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Tooele County health officer frames 2026 work as "doing hard things together" in annual report
Summary
Health officer Grant Simada told the Tooele County Council that the health department’s 2026 focus is partnership, dignity and innovation; he reported $6,885,175 in revenue for the department and said a recent local measles outbreak accounted for 19 cases to date.
Grant Simada, the county health officer and executive director, presented the health department’s annual report to the Tooele County Council, saying the department’s overarching approach this year is "doing hard things together" and stressing dignity and partnership in public-health work.
Simada walked the council through four stages guiding the department—belonging/dignity, learning, acting together and innovation—and thanked a range of partners, including the board chair, school-district partners and local mayors. "We belong," Simada said, arguing that recognizing each person’s dignity helps partners coordinate on complex issues.
On finances, Simada said total departmental revenue was $6,885,175, drawn from federal and state grants, the local levy, contracts and fees such as restaurant inspections and clinic charges. "You can see the different types of funding sources we have," he told the council, adding that the report focuses on core public-health functions required by state minimum-performance standards.
The presentation described program-level work across environmental health (restaurant and playground inspections, foodborne-illness follow-up), WIC and maternal-child services, aging services supported by volunteers, and prevention services that include substance-abuse and suicide-prevention programming. Simada highlighted recent increases in training participation and said the prevention team has become more stable after earlier turnover.
On infectious disease and emergency response, Simada said severe influenza emergency visits increased from 2024 to 2025 and that COVID-19 remains present but with more available treatments and vaccines. He updated the council on a local measles response, saying, "We're at nine—we've had 19 cases total," and said the department continues to work with schools and community partners.
Simada closed by previewing the department’s upcoming community health assessment and improvement plan, a five-year required process, and offered to follow up with councilmembers about specific data points.
The council asked clarifying questions about prevention staffing, mental-health trends and metrics; Simada and his deputy said they will provide additional data where available.
