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Passaic County health officer Araceli Patel presents 2025 public-health report, flags funding shifts
Summary
Health Officer Araceli Patel told the Passaic County Board of Commissioners on April 14 that the department completed thousands of inspections and screenings in 2025, distributed 21,960 COVID-19 test kits and managed outbreaks as some federal grants were reduced; the county will open a Highlands Regional Service Center in West Milford.
Araceli Patel, Passaic County's health officer, presented the county's 2025 annual public-health report to the Board of Commissioners on April 14, detailing division activities, inspection totals and program delivery and describing steps the department is taking after reductions in some federal grant funding.
Patel said mosquito-control teams conducted 14,319 inspections in 2025 and tested 257 mosquito pools across the county; 21 of those pools tested positive, triggering localized response actions. The environmental-health program completed 725 site visits in 2025 in coordination with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and used 24/7 duty officers to respond to spills, hazardous-material reports and other incidents.
The health officer described consumer- and environmental-health work: the Office of Consumer Protection performed 635 food-establishment inspections and 70 reinspections, handled 191 temporary-event inspections and 38 recreational-bathing inspections. Septic-related work included 381 inspections, 166 plan reviews and 121 permits; nuisance complaints totaled 127. Patel said the…
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