary
The county board unanimously approved Resolution No. 3 to separate Public Health from the Department of Health and Human Services and establish a stand‑alone Department of Public Health effective Aug. 31, 2023, noting statewide statutory authority and prompting County Code updates.
The Waupaca County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted Resolution No. 3 (2023–2024) on June 20, 2023, authorizing the separation of Public Health from the Department of Health and Human Services and the establishment of a stand‑alone Department of Public Health, effective August 31, 2023.
The resolution, introduced and moved for adoption by Supervisor Gerald Murphy and seconded by Supervisor Dennis Wengelski, cites Wis. Stat. Chapter 251 and related Wisconsin Administrative Code regulations as the legal framework for creating a county public health department. The motion carried 26‑0.
The board’s action follows unanimous recommendations from the DHHS Board on May 3, 2023, and from the Executive Committee on May 26, 2023, that Public Health be separated from Human Services. The resolution’s text states that contemporary public health work focuses on population‑level services including surveillance and investigation, disease control and prevention, emergency preparedness and response, health promotion, hazard identification and mitigation, policy and planning, leadership competencies and community engagement. The measure says a stand‑alone department will provide a more visible identity to residents and partners and improve the county’s ability to respond strategically during public health emergencies.
The County Board directed the County Clerk, Kristy Opperman, to send a copy of the resolution to the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary‑designee Kirsten Johnson. The resolution also instructs that the Waupaca County Code of Ordinances Chapter 2 be amended through proper committee and County Board action to reflect the new Department of Public Health and its committee of jurisdiction; the department’s authority is stated to commence as of Sept. 1, 2023, pending enactment of those ordinance amendments if they are not enacted previously.
The resolution names the DHHS Board members who recommended the change, including Gerald Murphy, Sue Golding, David Johnson, Tammy Strey‑Hirt, Kevin Will, Dennis Wengelski, Dr. Steven Goedderz, Jody Muck and Judi Olson. The board did not record discussion details or include a line‑item budget in the meeting record; funding sources and staffing changes were not specified in the transcript.
Next steps noted in the record are the County Code amendment process and the clerical step of forwarding the resolution to state health officials. The board took formal action but did not include, in the meeting transcript, detailed implementation dates beyond the effective/commencement language in the resolution.
