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Park County health officer reports rise in reportable illnesses, outlines prevention and suicide-prevention training
Summary
Dr. Dusner told the Park County Board of Health the department logged roughly 100–125 reportable illnesses this year (excluding flu and COVID), 139 COVID cases and 185 influenza cases including 11 hospitalizations, and described local prevention work: school 'Hope Squads,' an opioid/Prime for Life trainer, environmental inspections and an upcoming suicide-prevention training for clinicians.
Chair Stephanie Lang opened the Park County Board of Health meeting on April 14 and turned the floor to the county’s health staff for updates on infectious disease surveillance and prevention efforts.
Dr. Dusner, the health department presenter, said the department has seen “somewhere in the range of 100 to 125 of these reportable illnesses” in the past year, excluding routine influenza and COVID reports. He added that the county recorded “139 COVIDs this winter season and 185 influenzas including 11 influenza hospitalizations.” He listed recent reportable conditions that included campylobacter, cryptosporidium, giardia, gonorrhea, suspected lead exposures, acute and chronic hepatitis C, and three cases of Legionnaires’ pneumonia that led to hospitalization.
The presentation described how local labs and clinics report cases to the department, how staff protect individual health information while tracing potential outbreaks, and how sanitarians investigate foodborne illness sources when a facility is implicated. Dr. Dusner cited an out-of-county example in which investigators traced a Legionnaires’ outbreak to a hotel HVAC system to illustrate environmental sources and the importance of thorough inspection.
The board heard several prevention initiatives under way. Staff are working with Park High and Gardner High to establish Hope Squads—student-nominated peer-support teams—with a private donor underwriting two years of programming for each school. The department is also promoting Prime for Life alcohol- and drug-prevention programming and has used a small opioid grant to train local trainers.
Environmental health staffing was highlighted as an operational strength: the department hired Paula Diaz in January and reports nearly 100 inspections completed this year and over 400 countywide in the first quarter. Staff said recent changes to licensing structure from the last legislative session will change revenue and workload dynamics.
On behavioral health, Dr. Dusner described a funded training in a brief psychotherapy protocol for suicide prevention led by Dr. Craig Bridal that will award continuing-education credits to attending clinicians and provide ongoing consultation. The program aims to expand local capacity so clinicians can offer rapid access to an approximately 12-week protocol for people at acute risk; staff estimate funding for treatment slots for roughly 15–20 patients annually and specializations among a few clinicians to handle referrals.
Other outreach items included a DUI-prevention campaign with electronic billboards timed to high-risk dates, distribution of urinal-screen messaging bearing the Park County DUI Task Force logo, and a proposed countywide community forum for cross-sector education on food safety, nutrition and other topics.
Chair Stephanie Lang asked whether trained clinicians would be identifiable for referrals; Dr. Dusner said clinicians who specialize after the training would be known and could receive referrals. The board moved and approved the minutes from past meetings before adjourning; the next regular meeting is scheduled for July 14.
The presentation emphasized surveillance numbers, prevention programming and expanding clinical capacity rather than new regulatory actions. The department said it will continue to coordinate with state partners and local providers on outbreaks and on implementing the new training.
