Name:Erica Birk 

I called Katie Mullaly – Emergency Response Coordinator / Public Information Officer

1. Funding cuts for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program-

Summit County lost about 15% of our funding this year. The WIC program is an essential help for mothers, babies, and young children. They provide knowledge to new mothers who need help with nutrition, breast feeding, and support. This program has helped many young moms learn how to take care of their babies. Because the program is losing money they will not be able to assist as many mothers as usual. The budget cuts are not a good thing because many mothers rely on the help from the WIC.

2. Disease outbreaks with Legionnaires' Disease-

Legionnaires’ disease has been around for a long period of time. The Legionella bacterium was discovered in 1976 when several people were hospitalized because of it. The doctors have labeled it as a type of pneumonia. This disease is not contagious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that about 21% of all people that become infected Legionella were exposed to the bacteria while traveling, which is referred to as travel-associated legionnaires. Places that many people develop legionnaires disease when they are on vacation is in hotels and motels. 

3. Increasing vaccine rates for school-age children-

Park City has a high number of parents who opt out of vaccines as compared to the rest of the state. People in park city are opting out of vaccines because of “philosophical disagreements.” This is a  problem because it is increasing the likeliness for disease out break. The parents who do not want their children vaccinated are putting the other children at risk of developing a disease. The typical parent that chooses to opt their children out of being vaccinated usually has been through college and is trying to live an organic lifestyle. Public Health is trying to lower misleading information about vaccines, in hopes to regain the trust of parents. 

4. Old Septic Failures-

There have been a few areas and homes around the county that have had their septic tank fail and residents had to install new systems or be hooked up to the sewer system. A septic tank is an underground, watertight container that holds sewage. The problem in Summit County is that the septic tank is failing and sewage is leaking out. The sewage that leaks out can contaminate the water sources surrounding it. Sewage leakage would cause many people to become ill and potentially develop very serious, harmful diseases. Public Health is working to inform owners on how to take care of their septic take and stop if from failing. 

5. Promoting healthy Eating for those on food stamps-

This summer Summit County was able to partner with a small local farmers market. They set  up a program where food stamp users could purchase fresh produce from the local farmers using their EBT card. This is great because their are only specific products that food stamps can buy. Thy are usually packaged and have little nutritional value. Fresh produce will allow many buyers to get healthy vitamins and minerals that they may be lacking in.