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Washington Ozaukee Health Department outlines inspections, WIC caseloads and funding uncertainty
Summary
Kim Beekler, director and health officer for the Washington Ozaukee Health Department, briefed the committee on department programs: environmental health inspections (~1,600 licensed facilities), WIC (~2,400 active participants), emergency preparedness and new public training, and warned of unstable state and federal funding affecting planning.
Kim Beekler, director and health officer for the Washington Ozaukee Health Department, gave the committee a broad overview of the department’s programs, staffing and challenges, including environmental health inspections, WIC participation, communicable disease work and emergency preparedness.
Beekler said the department has three locations (West Bend, Port Washington and a Hartford satellite), about 32 employees (roughly 28 FTE), and that environmental health licensing covers more than 1,600 facilities with approximately 2,000 annual environmental health inquiries. "We have a little over 1,600 renewal notices that went out in May," she said, noting inspections and summer beach testing as seasonal priorities. Beekler said WIC serves roughly 2,400 active participants at any given time and described available services including nutrition counseling, lactation support, car seat checks and referrals to maternal-child programs.
Beekler also described emergency preparedness and communicable disease responsibilities and credited the department’s national incident command training for response capability. She noted new public CPR and first-aid courses offered in 2025 and harm-reduction efforts such as Narcan and fentanyl test-strip distribution and drug take-back days.
On funding, Beekler warned of uncertain state and federal revenue: "we have, throughout the last year especially, been just given whiplash with state funding and federal funding being pulled and then given back and then changed and then taken away and then given back," she said, and suggested the county board monitor state-level conversations and possible resolutions supporting sustained public health funding.
Committee members asked about radon test kits (department sells them for $7 and distributes them free during Radon Action Month in exchange for food donations), inspection frequency (at least annual for most facilities) and next joint health board meeting (July 10).
